Every single student, out of thousands of students, had one thing holding them back: Mindset

That means that every single student underperforming at school has the potential to raise their grades. How can you tell if your child is underperforming at school? Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

The Distracted/Unmotivated Mindset

Your teen sits down to start an assignment and then “bing” the phone notifies her of a TikTok she must watch. So you take her phone. And that goes down a treat. Then, you find her in her room, not studying, she’s going through drawers looking for something. So you sit her back at her desk. Finally, she even attempts to tidy her room as a procrastination tool. You don’t rush to stop her… because you know, you’re witnessing a miracle in front of your very eyes… but eventually, she MUST do the assignment. She’s distracting herself. Putting off work. It’s not that she’s lazy. Distraction is actually an issue of poor confidence. She’s trying to communicate that she’s so unsure of her work that she’d rather clean her room than attempt it.

How we change the “Distracted/Unmotivated” mindset

We get to the root of your child’s confidence issues and remove the barriers they’re facing.  By creating more engaging lessons that help your child to break down the workload and to explore it on their terms, they find the confidence to take ownership of their work.  This looks different for every child.  For some kids, it’s about turning the workload into a game of sorts, where there is reward for discovering steps to tackle the subject matter.  For others, it’s about a change of scene, where they are free to move around and take in some sunshine while they work.  For some kids, it’s about improving their study strategy.  It’s very, very rarely about closing them up in a dull room!

What does it mean in practice?

Ethan was a B student.  Not bad.  Doing OK.  But his mother worried about his lack of motivation and she believed he wasn’t reaching his full potential.  Tutor Brit took Ethan away from the standard desk set up and attacked his workload with beanbags and whiteboards.  She let him lead the way in learning.  She introduced fun and interactive ways for him to break down the workload  – so he could focus on it, without distraction.  Ethan is now an “A” student and the recipient of the coveted Principal’s Award.

Read Ethan’s Story

The “I Can’t Do It” Mindset

Your teen tells you, “I just don’t understand it. I can’t do it.” This quickly transforms into “It’s stupid, when will I even need this in the future?” Pretty soon, an underperforming student is a failing student because they feel that they’re just not bright enough to understand the curriculum. We see this a lot in students who are heavily skewed to either left or right brain learning. If your child thrives at Art and English, every maths exam feels like a big opportunity to fail.

How we change the “I Can’t Do It” mindset

Our tutors first address their learning language. The three primary learning languages dictate how well your student can take in different information. If your child is an aural learner, who retains information through reading and listening, a sheet of formulas can feel like an utter impossibility. So, our first step is to understand how your child learns and to translate the curriculum into the messages that their brain best receives and processes. Same information, different communication. Once your child can process the information in a familiar way, the “I can’t do it” mindset disappears. They can do it. And we can do it. Our tutors are trained to make a maths lesson feel like an English lesson. To make an English lesson echo a physics lesson.

What does it mean in practice?

Meet Ava. Ava went from a B- student to an A+ student in a month with our tutor’s help. It was that fast, and that simple. She merely needed her lessons transformed into the language that suited her needs.

Read Ava’s Story 

The Overwhelm Mindset

Your child seems to take FOREVER to complete a simple assignment. They sit down to do their homework and it’s a struggle for all concerned. In the time it should take to get the first subject done, they still haven’t located a suitable pen.  As a parent, words like lazy and disorganised start popping into mind, and you worry that your child will struggle with other life skills, like holding down a job.  Deep breaths.

How we change the “Overwhelm” mindset

Every child is different, but our tutors would begin looking for clues as to the source of the child’s overwhelm.   Most often it comes down to poor study strategy skills.  We assume that by highschool, children have developed a set of skills that will carry them through their academic career but in a surprising number of students, this is not the case.  Something as simple as looking at an assignment sheet and recognising the smaller tasks required to make up the bigger submission, to order these and to begin attacking them – this gap in your child’s understanding will cause underperformance in all areas of their school life.  Our approach is to identify these gaps and help them to “relearn” how to study.

What does that look like in practice?

Joseph was a “C” student who was underperforming at school because he struggled with the “how” to study.  It’s hard for a teacher in a busy classroom to pick apart a child’s underperformance and find the cause, so our tutor Emily took on that responsibility.  Joseph, armed with an easy to follow study strategy, became an A student in no time.

