The waiting game...

Hello you lovely lot! Hope you're all enjoying you week so far, as we've only got 3 more weeks left of 2025...

As of such, I'm trying my absolute hardest to relax & take it easy for the remainder of this month. This is due to no LSA work coming in now until after New Year. I like to say that it's been easy for some part, but other times, it's been emotionally exhausting & frustrating.

As a consequence, my mind always feels the need to keep busy to prevent me from being bored. This is just another thing I find incredibly frustrating about being an Agency LSA, in case if I've not mentioned that already.

For example: I can get a phone call from an agency on one day about me being available to be needed to work in a school for the next day or so. However, come the next day at precisely 7:30am the next morning, I get no phone calls whatsoever?! At around this time, I'll be calling the agency up to ask them if I'm still needed to work in the school today. But then they don't answer their phone, or I just get told that I'm no longer needed to work at the school anymore. Even though I've made every ounce of effort to be on "standby" just in case.

In my case, this is EXACTLY what has been going on for the past 2 months now, and frustrated would be an understatement to describe how I had felt throughout all of this malarkey. Hence, this blog's title - "The waiting game". And my intention for this post is to share this experience of constantly being put on hold by recruiters from several agencies, when they keep telling you that they will put you in a LSA job the following day('s), but they keep on leaving you out to dry but not contacting you in any way at all.

I get that there is hardly work now in the 3 weeks running up to Christmas, but to not be contacted by any agency to keep me updated on what sort of jobs I can start in the New Year is really grinding my patience down.

Any Agency LSA's reading this, or anyone working in a similar industry, I'd be very interested to hear if you've been through what I've been going through as well over the past 2 months.

Over & out.

Tips on how to form a good working relationship with SEMH students

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing good.

As the above title states, I thought I'd share some useful tips on how to form a good working relationship with SEMH students. This is especially handy for anyone who is looking into going into this industry. Not to mention that the benefits that come out of this feel immensely rewarding too!

However, I must warn you that the process of forming a good relationship with SEMH students can come with a fair share of emotional obstacles along the way... As I have experienced...

DO:

• Be polite by saying "morning" to them - Even if you see the students walking around who you barely know, it's always good to greet them warmly first thing in school. Especially how it can really secretly brighten up their mood, as they may not be warmly spoken to in that manner at home.

• Try to start a friendly conversation with them - Again, if you come across a student you barely interact with, at least pluck up the courage to begin a friendly conversation with them, such as: "How are you doing today X?" Although a majority of the students (especially the ones I didn't interact with much) will tell you to go away at times, at least they will eventually see in time that you are trying to make an effort to get to know them a bit more.

• Be firm with boundaries & behaviour - I know this will be nerve-racking, but you need to be very consistent with verbally telling students about the inappropriate behaviour they are displaying, as well as to firmly inform them of the consequences should they choose to continue with their inappropriate behaviour. Believe me, they will be thanking you inside their heads later, as SEMH kids crave on a sense of security.

DON'T:

• Keep on changing their routine during their school day - If there is 1 thing that SEMH kids HATE the most, it's definitely change. Every structured routine in their school day must be kept the same where possible, as sudden last second changes can REALLY cause SEMH kids to have some serious dysregulations! Trust me, witnessing a SEMH pupil dysregulated is not the prettiest thing to experience.

• Expect or make them do paperwork for the whole lesson - I know this may sound weird to some people, as you'd typically expect any pupil to get on with doing paperwork for an entire lesson, but with SEMH pupils, that is a different story, and this can cause them to feel tired & overwhelmed, as being in a classroom for too long can stress them out due to carrying an excessive amount of energy then other kids from non SEMH school settings. 

• Make them feel ashamed of their needs - Just because your purpose is to discipline SEMH pupils when they display inappropriate behaviour, doesn't give you the excuse to blame their needs for who they are as a person. The only thing this will do, is cause SEMH kids to have their confidence crushed, as they cannot change who they are inside.

I hope these tips will come into use for anyone who is looking into working in a SEMH environment. Especially having first-hand experience & knowledge. 

*I began this post on the 7/7, but didn't finish it until the 14/7*

How having an interest makes you more confident

Hello everyone! Hope you're all having a good day so far.

