All of our Y10 GCE Georgaphy students left sunny Tetbury  yesterday morning to begin their three day residential in Shropshire.  The weather was perfect for Geography fieldwork in the Carding Mill Valley and students have enjoyed a settled night at accommodation provided by Wolverhampton University.  Students will continue with their fieldwork today by studying rivers before travelling to Birmingham to visit the new Bull Ring Centre and focus on the impact of urbanisation.  More updates to follow shortly…

Our Y7 students have been involved with their first geography field study. Students have visited The New Lawn, home of Forest Green Rovers, to learn about sustainability, a vegan diet and the reasons why FGR would like to build a new sustainable stadium near Stonehouse. Some lucky students were also able to cook vegan food which we all enjoyed sampling.  We were also fortunate to meet Christian Doidge and ask him a few questions.

Students then travelled to Eastington to understand the views of local councillors about plans for FGR’s new stadium.  Finally, students then completed questionnaires with members of the public in Stonehouse and Nailsworth to learn about the views of local residents.  In Geography lessons, students will now use all of this raw data to write reports about the different views relating to FGR’s proposed new stadium and reach their own justified conclusions.

On behalf of all our students, we would like to thank FGR, local councillors in Eastington and members of the public who have all made today’s field study a huge success.

Be grateful for the people who love and care for you, and the people who want to spend time with you.  Be grateful to sleep in a bed each night, for the sun that comes up each morning, for the teacher who greets you with a smile, and for a body that lets you experience life each day. Be grateful for your favourite series coming back on TV, for a friend that suggests you get together. Practicing gratefulness can cause almost an immediate shift in your perspective and mood. Keeping a daily gratitude diary can help remind you to keep life’s blessings at the forefront of your mind. There is something about writing it down that fixes it more firmly in your mind.

Positive Afirmations

What are they then? Positive affirmations are short statements that help you focus on what is good about you and your life.  An affirmation can work as it has the ability to program your mind into believing the stated concept. These are some examples I found on the internet:

• I have a great sense of humour and my friends think I’m funny.
• I forgive myself for not being perfect because I know I’m human
• I am pretty and chatty and people always want to be my friend.
• I am kind to other people and don’t get involved with gossip.

Write 5 or 6 statements about yourself, and read them every morning or when you feel a bit down in the dumps.  It’s very positive thinking them up in the first place and they will make you feel more positive about yourself.  You have to believe them and repeat them. Have them in the notes on your phone.

Random Acts of Kindness

It’s easy to get absorbed by our own problems and life, and to forget about the people around us. Stepping outside of your daily routine, to help someone else, can provide amazing perspective and fill you with positivity. Strive to do one nice thing for someone else each day. Can you think of someone in your form who might be a little lonely?  A friendly hello in the morning might make all the difference.  I’m not asking you to become their BFF, just a hello.

Music and Exercise

This will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone but listening to upbeat music can boost your happiness and help lift some of that negativity that can cloud all of us at times.

If you start exercising, your brain recognises this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, you release a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). Ultimately this makes us feel at ease and helps us think clearly, and feel happy.  Also endorphins are released, just like when you smile or laugh. These endorphins tend to minimize the discomfort of exercise, block the feeling of pain and are even associated with a feeling of euphoria. So a message to all our students beginning their revision programmes, do not drop the exercise as it will help your positive energy and improve your focus and concentration during exams.