Read Joseph’s Story

The Low Priority Mindset

What is the distraction your child is feeling is justified?  What if there’s something big going on in her personal life or home life?   How do you get a kid with a lot on her plate to keep focused on schoolwork?   No child is beyond helping.  We have worked with kids from all manner of backgrounds, including children who have endured terrible hardship and even trauma.  When your world is chaotic, it’s hard to find mind space to dedicate to school work.

How we change the “Low Priority” mindset

We acknowledge the stress that the child is under and help them to find ways to work within the space that they have.  It may mean finding a study strategy that helps them “do more with less time” or to give them the confidence boost they need to attack a task without hesitation and with complete focus.  Our team is carefully trained to recognise challenges to learning.  We empower children to take control of their studies and this in turn helps them feel more in control of their situations.  Our program has been developed by child psychologists to ensure that no child, no matter how much chaos they work within, is left behind.

What does this look like in practice?

Meet Skylah.  Skylah was an “E” student.  For her teachers, Skylah represents the most challenging student in the class.  She was simply unable to keep up.  What our tutor Libbie discovered was that Skylah was coping with a sick mum.  Not only did that mean she was carrying a heavy emotional load, it also meant that she was picking up the slack at home.  She had very limited time for study and her grades were suffering.  We helped her find ways to get more achieved in a very limited time.  We helped her feel more “in control” of her life by helping her take charge of her studies.    Skylah is now in the top 5% at school.  She’s killing it.  We could not be prouder of Skylah!

Read Skylah’s Story

And this is just the tip of the iceberg for underperforming at school

There are so many negative mindsets that end in your child underperforming at school.  As parents, it’s almost impossible for you to diagnose and correct a problem with your teen’s mindset.  Your child’s teacher will likely have made some progress, but nothing compares to intensive one-on-one diagnosis and correction.  That’s where A Team Tuition has focused,  with our “Academic Personal Training” program.  All of our tutors are trained in overcoming barriers to learning and we’re proud of our many, many success stories.  It’s not just these kids, we have hundreds of stories just like theirs.  Your child could be one of them.

The post After 14000+ tutoring hours, we found the ONE thing all underperforming students have in common. appeared first on A Team Tuition.

How to get a 99 ATAR?  Here’s what I learned!

My personal journey to a top university entry score

So… here are five things that I did during my senior years of high school that allowed me to achieve an OP 1.  Yes, I’m one of the old school OP graduates!  With ATAR now the standard score for access to university places, this is also a guide to how to get a 99 ATAR.

1. Do Extra-Curriculars

2. Do Your Own Research

3. Help Others Out

4. Do The Things You Don’t Have To

5. Constantly Strive To Improve

1. Do Extra-Curriculars

It is a common misconception that to do well at school – really well – you must throw yourself entirely into your schoolwork while leaving your friends, hobbies, and interests behind.  I won’t deny that getting a 99 ATAR will take a massive commitment of time, energy and determination, but if you focus solely on school you will, quite simply… burn out.  Being able to have breaks from schoolwork is important in keeping you sane and focused! How to get a 99 ATAR is about staying sane through that really tough final year of high school.  Also, don’t forget… participation in extra-curricular activities also looks fantastic on resume and scholarship applications! 

However, while there is no ‘one’ extracurricular activity that will help your grades, there are ways to be clever about how to choose what you dedicate your time to.  Choose extra-curriculars based on:

• What you know you enjoy
• Are most likely to stick with
• The time spent travelling to and from the activity
• How flexible they will be with your schoolwork
• When they are scheduled

These factors are super important, as you don’t want a big game of basketball or a music rehearsal the night before an exam or during the days leading up to an assignment due date! 

For example, I enjoyed doing extra-curriculars at my school. One week in year 12 I was completely bogged down in schoolwork and study. However, as some of these extra-curriculars were run by my own classroom teachers, I was able to adjust my schedule around, and keep my focus on, my school work! 

