A step change in mental health – and achievement
Can your child improve their mental health at the same time as improving their grades?
Yes!
Today, I'm going to share two stories of student members of The Extraordinaries Club who have done just this.
Improved mental health and going up two grades
First, I’m going to tell you about a year 11 student. When she first joined the club last September she was anxious and overwhelmed by everything that year 11 was going to put her through. However, her mum signed them up, along with her twin sister, to the Club.
Despite having a music club that she loves on a Thursday evening, this student made time, from the very beginning, to come to the student-only coaching calls because they gave her such a boost in motivation and confidence.
Her mum said:
“The “student-only” calls have given my daughter a massive boost in confidence and improved her wellbeing hugely. She has focused her effort and, using Lucy’s advice and guidance, put the effort in increasing her double science from grades 5/6 to 7/8 in her November mocks. She is so pleased with herself and can see that doing the revision does make a difference. She is really motivated and is feeling good – a very different place to where she started only three months ago.”
After Christmas, this mum said that her daughter started to feel panicky again, but they put into place the planning systems I teach inside the club, as well as daily meditation (I’m a massive fan of meditation to help you manage stress) and that helped her daughter feel like she was in control again.
In August, this family was pleased to share with me that she achieved an 8/7 in science. A remarkable improvement over the course of the year! It just goes to show what focused work can achieve.
Sharing good practice
On one student-only call the student above was brave enough to tell the other students about her meditation – I’m not sure how mainstream it is to talk about this kind of thing in front of other teens yet.
One of the other students, who is in year 10, picked up on this idea and decided to try it over Christmas.
This particular student had always struggled with maths. She’d discovered through the mindset module inside the club that she had developed a fixed mindset around maths and this wasn’t helping her to progress. She was just constantly telling herself that she couldn’t do maths and that maths wasn’t her thing. She was getting stressed, anxious and panicky every time the subject of maths came up – I could see it on her face on the student-only coaching calls.
However, she came along to the How to Revise Maths Masterclass (the recording is inside the club for any member to watch at any time) and began to see how she could make improvements in her understanding and achievement in maths.
Over the Christmas holiday, she started to really focus on her maths using the techniques taught in the masterclass. She also started to meditate every day with her mum.
After Christmas, she had an important maths test at school. She came along to the student-only coaching call that evening and looked calm, relaxed and confident in a way that I’d never seen in her before – she had a spark in her eyes.
She said that when they were waiting to start the test her friends had asked her what was wrong with her – because she wasn’t panicking!
Yesterday, her mum emailed me and said:
“Her teacher said yesterday that whilst he hadn’t marked her paper yet, her paper stood out (in a good way) which was obviously something that has never been said before to her in any class in secondary school, I can think of and definitely not maths.”
She went on to say:
“It was great that another student's suggestion encouraged her to try meditation which we are both continuing now. That was one thing we were hoping for from the club was peer encouragement so it is encouraging that this happened.”
In the last week, I’ve heard that this student has been moved to the second set for maths as she starts year 11. This is amazing knowing where she’s come from in terms of mindset and confidence – and it’s thanks to the hard work and attitude change she’s implemented as a result of being a member of The Extraordinaries Club.
It couldn’t make me happier that both of these students have managed to shift their mindset and mental state so significantly to cause such a shift in their achievement. I know that’s partly down to what I’ve taught them – but it’s also a testament to them for sharing their ideas and experiences inside the club and being open-minded enough to try something new.
There is always further improvement that can be made, but when you see a step change like this confidence suddenly flowers and it’s so much easier to do the work when you actually know that it’s working.
Want my help?
If you know that your child is struggling because of lack of confidence, anxiety and overwhelm, The Extraordinaries Club can help.
Join by 7:00 am on Saturday morning to be included in the next live round of The Exam Success Formula – and learn the mindset, planning and study techniques these two students have used to make these massive shifts in their happiness and achievement.