I've also just realised as I'm typing this post... We're at the halfway point of 2025 already! It's just flown by so quick!😱

Anyway, I've decided to make this blogpost based on something else that I have experienced during my time working at the SEMH school. Every single kid at that school had at least 1 or 2 special interests that made them more confident at being who they are, and how they are not afraid to show that confident & bright side of their personality to others.

Obviously, I will not be naming any names of the pupils that I have witnessed tell or showcased their special interests to me to protect their identity, but the least I can do is be specific about going into their special interests in detail on here.

There was a boy in my Y11 class, who was very fascinated into art. There was even a large, suitcase size art portfolio where all of his artwork is stashed. Every piece of artwork was inspired by the artists that he had learned about. I've seen for myself how more confident he becomes in himself, as he appreciates how much I say how his artwork is very inspirational, and how it gives him a sense of pride; To make him want to do so well in life.

There was another boy in my Y11 class, who has very in-dept knowledge of theme parks & rollercoasters. He can tell me every single fact & trivia about any rollercoaster from across the world! Again, the more I let him share his wide knowledge of theme parks & rollercoasters, the more confident he feels interacting in class, as this gives him a sense of pride.

In some cases, these interests CAN lead to you gaining a job/career in those industries, because there is a certain saying that goes along the lines of: "Choose a job you love, then you'll never have to work a day in your life." Meaning, you thrive so much with doing something you're wholeheartedly interested in, that it takes away the worry of having to apply to any job just for the sake of HAVING to work somewhere, or to show everyone you do actually work to people please them.

I hope this post was helpful to anyone who can relate as well. 

I do plan on making more blog posts next month, as I'll have some days free where I've got nothing else "out of work related" planned.

My 2nd university open event experience (10/12/2022)

I was originally going to make this post last night, but I became too occupied with watching the England V France football game. Sadly, the Lions lost, courtesy of the French. And let's also not forget Harry Kane's missed penalty.

Anyway, yesterday's experience was almost similar compared to last Saturday's experience. Although, I got to do some different things in this experience this time around. Here's my full takeaway of my 2nd open uni open day experience from start - finish...

I arrived in Portsmouth shortly after midday to begin my 2nd university open event experience. Once I got myself checked in, I immediately looked for the building within the uni campus that I needed to go to. Fortunately, I didn't have too much of a far walk to get to the Psychology building, where the course talk will be talking place. The King Henry Building to be more specific.

When I made my way into The King Henry Building, I went looking for the room I needed to be in for the course talk. Just like at Solent, there was a presentation that was talking about how psychology plays an important role in society. Or in other words, how psychology can shape the world. I was nothing but fascinated by the amount of examples that the lecturer was telling us of the examples of work placements involved.

Unlike any other university, this one in particular, has a lot of top reasons to study here statistics. It has even been ranked one of the best for specializing in Psychology!

Once we were done with the course talk in the lecture room, there was a tour guide who was keenly waiting outside to take us round the Psychology area. As it turns out, the tour guide is currently doing his 2nd year in Psychology at this university. We first went upstairs to tour round the Psychology equipment rooms. The first one had a human head sitting on a counter wearing a EEG brainwave cap. The second room we went into had an eye traking monitor inside. We also went into a room under construction process, which will become a laboratory. The rest of the rooms downstairs were just research rooms.

The last & favourable bit of the tour was going into a huge lab room downstairs, where research projects take place. What's best about them, apparently, is where students on the course get to carry out a research project on their own! I'll admit, I like the idea of carrying out a research project. (If I ever get the chance to do one...!)

The tour/open event experience concluded after that. Like before at Solent, I was satisfied with the amount of experience I had managed to takeaway.

My 1st university open event experience (3/12/2022)

OMG, I have just had one of the best experiences of my life! What I've experienced today has really opened my eyes to how psychology can go a long way into the world. It's not just my eyes that have opened up to everything I had seen today, my mind has also widely opened up to the mass amount of psychology careers there are out there.

To prevent me from rambling on anymore, I'll go straight into the story from start - finish...

 

2 weeks ago today, (19/11/2022) I booked myself to go to my 1st ever university open event. Fast forward to after a fortnight of excitement later... I had the morning pleasure of trekking down to Solent University in Southampton for what was unknowingly an eye-opening experience.

As I arrived at the building entrance, I was greeted by a member of the open event team who kindly made me feel welcome by handing me an open event programme. From that moment, I was deciding what to go and see. Whilst curiously scrolling through my programme, I saw that there was a psychology talk happening in one of the rooms on the 1st floor. Of course I chose to venture up there!