2. Do Your Own Research

There is no denying that, like the old OP system, the ATAR system too is quite specific in how marks are given!  Getting an ATAR of 99 or more means understanding a very complex series of rules and calculations, and for the class of 2020, these are compounded by the special allowances due to the COVID-19 interruptions.  It’s not just class of 2020 either.  Calculating ATAR scores will be more complex for a few years as we adjust to these returning to normal post-CoronaVirus. 

However, there are definite strategies to succeed outside of merely being able to write a good essay and solve problems correctly. While some schools may already be aware of these strategies and share them with students, there are also ways you can be proactive and find out exactly how to successfully meet all the criteria! The best place to find out how grades are assigned is right at your fingertips! There is a detailed list provided in the criteria sheets of all assignments and exams! Each subject is likely to have a standard list of criteria that will be either the same, or at least similar, across all assessment pieces. 

For example, a key criterion in senior English assessment is “evaluation of perspectives and representations of concepts, identities, times and places”. However, it is a criterion often missed by students (myself included). To get an ATAR of 99+, it’s vital to understand exactly what the assessors are looking for with each assessment.  If you’re keen to learn more, visit the QCAA website.

It initially sounds like a confusing mess straight out of a thesaurus, but it means that you must analyse how texts are constructions by their authors, who have made conscious decisions to include concepts, characters, and settings to convey a specific message. So, even if you write a fantastic assignment but haven’t fulfilled this criterion, you will NOT get the marks! I discovered this only after handing in many English assignments, in which I kept getting stuck on the same mark. Finally, I realised that I was being marked down in the same criterion each time. With this knowledge, I was able to make sure I completely addressed all the criteria next time and saw an immediate improvement in my results!

The QCAA has a ton of resources available, most importantly sample assessment pieces as well as syllabus and learning guides!  If you struggle with any of the descriptions and concepts, you can speak to a professional high school tutor familiar with these criteria.  Learn more here.

Also look at how you need to perform in ATAR for specific careers

What ATAR do I need for Law?

What ATAR do I need for Teaching?

What ATAR do I need for Medicine? 

3. Help Others Out

As the A system is based on your position relative to your peers, it is easy to think that the way to succeed is to keep to your own and fend off the competition! However, in my experience, that is the exact OPPOSITE of what you should do for several reasons.

It is widely known that the best way to learn a concept is to teach it to someone else! So I guess my calling as a high school tutor started in high school!  Helping your classmates will allow you to discuss, learn, and understand the content for your exams and assignments. There’s no better way to understand different perspectives on a topic than to discuss it with peers.  Even better, your classmates will likely help you in return! There have been so many times where I have been sitting outside an exam room and a friend has brought up something which I’ve never heard of that turned out to be on the exam. While waiting to go into a year 12 exam, a friend taught me a concept I had missed throughout my study (it can happen) that I took into the exam and used to get an A+. Furthermore, year 12 is without a doubt difficult! Having a support network of friends (especially peers) is invaluable. During these times, being able to rely on each other means that at the end of the day, everyone can cross the finish line together! 

Find our more, read our ATAR FAQ’s

4. Do The Things You Don’t Have To 

At some point, every student gets given a task by a teacher that doesn’t count towards their mark or has no due date – and every student at some point has not done this extra work. However, to get really good marks, you need to do the extra reading, the unessential homework, and revision each day!  How to get a 99 ATAR is to put in the hard yards.  Not only will this extra work increase the quality of your assessment, but it will prove to your teachers that you are willing to take extra steps to do well. It will also give you more confidence when walking into exams and enable you to draft your assignments more effectively. 

This is particularly useful in humanities subjects, like Modern History. Before a Modern History exam, I ensured I remembered at least one extra piece of information on each topic studied. This not only boosted my confidence, but it also allowed me to write a more effective, coherent, and in-depth response, as I wasn’t just relying on the limited scope of my class notes and revision materials.  Achieving a high ATAR score isn’t just about being accepted into the degree of your choice, it’s about having a superior understanding of the subject matter.  While the score matters, the knowledge is vital too.

