Friday Mindset #146

Happy Friday.

For new subscribers - and there are a mystifyingly large number this week - this introductory section of the newsletter is where you’ll often find a witty remark or observation we consider amusing. Honest, they’re usually so hilarious. But time’s tight this week and we’re in slogging-through mode. Down to business.

Some cool stuff to share this week so let’s dive in!

Something to try...

A powerpoint about vision for you, folks. We were working with some Year 12s a few weeks ago, trying to tease out their aspirations. February’s the time you get your 12s fired up for what’s next - introducing universities and entry requirements, internships and employment possibilities… basically doing everything you can to ensure students quickly realise they can’t just waltz into Psychology at Newcastle. (It’s AAA folks. You’re going to have to up your game, etc etc)

This activity isn’t just a year 12-er, though; it’ll generate interesting discussions at 10, 11 and 13 too. It’s about envy. Loosely based on an activity called Lifestyle Envy from The VESPA Handbook, it asks students to consider a scenario in which someone describes a course or job they have… and the thought of doing it fills you with jealousy.

Jealousy, this activity argues (via a Campbell Walker video), can be a compass.

Here’s your powerpoint. Remember, in order to play the embedded video, you’ll need to download it. Enjoy!

Something we're reading...

We were listening to The Best Medicine over half term.

Episode 5 of the show came live from last year’s Hay Literary Festival, and as per the format, various folk made a case for what they considered to be ‘the best medicine.’

We were struck by the contribution of Professor Neil Frude, who describes a project he created - Books on Prescription. Patients suffering from mental-health issues have to wait months for therapy. On Frude’s scheme, while they wait, patients are prescribed a self-help book to read. The project has been a great success - the Guardian cover its expansion here.

It’s applicability and usefulness in schools is exciting, so we spent some time digging through the reading lists attached to the project. The teen list is here:

And if you fancy listening to the episode, it’s here:

There’s a superb project to be designed and run in a school or college here - maybe you’re the one uniquely placed to do it!

Our latest offer...

Recently, we’ve found ourselves on calls with staff asking for our take on a particular problem they’re facing. One call was about finding time to deliver VESPA activities. Another dealt with improving attendance, another with how to best implement a VESPA-adjacent project. We’ve got ones pencilled in about poor student behaviour, another one about job applications. So we thought we’d throw it open. If you’re wrestling with a VESPA-related issue and you want to talk it through, now’s your chance to grab half an hour with us.

Email at [email protected], and outline (i) your issue (ii) three alternative times and dates you’d be available for a 30-minute chat so we can try and calendar it.

If there are lots of replies we won’t be able to fit all of you in, so heads-up - we’ll work at it like a taxi-rank, in order of contact, which means in some cases, we might have to get back in touch and apologise. Basically leave you in the rain.

On the other hand, we might just get tumbleweeds. Let’s give it a try and see.

And that’s it for this week you beautiful people.

All the best to you and yours,

Steve, Tony and Martin

p.s. Great article here about American teens abandoning social media. We’re seeing the same happening here in the UK too; kids who are attention-economy savvy turning their backs on time-sucks like TikTok.

Worth a tutor group read:

p.p.s hidden track