Inside one of their rooms to begin with, myself & a load of other people were warmly introduced to 2 of the psychology lectures. Both of whom, seemed experienced enough with years of being in the psychology industry. Hence, their industry knowledge was, needles to say, phenomenal! The male & female lectures hosted a quiz activity, which was to basically test everyone's knowledge of psychology. The first being to name as many famous psychologists as possible. Fortunately for me, I was able to name a few. At the same time, however, I do need to brush up my knowledge of famous psychologists a bit better if I want to expand my knowledge. The various other questions we did was based upon reading people's emotions through the look in their eyes. I couldn't remember the purpose of what the other questions were aimed at, but I had found them fascinating nonetheless. After the psychology quiz, the male lecturer was telling us something that made me view psychology from a whole different angle. It went along the lines of: "Psychology is not just about mental health". I absolutely agree with what the male lecture was saying, as psychology has an overall purpose of behaviour of anything. When I say 'anything' I am talking about animal behaviour as well.

One of the 3rd year students who was doing a psychology degree in counselling, was happily sharing her own personal experience of her time studying at the university. She was even highlighting her time studying abroad in Canada. The remainder of her talk was all about doing work placements around the university area. I think it was safe to say that the female student was enthusiastic throughout her time speaking!

The female lecturer was then going through Levels 4 - 6, explaining what different psychology degree modules will typically be taught. It was amazing to see how many of these degree courses have psychology alongside them. They all consisted of: Sport Psychology, Psychology & Counselling, Criminology & Psychology, Sociology & Psychology or just Psychology on its own.

Afterwards, we all went into the room next door to be shown a little fun psychological experiment. 3 people had volunteered themselves to be hooked up to this special piece of machinery, which was connected to the room computer. The computer screen was displaying these graphical lines that illustrated how calm these 3 people were, while sitting in the chair doing self-humiliating things. The 1st person had to count back from 280 in 3's. The 2nd person had to bravely sing a Christmas song in front of all of us watching. I can't remember what the 3rd person did.

All in all, the small psychology taster activities were very eye-opening, which really helped me to further widen my passion for psychology to a better level. Literally, the second I had walked out of the building, my motivation was kicked into overdrive. I was just now so keen to get myself into the psychology industry like never before!

To top everything off, I will be attending the open event at Portsmouth University the following Saturday. I expect more or less the same from today's open event at Solent, but it could be different anything. Regardless, I shall very much be looking forward to it!    

Why is #Anxiety linked with #MentalHealth?

Disclaimer: This will be a follow-up post, in relations to my previous special post. See here: Just a little something for #WorldMentalHealthDay 

Hello and Happy Friyay! Yes, I've been in a great mood this week and I've hope you all been the same way too throughout this week. 

As of such, I've been wanting to talk about for awhile (until it was actually the most convenient time to talk about it. I'll explain in a bit) why Anxiety is linked to Mental Health.

From where I stand, I see this topic of discussion somewhat personal to me, as I suffer from Anxiety time-to-time, hence my reasons for a lengthily break. However, as I'm sure you all know by now, talking to an audience by writing/typing really helps me to feel better about myself, as well as taking a huge weight off my chest. 

Whenever it DOES happen, I start to think about the worst case scenario('s) in regards to what's going to happen? Or will it even get better? In shorter terms, all of the mentioned can be referred to as 'Overthinking'

Reason and being the most foremost as to why it links with Mental Health, is because you will be thinking of too many things at one time, (basic definition of overthinking) causing your mind to overload and therefore not being able to cope with anything for a short period of time, as your potentially putting yourself off your own focus.

Well, I say a short period of time, as it never lasts forever, but in reality, it all really depends on how long YOU go through it all.

The best advice for trying to avoid your Anxiety by overthinking too much, is to take everyday as it comes. Do everything one step at a time, so your mind will be able to adapt to the one priority you intend to prioritize first, in order for you to succeed at trying to accomplish something. My biggest example of this would be coursework. With that said, I'm sure many of you can relate to that too.

Furthermore, keeping with the "Do everything one step at a time" strategy will make life a hell of a lot easier for you when you try to get any work done, as well as making you feel good about yourself when you acknowledge that's the strategy to success.

I hope I've taught you all something, by gaining a more in dept understanding of why that link is strongly paired between the two factors. 