5. Constantly Strive To Improve

What helped me the most but is something that is often overlooked is the process of constantly improving your work.  Many people think that by year 11 or 12, you must be stuck in your ways and have no time to improve. This is FALSE. Every new assessment item is a chance to re-evaluate your work and make improvements.  Even if you’ve had a shaky start to the year, you can make small, incremental differences to your grades which can help in getting an ATAR of 99+.  While working hard is a way to get good marks, if you forget to check your results and learn from past feedback, you will find yourself getting the same grades every time.   

So, how do you make genuine improvements to your work? 

Firstly, read your draft and assessment feedback and look at the criteria sheet. After every assessment make a note of three things or criterion you can improve upon and take it on-board for next time.  Secondly, speak to your teachers, and don’t be scared to be direct. Ask them, “what can I do to improve?” or “how can I get an A?” They are the ones marking your work, so they know exactly what you need to improve upon to get a better exit score. 

Right before a geography exam, I asked my teacher what I needed to do to improve my mark. He was able to have another look through my work and tell me exactly what criteria I needed to address. Teachers are almost always willing to help, so I recommend giving it a shot and asking them what you can do to get a better mark.  Your teachers want you to get a high ATAR score.  They want to help.  Never be afraid to ask a teacher.

How to get a 99 ATAR?

Like an OP1, getting a 99 ATAR or even that elusive 99.95 ATAR isn’t impossible.  It’s a process that involves a lot of passion for learning and commitment to constant improvement.  I was definitely not an OP1 student when I started high school, so I know first-hand whatever your current grades are, so long as you are willing to put in the effort and hard work, you can get the results you want!  Always ask for help and don’t be afraid to seek out a tutor who understands not only the ATAR system but also where you, personally, can overcome any barriers to getting that top entry score.  As an A Team Tutor, I can see first-hand how our program helps our students achieve amazing results.  I wish I’d had an A Team Tutor myself.

Whether you need help with homework, assignment & exam preparation or just a confidence and motivation boost at school – we can help!

Tell us about your child and we will get in touch as soon as possible!

The post How to Get a 99 ATAR – Insights from a Top Achiever! appeared first on A Team Tuition.

For millions of people around the world with existing trauma or anxiety disorders, the Coronavirus pandemic can be a psychological nightmare. But what about the rest of us? Feeling a bit…off? Thinking… “Why can’t I concentrate?” You may find it’s not just your child struggling to concentrate while working at home. Coronavirus Anxiety is sweeping the nation faster than the bug itself.

Why can’t I concentrate?

Humans are hard-wired to avoid danger and seek a sense of control over their lives. The rapid onset of Coronavirus-related disruptions and the accompanying uncertainties have removed this perceived control, along with any sense that we can predict the future. This can cause your emotional and mental state to become less coherent, and your ability to concentrate, relax and sleep is almost bound to be affected.

”Corona Anxiety” has a name – it’s Hypervigilance

There is a name for what many of us are feeling: hypervigilance. Hypervigilance puts you on high alert. It is an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity characterised by increased adrenaline and cortisol, which in turn increases your heart rate, muscle tension and blood pressure, and causes shallow breathing.

The fight-flight centres of our brain become highly responsive to stimuli that might be threatening in some way. We may become preoccupied with particular thoughts or find ourselves scanning the environment to search for sights, sounds, people, behaviours, information, or anything else that is reminiscent of danger or trauma.

At present, this might include scanning your environment for signs of people coughing or potential contamination. It might just as easily look like compulsively scanning news sites and social media for the latest updates. This is how ancient survival mechanisms manifest in a modern age.

Signs of Coronavirus-related hypervigilance

Hypervigilance can lead to erratic emotional and behavioural patterns, as well as producing difficulties with social interaction and relationships. People may have trouble fully connecting with their surroundings or their family. They can become agitated or have a difficult time falling or staying asleep. They may use unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as drinking or eating too much. All this will eventually lead to exhaustion.

For kids, it can manifest in emotional meltdowns and a reluctance or outright refusal to complete tasks, including their home study tasks. It’s important to know that your hypervigilance is based on biological instincts, not your conscious choices. Your child isn’t “being naughty” – they may simply be responding to their own anxiety. This pandemic has shifted our immediate priorities, and such an abrupt and unanticipated change can be very stressful.

