April is Stress Awareness Month, aiming to raise awareness of the causes and cures for modern-day stress. It is an opportunity to have an open conversation with friends, families, colleagues, and professionals on the impact of stress and how it can affect our mental and emotional state.

With Year 10 currently undertaking mock exams and Year 11 approaching their GCSEs it could be a good time to reflect and focus on what you can do to ensure you or your child is looking after their wellbeing during exam season.

Whilst it is important to be prepared for the next few months, we’re working with teachers and others to build confidence through effective revision and examination practice to allow students to maintain balance across the week, building in time for family and friends, for exercise and sport and for a little downtime in between preparations.

We’ve gathered some tips from the charities Mind and Young Minds to help when preparing for exams:

• Find a balance and make time for things you enjoy.
• Talk to others about how you feel.
• Keep things in perspective and remember that exams won't last forever.
• Take care of your physical health and make sure you get enough sleep, food, water, and exercise.
• Focus on yourself, take your revision and preparations at your own pace with the support from your teachers.
• Try breaking revision into chunks and creating a daily timetable - be realistic about what you can achieve in a day.

To help cope with stress on the day of your exam, you could:

• Prepare your items the night before.
• Start your day the best you can - eat breakfast and make sure you have enough time to arrive at your exam without rushing.
• Try to ground yourself with a breathing exercise - if you feel overwhelmed in the exam, try to breathe in through your nose for four counts, hold it for two counts, and breathe out through your mouth for seven counts. If you repeat this, it can slow your breath and help keep you calm.
• Take your time - read the exam questions carefully and plan what you need to do before answering.
• Remind yourself that it'll be over soon - you've done your best and that's all you can do.

All staff in school are here to support you, if you’re feeling worried, anxious, or stressed about your exams please speak to us - we’re here to help.

For more tips and advice, please visit the resources below:

Young Minds

Young Minds have great advice if it's all getting a bit too much, exams are affecting your sleep or your eating habits, just head over to www.youngminds.org.uk/

NHS

Tests and exams can be a challenging part of school life for children and young people and their parents or carers. The NHS website offers great tips for ways to ease the stress.

BBC Bitesize

Offers resources to help students with homework, revision and learning.

We would like to wish all students entering their final examination phase all the best for this period. We are looking forward to celebrating your success with you in August!