The Friday Mindset - Issue #57

It's our penultimate newsletter of the academic year!

Yes that's right - you'll have an email next Friday but after that, we're taking a break and we'll be back on Friday 9th September. Dry your eyes, folks. I know it's tough to take but we'll make it through a summer of trashy novels, sun-loungers and sangria to emerge refreshed at the other side.

So - happy Friday all... let's dive in. New readers arrive all the time so apologies to regular ones who've had to read a variation of this next sentence for the last few weeks, but here goes: recently we've been focusing on summer term activities: the sessions we can run, the ideas we need to spread and the cultural capital we can embed while the pressure is off!

You had goal-setting, an A-Z of university courses, competitions and assertive action, the mission control mindset, sweet-and-sour summers... next, it's advice-giving.

Let's go.

Something to try...

We've got a video for you this week. You might be familiar with a longer version of it available on Youtube - rendered unusable due to some pretty salty language. Well, we've been through it and clipped all the swears out friends, so it's good to go at about 4 minutes long.

It's a sample of 100 people giving advice to their younger selves, and it's a great jumping off point for an activity where students then give advice to those about to begin the year they're just completing.

When we run this session we like to collect wisdom under two headings: 'life advice' and 'study advice'. (If you're trying this for the first time or you don't know the kids that well, just go for study advice.)

We also have two advice generation sessions - one where students work in groups, and one where they then work individually. We give out lots and lots of flash cards and ask for one piece of advice per flashcard. They're kept anonymous. Sometimes, if we've had time, we have a 'letterbox' for kids to slip their advice cards into as they go.

And sometimes, if we've known the group for a long time, we read a few out anonymously and give some praise so students know what we're looking for.

Then, of course, you can compile, edit and share with new classes in September.

Here's the link. Enjoy!

100 people give advice to their younger selves

Something we've been reading...

I think most people that follow us will know we are huge fans of Professor Steve Peters. In 2013, he published The Chimp Paradox and it's been a number one seller ever since. One of the criticisms of this book was that it focused on theory rather than strategy. His latest book 'A Path through the Jungle: A Psychological Health and Wellbeing Programme to Develop Robustness and Resilience', should quieten any critics.

It's a fantastic book that recaps the theory but also provides practical strategies that would be beneficial to all students. We are already thinking about how we can turn some of these into VESPA activities. It might not be one you can slip in your summer travel bag though! It's a bit of a monster, well over 400 pages... but crammed with practical insights.

Professor Steve Peters

Our latest offer...

It's at this time of year that schools often get interested in our online offer. Over at vespa.academy you can see everything we do to help schools and colleges use the questionnaire, the online resources, the powerpoint packages, the coaching reports and so on.

But there's a lot to explore and at first it can be tough to get your head around.

If you'd like a free, no obligations tour of the site, the questionnaire and the materials with one of us, get in touch at [email protected] and we'll sort one out for you! Hope it helps.

And that's it for this week. The sangria awaits. All the best to you and yours,

Steve and Martin