Healthy coping mechanisms become more important than ever

• Exercise helps use up all that stressful adrenaline in your system. Do yoga, go walking, dance around your living room.
• Laughter is a great form of release. Watch funny movies, sitcoms, or listen to comedy online.
• Kids need downtime too. Getting them out and about for a walk or play is great but (moderate) screen time can help them to relax too.
• Crying releases tension and expresses emotion. Sad movies help too!
• Hypervigilance makes you shallow breathe. Download one of the many mindfulness apps and practice 10 minutes of slow deep breathing at least twice a day.
• Constantly scrolling social media and obsessing about Coronavirus news will make you more anxious and less focused. Limit this in favour of the healthy coping mechanisms above.

Helping others feels good and can be a much-needed distraction. If you have the capacity, help your family and community cope with the increasingly difficult practicalities of life. Stay safe and remember:   Stop thinking “Why can’t I concentrate?” or worse, reprimanding your children for their lack of focus.  Get some fresh air and take a break from social media. We are all in this together.

Need help managing your anxious child?  Our program has been developed in conjunction with psychologists to ensure your child’s best chances of success.

Talk to us now

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For most of us, A’s are the name of the game. We all want to achieve the best grades possible! Going from a C student to an A student is the ultimate academic goal!

However, with such a focused goal, sometimes we don’t recognise the effects of reaching that goal. I’m not here to say that there are serious consequences for getting A’s. What I’m saying is… there are many unexpected changes that you might go through after achieving that goal, which can impact how well you keep your hard-earned grade!

I went from being a C student to an A student

You might be thinking, ‘who is this person and what do they know about achieving an A in Maths?’. Well, as someone who climbed two letter grades (from C’s to A’s) in Maths, I know a thing or two about how your work ethic and attitude changes once you start achieving well.

What happens when you go next level with grades?

With that in mind, here are a few things I noticed after successfully raising my grades:

1) A’s don’t keep themselves!

2) You get more help!

3) Confidence!

1) A’s don’t keep themselves!

Photos

Congratulations… you have achieved that well-deserved A! However, don’t get comfortable. Because it is true… you will have to put in the same amount of effort (if not more) into every piece of future assessment to stay an A student.

The big trap of C student to A student - is complacency

A lot of students tend to fall into a rut of settling and getting comfortable with a grade. For example, it took me a while to realise that if my goal was an A, settling for a B wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

Even once I got that A, it was so tempting to sit back and relax. Unfortunately, one A doesn’t mean A’s forever! You must maintain the effort and motivation that got you there in the first place.

It can seem so easy to just keep at your current level. If you are happy with that grade, why try to do better next time? Well, if it is one thing all my experience has taught me… is that there is always room for improvement! The best learners are the ones constantly asking and applying feedback, in hopes of improving their ability.

How A Team Tuition drives A students

At A Team Tuition, we love to develop growth mindsets, as we appreciate the power it can have! This is where you believe that with hard work, dedication, and motivation you can always improve any ability! This self-belief allows you to take constructive criticism and utilise it, to improve your work in the future.

This is so important! Because, when you take feedback to improve – even when you already have the A – you’re generating the best possible outcome for yourself!

So… keep up the good work! Getting an A will show you that you are more than capable to achieve it again and all you need to do is keep putting the effort in! Ask questions, take feedback in your stride with a growth mindset, and always know there’s more to learn!

2) You Get More Help

There is a common complaint that the ‘teacher’s pet’ always gets so much more help than the other 25+ kids in the classroom.

However, this is simply not true. Teachers don’t have favourites. Teachers are passionate about educating all their students and providing them the tools they need for success!

Instead, teachers are more likely to give more attention to students who engage, be attentive, and work hard in class. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense!

Teachers have dozens of students to look after, and already have their hands full educating the pioneers of the future. But, while they are amazing people, they are not telepathic. So… if you want extra help, you need to let them know! Just put in the extra time – ask questions in class or go talk to them after class. Because, if you show your enthusiasm, they’re going to see that!

“You have to… let them know you need and want that extra help!”

Also, have you ever noticed that the high achieving students in your class… frequently put up their hands to ask or answer questions in class, go to the teacher’s desk to ask questions, email the teacher frequently, or even go and talk to them during their lunch break?