Bottom note: Research definitely helps to gain more knowledge.

Thank you for reading, please do feel free to notify me and I hope to publish again soon!  

What goes through your mind when you've achieved something?

Hello all, I hope you've all had a good weekend and enjoyed watching the last of The Olympics. I'd say 4th place was decent for us to finish in, considering the competitiveness of the top 3 countries above us.

Anyway, this will be yet another related post to The Olympics, only this time, I'll be talking about what feelings, thoughts and emotions go through your mind when you've achieved something, as this is a BIG achievement when you think that it's just ordinary people (meaning you and me) doing extraordinary things!

When you finally achieve your very first gold medal after 8 years of waiting, you will first feel your heart jump out from your body, due to the shock that has just entered your mind which says: "OMG! I can't believe I've finally done it!"

You then become speechless, as your mind is still processing all kinds of happy emotions, which causes it to become increasingly overwhelmed with everything around you.

When it eventually settles enough by taking all of the emotions and the achievement in, your mind will keep saying to you: "I am so happy that I've managed to do that. This is something I will never forget, by always keeping it as a memory." Therefore, you still feel excited after what has just happened to you, so you feel the need to announce it to your friends and family, as your mind is telling you that it could do with more praise from other people, to help keep the proudness flowing inside of you.

Not only does it make you feel like that, the achievement can make your connecting people feel just as proud as you are, as they have your full support in everything. Believe me, it feels just as good to applaud people, when THEY are the ones who have achieved something.

This is what is known as using "Reverse psychology" because you share you intend to share your achievement news to your connecting people, so THEY can feel proud of you, in order to make YOU feel proud about yourself in that way.

With that achievement completed, your mind then says to you: "I'm glad that I've finally done that, but do you know what? I reckon that I can go one step better than last time!" This very mind statement will help engage your confident emotion to chase down and succeed that next step. My advice would be to keep repeating it over and over to ensure your mind to stick to it. (Meaning, keeping focused)

That concludes my post for today. 

Thank you for reading through. Please do feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person and enjoy the rest of your week! 

How does your mind play tricks on you and how can you deal with it?

Ello all, I hope you're all enjoying your week so far... For me, I had a great day at College yesterday, and I did some Maths revision this morning. (Just in case I need to retake my final exam the following month)

In this post, I will be highlighting all of the ways that your mind plays tricks on you... as well as the best ways of how to overcome them.

Remember: 

YOU are capable of being your own worst enemy, so always be careful with what you think about.

Keep repeating those words.

Example 1:

You are at home currently doing some English revision, when all of a sudden... you begin to struggle with how to answer one particular question and your thoughts have gone all "blank" as you cannot think about anything at all.

At this stage, your mind starts playing tricks on you by muttering these kind of words: "You'll never do it, so just give up now" "I'm such a disappointment" "I will always be stupid, because my friends can do these easily but I can't"

One way of managing these mind tricks, is by memorizing all of your previous achievements when doing revision tasks, as they will help encourage you find the success in completing them, Another good way is just to simply take a break, so your brain will be able to recharge its batteries in order to help you think better.

(These are all of the things I do, when I experience these problems whilst doing revision - They really help!)

Example 2:

You are on your own somewhere, with no one else around in sight, (let's say in your bedroom) then out of the blue... you start to feel angry about something you did in the past or even just recently which you were not proud of.

Again, your mind starts playing tricks on you, however this time, you experience something called: "self confrontation" which means, you say bad things to yourself in order to make you feel bad or imagining yourself saying these bad things to another person and imagining THEIR anger. This is where you unnecessarily compare yourself to somebody else, as your "self confrontational" mind tricks have now built up your intensity level to no longer think straight.

The best and foremost way of handling it, is to break the habit of comparing yourself to other people and not dwelling about your past, so you will be able to ensure yourself to keep on pushing through with your life no matter what. Although, using "self confrontation" may actually be a good thing for you, as it helps to practise test the mental strength of your own mind, so when someone starts having a go at you, you'll be able to soak up their negative words like a sponge by doing all of that practise.

(Believe you me, this is something which I do almost on a daily basis! And it works a treat in reality!)

Thank you ever so much for taking your time to read through this long post. Please do feel free to comment or message me in person about a similar experience you may haver had before.😊

But just before I end this post, I thought about sharing one of my favourite songs with the above title. 

*Warning, this song contains explicit words*