Friday Mindset #150

Happy Friday!

This will be our last newsletter for a little while - the Easter break’s coming up, folks will have different weeks off, and the last thing you’ll want to read seven days into your sunny break is a load of nonsense from us.

With that in mind, apologies to new subscribers - there were a dozen in one day earlier this week - we usually show up every Friday at 3:20pm promptly and relentlessly 😁 Instead, you guys are getting one edition, then we’re disappearing for a bit. Sorry.

But hey, look at this, we’ve hit 150 issues! That’s about 125,000 words since we kicked this off. Seems a decent enough time to remind you that this newsletter is the 100% hand-typed output of three real people.

We toggle every AI co-pilot setting to ‘off’, do everything ourselves, and say no to every eager advertiser of *checks current list of applicants* AI-generated news feeds and CBD gummy-bears. But, every now and again, to cover the cost of books and postage, we’ll ask if you wouldn’t mind buying us a coffee.

If you’re enjoying our work or have found anything useful this term, why not sling us a hot drink.

Cheers!

So we’ll be back on Friday 25th April, feeling full of beans again. But have we let standards slip as the finish-line nears? As we used to say up North - ave we eckers like*.

Right. Let’s dive in.

Something to try...

We’ve got a video and a handout for you to look through today. The video is a clip from a presentation Steve and Martin gave a few years ago.

It’s a vision session, designed to be shown to students who are trying to work out what their ambitions for the future are. It takes them through an activity called Odyssey Planning, which at the time we thought was going to be part of The VESPA Handbook. Turned out other activities took its place. Anyway, it’s already beautifully explained in Burnett and Evans’ Designing Your Life, one of the best books on vision we’ve read, so there was no need for us to rehash it.

We use Jade Bowler’s explanation of the process here because she was a student at the time, and speaks with real enthusiasm and clarity about the value of the activity.

Anyway - a good session for KS4 or 5 students starting to figure out what they want from their lives. Here’s the video:

And here’s a handout:

And it case you need it here’s the activity-designer himself, Dave Evans, answering community questions about odyssey planning in case you want some clarification. (He’s understandably more focused on adults, using complex language and referencing activities drawn from the book. One to watch if you’re completing your own odyssey plan, we reckon.)

Hope this stuff’s all useful - we always love running the activity. Enjoy!

Something we're reading...

The World Happiness Report is always a good one to peruse with students. This year, we’ve chosen this BBC article to share because it’s one of those that students might get something out of if read as part of a tutorial. It’s much more than just a list which confirms - yet again - that Scandinavians really know how to live. This section really grabbed our attention:

“The study also found strangers are about twice as kind as people think. It measured trust in strangers by deliberately losing wallets, seeing how many were returned and comparing that with how many people thought would be handed in.

The rate of wallets returned was almost twice as high as people predicted and the study, which gathered evidence from around the world, found belief in the kindness of others was more closely tied to happiness than previously thought.”

In these guarded and suspicious times, it’s really great to see evidence that, though social-media bots may want us in a perpetual state of anger and unease, people IRL are generally honest, kind and good.

There’s a lovely clip where a BBC journalist drops ten wallets on the streets of Belfast. Get your kids to guess how many were returned!

Portal Talk...

Just a quick reminder that we offer student webinars and face to face revision workshops - and they’re particularly timely straight after Easter. Bookings are starting to fill up, however we still have some slots left. The workshops are perfect to get students focused on the right things as we build towards exam season.

If you’d like to find out more about our Supercharged Student Revision Sessions please visit - VESPA TRAINING and complete the enquiry form. Alternatively please use my link below to arrange a call to discuss your requirements in more detail:

Our latest offer...

ICYMI: Martin has been working on a new book with his co-writer, university teacher Dr Jo Phillips. It’s called The Backpacker’s Guide to University, a guide for students who want to adjust well to the demands of university study, and get the most out of their time there.

Martin and Jo are organising their summer terms to make sure they’re available to talk to year 12 students in their post-exam, pre-university-application season, all about what to expect of university study.

You folks have first dibs on booking a session if it’s something you’d like. Want to hear more about the sessions, or indeed request a particular focus? Get in touch with Martin at [email protected], and he’ll book a meeting with you.

And that’s it for now. Have a restful and restorative Easter break, and we’ll see you on the other side.

All the best to you and yours,

Tony, Martin and Steve

*it means ‘no’