CONTENTS OF PACK

Contents of Part 1:

Video – Supporting Transition: Changes at school or home are exciting times in a child’s life, and in yours, but they can also feel a little bit daunting. To help children approach change with a sense of excitement rather than dread, Tooled Up founder, Dr Kathy Weston,  has 10 transition tips for parents that can be ‘tried and applied’ at home. 

Activity – A, B, C plan: When children are taking exams or you are working together to choose their school, it’s important that both you and they understand all of the options and have a positive plan for any eventuality. Parents can use these templates, pop them in envelopes and keep them for any ‘results’ day. On the day itself, open the relevant envelope and use it to help all of the positives shine through.

Video – The Power of the Home Learning Environment: Did you know that parents are extremely powerful in shaping children’s early view of learning and can greatly influence their capacity to thrive academically? In this video, Dr Weston describes little things we can do at home that can maximise children’s chances of thriving at school. 

Activity – What Makes You, You? Helping children to appreciate all of the wonderful things about themselves is an important way to build their self-esteem. Children of all ages can use these activities that will encourage self-compassion, help them recognise traits and achievements that they should be proud of and promote healthy self-reflection which breeds resilience!

Activity – Thoughts and feelings about change: When children are anticipating an upcoming transition or change in their lives, it’s a good idea to nudge them to think about the change, consider potential benefits and opportunities as well as reflect on anything they might feel ‘wobbly’ about. Once we surface wobbles or worries with a loving parent or carer, we can work together to reduce them through planning and goal-setting. This activity will open up conversations about change and prompt children to work with you to address them proactively. 

Activity – Sources of support – who is there for me? Sometimes, we need to talk to someone. It might be we are feeling a little bit down, need cheering up or really need to get something off our chest. Sometimes, we just need to keep a list handy of the people who we know are always happy to listen. This activity nudges young people to consider who these people are, note them down and keep the list handy for times of need.

CONTENTS OF PACK

Contents of Part 2:

Article – 25 Tips for Preparing for Tests and Exams: Parents can play a powerful role in supporting children with revision. Here are Tooled Up’s top 25 tips, designed to help your children prepare well for upcoming tests or exams.

Video – Nudging Versus Pushing: As parents, we want the best for our children and we want to know that they are reaching their full potential. But we do have to be careful to keep a sense of balance between academic expectation or pressure and all of the other activities that keep them feeling good about themselves and their progress. There is a big difference between nudging and pushing. Find out more in this video.

Video – Keeping Your Child Motivated: Did you know that parents are extremely powerful in shaping children’s early view of learning and can greatly influence their capacity to thrive academically? In this video, Dr Weston describes little things we can do at home that can maximise children’s chances of thriving at school.

Activity – How am I Feeling? When our children embark on new challenges, it’s an exciting time for the whole family. But change can induce a few butterflies, for us as well as them. Remember, how we feel impacts on our children, so it’s important for us to try to manage our anxieties and create a calm and consistent environment at home, where we can. Use this resource to identify what is causing you stress and our reflection points to consider what might help you to feel better.

Activity – Proud of My Progress: Setting simple, little goals can help us to feel more confident, purposeful and good about ourselves generally. It’s a really good idea for us all to set some achievable targets. Then we can reflect back on all of the brilliant progress that we’ve made! Use this tracker to help.

Activity – My Coping Menu: When we feel strong emotions, such as sadness, anger, fear or anxiety, it’s useful to have a toolkit of things we can do that we know will help to make us feel better. Keep it to hand, so that they can access it as soon as these feelings arise. Why not get the whole family involved and all create a menu?

Video – Resilient Reviser: Tests and exams are a fact of life for all children. As parents, our goal should be to teach them that exams are not to be feared or perceived as stressful or traumatic. This short video can be shared with your child to help them understand more about effective revision strategies.

CONTENTS OF PACK

Contents of Part 3:

Video – Charging Up My Body and Brain: Dr Weston shares four simple tips which will boost your child’s body and brain, helping them to feel more motivated and alert each day in this activity to do with your child.

Video – Tips for Relaxation: At times when our nerves are high, such as before a performance, an exam, or simply when we are trying something a bit scary or new, we can all feel anxious. In this video, Dr Weston outlines some simple calming exercises, which can help us to feel more relaxed. This video is aimed at children, but the ideas within it are effective for everyone.

