Friday Mindset #86

Happy Friday, folks!

(i) you’re busy people and (ii) we’re not that smart, so let’s dive in -

Something to try...

We’re at the business-end of the year and we’re fire-fighting. Like you, we’ve got students in crisis knocking on the office door, wanting help, collapsing under the pressure, fighting self-doubt, considering quitting.

We knew we needed something to help them reframe and try and get more positive, then - like a bolt of lightning - an idea arrived during a listen to a podcast discussion. Tim Ferriss was discussing identity with writer and philosopher Derek Sivers (one our faves, we’re always going on about DS, you must be soooo bored of us….) and Sivers delivered, as he often does, one of those beautifully expressed pithy aphorisms.

Identities expire.

It’ll make sense when you listen to him talk; we’ve turned it into a powerpoint for you with the relevant section as an embedded audio-clip. Get out there and inspire some of the strugglers!

Something we’re reading…

Steven Pressfield is a writer we keep returning to. He’s most well-known for coining the term ‘resistance’ for the damaging self-talk that prevents us from fulfilling ourselves; he personifies it as something that exists outside of ourselves, a monster we must fight. This short blog post is a thirty-second read, and a good introduction to the concept…

Portal Talk...

This week we wanted to highlight one of our partner Colleges - Neath Port Talbot Group - who have been using the portal to embed VESPA principles, over the last 3 years. We caught up with project leader - Rachel Kehoe - to discuss how they have implemented the programme and the impact it has had on their students:

Why did you choose VESPA?

We wanted a pastoral programme which could bring together a diverse population of students located over different campuses. We liked the simple non-cognitive messages, to help students recognise that small changes can bring great rewards.

Which Courses / Year Groups have you targeted?

We initially piloted the programme with our AS students, who went on to achieve a great set of results. We have since rolled out the programme to our A Level and Level 3 Vocational students, and are planning to introduce the GCSE Mindset activities to our Level 2 students in the future.

How have the students responded to the programme?

From our focus groups students have been very positive towards the online activities and have enjoyed the process of reflecting back, once they have embedded an activity within their main qualification. The initial tutor training with Martin was invaluable to bring tutors on board so they can guide students towards the most appropriate activities. The Eisenhower Matrix activity has been very popular! Student feedback suggested the ‘Systems’ activities are helping them to prepare for the study requirements of University.

What challenges have you faced?

We have a wide range of learners of different ages, ranging from 16 year old school leavers to adults returning to education in their late 30s! This has meant that some of the activities have not been appropriate and we have had to adapt them to suit the learners. Our tutors are obviously very busy, so we have tried to make the resources as easy as possible to access by adding Activity URLs directly to our VLE. Now staff simply have to click on the activity and add their login details when they are scheduled to deliver an activity.

What impact has the VESPA programme had?

It is hard to quantify the impact on exam results, however student satisfaction surveys, decreasing drop out rate and focus groups indicate the programme is having a significant impact. Our staff have been excellent and bought into the activities, and our VESPA Champions are now working with Tony to adapt some of the activities for our Adult and Vocational Learners. The questionnaire has also had a huge impact - the ability of students to gain immediate feedback on their current study habits and for them to see how they have gained in confidence between each cycle. Our tutors find this incredibly useful too in helping them identify students and put interventions in place at the earliest stage for those who may be demotivated or lacking in confidence. and also, as staff, having the ability to identify at the earliest stage, students who may be demotivated or lacking confidence.

If you would like to get in touch with Rachel to further discuss the VESPA portal please send your details to us at [email protected] and we will pass them on for her to contact you.

Our latest offer...

Two reminders for you this week…

We're going to be running a free Zoom webinar next month! We'll cover some of the steps we took when implementing VESPA, and explore what other schools/colleges have done. There'll be a powerpoint and accompanying 'checklist' handout, giving you a term-by-term running order for a number of activities that help you get a programme (any programme) up and running. Here’s the deets:

Implementing VESPA - a checklist approach

Wednesday June 14th, 3:45-4:45 on Zoom

AND…. we have a brand new student session ready to go. It's designed to be run online, and is delivered by friend of VESPA Dr Jo Phillips (Sheffield University.) It's called Preparing for University Study.

The session has been jointly developed, is an hour long and will be run on Zoom, Teams or as a Google Meet. We think it would suit students at any point in the university application process. It won't go big on VESPA activities - we don't want to duplicate our other sessions - but will emphasise non-cognitive elements of study; habits, strategies and routines... all very compatible with our usual work.

Interested in either? Just get in touch at the usual addresses.

And that’s it for this week! Keep going folks, we’re nearly there…

All the best to you and yours,

Martin, Steve and Tony