Friday Mindset #174

Happy Friday… and happy new year!

Sixth form folk: it’s that time again - the time to introduce Year 12 to their future options. Whether you call it Future Week or What Next? or Introducing Higher Education and Employment, this is the term when 12s start getting a sense of the courses they might study at 18, and the grades they might need to make it happen. So, if you want a general intro to university study… Martin’s standing by to help.

If you’d like an intro to next-level study, online or in-person, for your students (we do staff sessions too…) plus a few giveaway copies of The Backpacker’s Guide to University (co-written with university teacher Dr Jo Phillips), all at a very reasonable cost, get in touch at [email protected], outlining what you’re hoping for, and Martin will get back to you! Lovely stuff.

OK, let’s dive in.

Something we're reading...

We’re fans of Ryan Holliday’s early work, and loved The Obstacle is the Way and Ego is the Enemy. (A quick check of his site shows there’s a few we haven’t caught up on…)

And we really enjoyed this blog post. A great piece to read yourself, or to introduce to geeky students who are looking to dive deeper into a subject and read more in 2026. (We’ve done a lot of work on reading, focus, concentration, and proactive independent learning with schools and colleges - get in touch at [email protected] if you’d like a staff session.)

Make 2026 the year of reading:

Portal Talk...

It’s that time of year again…..
The one where students suddenly decide exams are “quite important actually”… and tutor time becomes a mix of panic, motivational speeches, and someone asking if they can revise through vibes.

This is exactly when coaching conversations matter most — not the fluffy kind, but the practical kind that helps students:

• calm the noise,

• get clear on what to do next,

• build habits they can actually stick to,

• and walk into the exam period with the right mindset and a plan.

So here’s a little Friday Mindset incentive…

Book a demo using the link below and we’ll include 1 FREE cycle of the VESPA Questionnaire for up to 100 students, plus trial access to the Coaching Portal (limited taster access) so you can test-drive the coaching process with real students — in real tutor time — during the period it matters most.

Offer details:

• Free questionnaire cycle (max 100 students)

• Coaching Portal trial included (limited access)

• Questionnaire must be completed by 30th March 2026 (pre-Easter)

• One cycle per school

If you want tutor time to produce more than “good luck everyone”… this is a great moment to try a structure that actually shifts mindset and behaviour.

Something to try...

A powerpoint for you this week!

We’ve been ages putting this one together - a long process of thinking and designing that began with a series of student conversations.

They were conversations about frustration. We heard comments like: ‘Why does <subject> have to be so complicated?’ or ‘My teacher always over-analyses things’ or ‘They make it harder than it should be.’ Reflecting on this, we remembered a university lecturer talking about ‘the circle of knowledge’, and had an idea for a presentation and discussion.

This one’s good for KS4 or 5 classes…

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