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OCR organised a pilot with The Blue Coat School to examine whether assessing and developing the Mental Toughness of its students would have a beneficial impact for students and the school.
The Blue Coat School in Oldham is a Church of England convertor academy for students aged 11-18.
In response to some concerns about the well-being of Y11 pupils and investigating how we could help students maximise their own potential to improve academic performance, the school decided to deliver a series of mental toughness lessons. Establishing that the 4Cs Mental Toughness model (developed by AQR and Professor Peter Clough) was the best fit to the school’s context and our broad programme aims to help students were: A happier and more balanced approach to school work and life in general Improve confidence and wellbeing Improve performance in exam results and attainment levels Adopt positive thinking Be more resilient Develop clear goals. The Mental Toughness sessions were delivered over six one hour lessons, we opted for the most common mental preparation strategies: goal setting, imagery, positive self-talk, reframing and relaxation skills. The student results showed significant improvements for emotional control, and confidence in abilities and a clear improvement in overall mental toughness. One unintended outcome was the impact on the teachers selected to deliver the lessons – analysis of their MTQ48 data revealed an upward trend in all aspects of mental toughness and a significant increase in confidence.
In response to some concerns about the well-being of Y11 pupils and investigating how we could help students maximise their own potential to improve academic performance, the school decided to deliver a series of mental toughness lessons.
Establishing that the 4Cs Mental Toughness model (developed by AQR and Professor Peter Clough) was the best fit to the school’s context and our broad programme aims to help students were:
The Mental Toughness sessions were delivered over six one hour lessons, we opted for the most common mental preparation strategies: goal setting, imagery, positive self-talk, reframing and relaxation skills. The student results showed significant improvements for emotional control, and confidence in abilities and a clear improvement in overall mental toughness. One unintended outcome was the impact on the teachers selected to deliver the lessons – analysis of their MTQ48 data revealed an upward trend in all aspects of mental toughness and a significant increase in confidence.
We have now successfully run the Mental Toughness programme for the last three years and are confident that the programme has helped students to achieve their best academic performance and that there has been a positive impact on GCSE grades. We have seen a positive impact on the attainment, wellbeing and behaviours of students and staff. The 4Cs model is very accessible to all stakeholders and is now embedded in the school’s ethos. The next stage is to carry out (within a PhD programme) a formal analysis to better understand which interventions are most effective and how we can apply this to different groups of pupils. Steve Oakes Assistant Director Sixth Form, Head of Character Development and School Research Lead The Blue Coat School
We have now successfully run the Mental Toughness programme for the last three years and are confident that the programme has helped students to achieve their best academic performance and that there has been a positive impact on GCSE grades.
We have seen a positive impact on the attainment, wellbeing and behaviours of students and staff. The 4Cs model is very accessible to all stakeholders and is now embedded in the school’s ethos. The next stage is to carry out (within a PhD programme) a formal analysis to better understand which interventions are most effective and how we can apply this to different groups of pupils.
Steve Oakes Assistant Director Sixth Form, Head of Character Development and School Research Lead The Blue Coat School
We have a number of units within our Life and Living Skills suite that can help develop these personal skills that are measured using the Mental Toughness assessment.