Activity – Preparing and Packing for My Exam or Test: When we have a test or exam coming up, there are lots of things that we can do to help us feel more prepared and ready on the day. Keep this sheet handy as a little reminder of the things that you and your child might need to think about.

Activity – Managing Our Own Wobbles: An Activity for Grown Ups: We all want our children to succeed, whether that’s academically, socially, or in their other interests and hobbies. When children have something important coming up, it’s important for us to manage our own feelings of anxiety about their experience or the outcome. This evidence-based activity will help parents to manage their own worries.

Video – Managing Parental Anxiety: In this video, Dr Weston provides some top, evidence-based tips to help us as parents watch our tone, gestures and language, to ensure our own anxieties and worries about our children’s upcoming tests doesn’t show through to them, as well as to coach, rather than soothe our children.

Video – Charging Up My Body and Brain: Dr Weston shares four simple tips to boost your child’s body and brain, helping them to feel more motivated and alert each day. She explains, in simple terms, why getting a good night’s sleep, exercising, eating a great breakfast and trying new experiences are all things which help us to function well and feel good.

Video – Supporting Exam Performance: There is plenty we can do at home to help our children feel prepared and calm ahead of an exam. Here are some quick and simple tips for you to try and apply.

Article – Supporting Exam Performance at Home: Tests and exams are a fact of life for all children, and as parents, our goal should be to teach them that exams shouldn’t be stressful or traumatic. These tips on preparing children for assessments will help you to consider how you talk about exams in family life and how to help your child feel calm and in control and practicalities for the days before the test.

Activity – Preparing for a School Interview: When children are preparing for an interview for a new school, it can be nerve wracking for them and us. This activity helps them to consider all of their strengths, and prepares them for things that they might be asked. It can be used at home or school. Use it in conjunction with our ‘Top 10 Interview Practice Tips’ article.

Article – Top 10 Interview Practice Tips: This article provides ten tips on supporting children through an interview process calmly, helping them to feel prepared and comfortable.

CONTENTS OF PACK

Contents of Part 4:

Activity – How Did I Do? Tests, assessments, and exams are a great way to find out how we are doing, what we are good at, and where we could do even better. Use this activity with your child to help them think about the things that they are proud of and excited about, and little goals they can set to help them learn even more.

Activity – Wobble Ladder: When children have ‘wobbles’, or anxieties, one of the best ways to help them overcome them is to encourage them to take gradual steps towards having a go at the thing that worries them. This Wobble Ladder is a useful tool for setting out small, step by step goals.

Activity – Supporting Your Child’s Transition to a New School: 10 Tips for Parents and Carers: Moving to a new school is an exciting time in a child’s life, and in yours, but it can also feel a little bit daunting. Research evidence suggests that school-readiness should start long before September, so we’ve put together our top 10 transition tips, which will help you to support your child through this time of change.

Activity – Wobble Sheet: If your child is feeling wobbly about something, it can help to work out what it is that is worrying them, who can help them, and how they can make themselves feel better. This worksheet will help them to find ways to steady their wobbles.

Video – Preparing for Results Day: With results day imminent nerves can feel frayed, for us parents as much as our children. It’s important to keep calm and not pass on any of our anxieties to our children. Here are our four top tips for feeling well prepared for results day.

Video – Getting Ready for Admissions Interviews: Dr Weston shares some quick and easy to apply tips for getting children ready for school admissions interviews.

Video – Moving Up: Five Things to Remember: Watch this short video with your children to prompt discussion about getting ready to move on to the next part of their school journey. It will nudge them to consider changes that they’ve navigated successfully before and think about anything that’s worrying them. It also reminds them to practise being organised and think about what they are excited about doing in their new school.

Article – Dealing with Disappointment and Celebrating Success: When children take assessments, apply for a school place, or even take part in a long-awaited sporting event or competition, waiting for the outcome and processing its impact, can be testing, for both them and us. Thinking about all outcomes in advance is optimal. That way you can put some pre-emptive steps in place, which can help your child to feel more content and hopeful, whatever happens.

Activity – Back to School Checklist: This handy list will help to ensure that your child has everything they need for the school day. Go through it before you go to bed and make sure that everything is ready for the morning.