It might seem like teachers start focusing on those students who already have good grades – but this is because those students constantly demonstrate their enthusiasm and use their teacher’s better than others!

They take full advantage of having a smart intellect at their fingertips five days a week! This enables the high-achieving students to continuously get feedback, advice, and guidance to improve the quality of their work and maintain their grades.

I can tell you right now, from personal experience, if you start to show that you are passionate and want more help, you will get it!  Try it out… see what happens

3) Confidence!

Once you start achieving A’s, your confidence will skyrocket! I promise!

This may happen for several reasons…

To begin with, achieving an A informs you that you are more than capable of achieving well in the future! The power of self-belief is empowering, as it allows you to open your mind to endless possibilities!

With this considered, it also gives you the incentive to set higher goals in the future.  To become a straight A student perhaps?

All goals should be achievable

I know that, for me, once I started climbing the achievement ranks in Maths, all I wanted was to do better and better until I reached the top. Little victories really matter. Achieving a B grade, where before you had a C. A pass, where before you were failing.

Maybe it took you four whole years – like me – or maybe you managed it in just a short time. Maybe you had help, maybe you didn’t. Regardless, something about achieving that goal just makes it easier to achieve the next one.

So… there you have it… the three things I noticed after successfully raising my grades! Hopefully, this has enlightened you about what to expect from a change in grades. But maybe your experience will be totally different to mine. Either way… good luck!

However, if you do need a hand getting to that A – or keeping it – feel free to contact one of our friendly staff at A Team Tuition

BOOK A TUTOR NOW

Read more success stories here

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Year 6 Student Goes From C's To A's In 5 Months

 

 

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 What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a term that unfortunately is widely thrown around to describe how people feel in a bunch of different situations; exams, before an important meeting or interview or even making small talk.

But it seems people seem to have forgotten than anxiety is a genuine psychological condition – that effects around 1 in 3 people. Many often think of anxiety as just being nerves or being bit uncomfortable, but it is so so much more than that.

It’s when these feelings start to become somewhat unbearable, and interfere with everyday life and prevent you from doing everyday tasks, that is becomes a proper issue.

Before this goes any further, I want to urge you that if you feel like this blog relates to you a bit too much, please go and ask for help. Many people don’t feel like they want to reach out to their parents or friends out of fear of being seen as weak. But asking for help is one of the bravest things you can do.

So ask your teachers, friends, or even just have a look at sites like Beyond Blue for ways to help manage your anxiety, because you will be better off for it.

Also,there will be times during school that you might notice friends are struggling with anxiety, or they might even tell you. When that happens, it can be a bit overwhelming because the first reaction is usually, ‘what can I do to help’.

Some of the best things you can do when you are trying to help a friend are to do some research on what anxiety is – trying to understand what your friend is going through will make it much easier for you to help them if you’ve researched some ways to do so.

Other than that, just keep an eye out for times when your friend might be getting anxious, and when that happens, just listen to what they have to say. What they are stressing over might seem completely irrational, and they probably know it is as well – but don’t mention that.

Also, probably the worst thing you could do would be to tell them to ‘clam down’.

Mental Health In Schools

While the conversation around mental health is beginning to become much less stigmatised, unfortunately, many schools are failing to equip, or are just beginning to start to help the students that they see as at risk of suffering, or are already suffering from anxiety.

Along with this, there are still many who fail to see any sort of mental health issue, such as anxiety, as a genuine problem. But if there is one thing that I know, is that anxiety can cripple you as any physical injury can.

You wouldn’t expect someone with a broken leg to run a marathon, so why are people with anxiety expected to put themselves into situations everyday where they are at risk of having an attack?

how to manage school anxiety

For myself in particular, I always had a bit of anxiety growing up, but once I hit grade 11 and 12, it became a serious problem that I had to get help for.

I put a lot of pressure on myself in school to get A’s, as I had set high goals for myself and good grades were the way to achieve these goals – but it came at a cost. Grade 12 for me, was riddled with anxiety attacks.

The worst I can remember is in week 4 of the first term when I was handed a revision sheet for my Ancient History exam. I remember thinking how everything was becoming so real, and I couldn’t contain myself anymore, I broke down and wasn’t able to calm down for what seemed like forever.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only time this happened. However, I was lucky to have some amazing teachers who recognised that I was struggling, and did everything they could to help me get through.

