The Friyay Mindset - Issue #2

January 15, 2021

Happy Friday! We've decided to stick with the theme of Vision this week. It must be a challenge keeping students motivated through these uncertain times, so reminding them about their 'why', re-energising them about their vision or maybe helping them to build a vision is going to be crucial.

Here's something to try...

Instead of a student activity, this week we are going to share with you some questions that you might be able to use in a department meeting to reflect on how you support developing students' vision.

Departments who are supporting and modelling the development of both long and short term goal- setting might be doing some of the following activities:

  • Asking students to write down the grade they want and a prose description of why it’s important to them.

  • Making regular references to HE study, (“If you take this course at degree level you’ll be finding out much more about this...”) or employment (“jobs in this particular sector are much sought after because...”)

  • Exploring the real-world problems solved by students who take their subjects. (“As Biologists, you’ll be well-placed to tackle...” or “It’s Geographers like us who will be at the forefront of...”)

  • Connecting sections of the course to the wider world. (“This module is central to the course, particularly if you’re interested in...”)

  • Referring to the kind of material mentioned on Curiosity Sheets (“this documentary is considered a classic...” “Every serious Business Studies student needs to have read this...” “you should be following developments in < > on social media and in the news.”

  • Asking students to commit to written targets for a short period – a half-term, a three-week run-up to a test or parents’ evening, modelling this process. Going shorter-term if necessary – “what do we want to achieve by Friday? Let’s write down some commitments.”

  • Keeping the consideration of vision alive in the classroom whilst making clear it is a process, not a single event.

Possible vision coaching questions to accompany work like this: What does success look like for you? What do you consider to be ‘good grades’? Describe what a great report home from your teachers would say. Where do you see yourself next week/month/year? Who do you admire? What do you wish to achieve by the time your course ends? What would be important to you in a job? Why are you doing these particular courses?

We've got similar descriptors for other elements of the model, so if you're interested, stick around. We'll share effort next week.

Here's something we've been reading...

We've always been big fans of the Education Endowment Foundation. It's a fantastic resources for any teacher looking for evidence informed interventions. If we are working with a school/college on the implementation of VESPA we always use their fantastic guidance report. It's a must read for any middle or senior leader!

Click the link above.

They've also added an online course, so some great CPD here:

An interactive online course, which guides you through some key activities in the guidance report. The course contains two video case studies of schools that

Here's our latest offer...

Think, Choose, Act

You may have seen us getting excited about this on Twitter. Starting on Monday 18th, we'll be tweeting out a free pdf every weekday for twenty days, taking us up to half-term.

You'll be able to download a short screen-free activity students can complete to explore vision, motivation and meaning in these difficult times. We're calling them Think, Choose, Act (or TCA for short.)

Of the twenty activities, you might - if you've been reading everything we put out - have seen four or five before. But the rest are brand new and unpublished... and we're really pleased with them. We hope you like them too!

Just check our tweets each day @VESPAmindset.

Have a great weekend and stay safe.

Steve & Martin

P.S. Our publishers are now doing an Ebook for both the A level and GCSE Mindset so that you can buy the book anywhere in the world.

Read about The A Level Mindset from Crown House Publishing