In the first week of July, we delivered sessions as part of the taster week for the Hitchin 6th Form Consortium.

This article is a quick recap of some of the key points to help on the journey. We know that all of you haven’t moved on to 6th form so we thought we’d share it with you as we think they are a really good place to start building new routines, that will help to make the journey easier.

The two years after secondary school can go really quickly so the more you prepare for it, in the beginning, the better chance you have of excelling at it. If you do something small consistently you will eventually achieve the goal.

Time management

Someone shared with me once that GCSE’s are 90% taught and 10% student-led, A levels and college is 50% taught 50% student-led and University is 10% taught 90% student-led. Now I’m not sure if these are the correct percentages but you can still get an understanding of how the responsibility of learning shifts from the teacher or what you are taught to self-directed, self-instructed learning. Sometimes the jump from one stage to another can be very big.
This is why learning to manage your time is essential. You have to learn what’s important and learn to juggle several different commitments and demands on your time.
To help with this why not try some of these time management tools. Finding the one that works best for you may take a little bit of figuring out.

• Brain dump
• Eisenhower matrix
• Try an app like - trello, Wanderlist

Balance

We need to make sure that we are making work and rest a priority.
We cannot give something our best if we are exhausted or running on coffee and 2 hours sleep.
Have a think about what you can do in your life that maintains or improves each area of your wellbeing.
Here are some examples

• Physical – eat healthy, good night’s sleep, take a break, exercise.
• Social – build on my relationships, connect with friends
• Emotional – say how you feel, take some time for yourself, resolve conflict quickly, gratitude.
• Spiritual – relaxation techniques, mindfulness, meditation, prayer

Support

No man is an island.
We are built for community, for interaction with others. Find people who can support you. A football team do not win because of one person, it’s about the team together.
Think about who’s on your team, who can you go to for support

• Teachers – form, subject
• Friends

• Family
• professional
• Outside groups – sports, community

Dealing with obstacles and setbacks

Come in closer, let me tell you a little secret about life. Shhh!! There will always be obstacles along the way. It is inevitable. But they don’t have to stop you or hold you back.
Here’s another one of those statistics life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.
Here are three things that can help when you when you face an obstacle or set back.

• Change your mindset. See each problem as an opportunity for growth
• Break the problem into smaller manageable pieces. Brainstorm lots of different solutions.
• Ask for help. Remember this is a journey and no one is expecting you to know all the answers all the time.

Hopefully, that has helped to give you a starting point.