Anxiety can affect so many aspects of school, in particular the most important moments.Handing in an assignment, starting an exam, such as QCS and so many more.

And while unfortunately, there aren’t many ways you can get around doing these things, and many schools might not let students with anxiety take an exam indifferent conditions to the usual silent room with 30 people in it, there are ways to manage anxiety yourself.

Steps To Take To Manage Your Anxiety When In School

First,gain an understanding of what your anxiety is and how to recognise it. This is best done by going to a psychologist, as it is important to never try and self-diagnose.

From there learn some coping mechanisms to try and handle your anxiety when you feel it being triggered. The simplest, and often most effective of which, being breathing.

From there, it is important to reach out to a teach or staff member at your school who you feel comfortable opening up to about this.

While this may be scary, I promise that they will be willing to listen to everything you have to say, and will do everything they can to help you manage your anxiety.

As an Academic Personal Trainer, If I were to see a student suffering from anxiety – I would make sure getting that anxiety under control becomes to top priority. Trying to work while feeling anxious, or even having an anxiety attack is nearly impossible.

So it is usually best to put the work at hand aside, which might stress the student out more, but that is when you need to explain that no good results can come from when they are feeling like they are. And again, it is the same if your friend were to be suffering from anxiety, the best thing you can do is listen to everything they have to say and just be there for them.

They generally aren’t asking for advice, and someone suffering with anxiety generally won’t accept advice in that moment, but if you have some which is based on personal experience, it is best to ask if they wish to hear what you have to say, and if yes, then do what you can to help them.

Something you can also do is talk to your Academic Personal Trainer, as they often are happy to mentor students and genuinely want to see you do your best. They will sit with you and listen to you and whatever you feel you need to vent about so that you can continue achieving at the highest standard that you can.

Next, learn to recognise when you feel your anxiety coming on, and with as many teachers as you can, have a subtle way to let them know that you might just need a minute out of the class or your exam to try and calm yourself down. Something I like to do is find a certain song, or even a 3-minute meditation on Headspace to try and calm down.

While these are ways to cope in class, exams can be a whole different story for students with anxiety. While it is normal to get nervous before exams, those with anxiety may feel like the exam is the absolute be all and end all, and if you try to tell them that ‘it’s going to be okay, it will be over soon’, chances are you are making them feel worse.

Some things I would do before an exam when I feel an anxiety attack coming on (which, let’s be honest, it was all of them) would make sure the night before and morning of the exam were as relaxed as a I could make them. I was always a student who was on top of their work, and would study hard, but I always had a rule that I wouldn’t study after 7pm the night before the exam.

This was so I could do something to relax, whether it a mediation, just listening to music, stretching or anything of the sort to take my mind off it – and to get the best night’s sleep that I could.

Also, making sure your bag is packed with every possible thing you think you might need the night before the exam is a great way to stop stressing about all the things you have to do the next morning. With that, the morning of it is best to get to school a good while before your exam, just so you can adjust to your surroundings before the exam.

In Summary

• Recognise first what your anxiety is, as well as what triggers it.
• During a time when you aren’t feeling anxious, go to a teacher or staff member and explain to them what is going on and develop a system where when you feel your anxiety coming on, that you can take a break from what you’re doing.
• When you feel anxious, do your best to remove yourself from the situation you’re in, and find one friend, or even just be be by yourself somewhere quiet, and listen to soft music or a quick mediation to try and calm down.

Now, these things are all so much easier said than done, and it took me a good while to learn to implement them into my life. But it got to the point where I didn’t really have a choice. I wanted to excel in school, and I had to come to terms with the fact that it wasn’t going away, so the most important thing you can do if you still want to excel in school with anxiety is ask for help. If anything, that will be the one thing that will allow the people around you to help you get through it, as anxiety is not something that you should try and get through by yourself, especially if you want those A’s.

Here are some links to places where you can get a better understanding of anxiety and how to get some help.

Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety

Headspace: https://headspace.org.au/young-people/what-is-anxiety-and-the-effects-on-mental-health/

 

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