1. SATs Stress: information for Primary School parents
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SATs Stress: information for Primary School parents
Explain to parents that your school offers pupils the MindMate Lessons which are aimed at keeping their children mentally healthy; this slide show is running in conjunction with the lessons and uses the same branding to help reduce the stigma that can be attached to mental health. The aim of the slides is to support parents to help their children cope well with the stresses of exams. In addition the information will help with other stressful situations
© Leeds South and East CCG

2. What is SATs stress? Stress that is caused by taking exams
It is a mainly physical response
The body thinks it is under attack and moves into fight, flight or freeze
Hormones & chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol are released
When you open the slide allow time for the liquid in the thermometer to go up and down and the emojis change. Some parents will easily be able to remember how exams felt for others it might be useful to remind them of what it was like taking their driving test or delivering a presentation at work.

3. Is stress bad for you? Everyone needs some stress
Stress can help motivate you and get you going in the morning
Stress is a problem when there is too much or too little of it
The slide reminds parents that we all need some stress in our lives and that it can help us to succeed. However, when stress becomes too much it really gets in the way of us doing our best.
The idea here is to help parents see that attitudes such as ‘it never did me any harm’ or being over protective and trying to remove all stress from children’s lives won’t help their children do as well as they could in their exams.

4. How stressed are our children
ChildLine Exam Stress Survey 2016 found
96% of pupils said they were anxious about exams
59% said that parental pressure was a problem
64% said that they had had no support with this
These pupils may have been offered help but did not find it effective
So we will look at what we
can do to help effectively
A Childline study came up with the figures above. They are not intended to make parents feel guilty but to show parents that there is a lot that they can do to help their children. If they get it right their children will succeed and remember how their parents have helped them.

5. Ask parents to think back to the stressful situations they thought abut earlier (slide 2) and whether someone telling them to calm down would have helped. Hopefully they will recognise that it wouldn’t have done much good. Then ask them if they think it will be similar for their children? Hopefully the penny will drop.

6. What can you do to help? Talk with your child Don’t add to the stress
Look out for signs of stress
Encourage a healthy life-style
Encourage breaks and treats
So if telling people to calm down doesn't work what can we do? Again emphasise that they have an important role here and can really help.
These ideas are modified from NHS website where there is ore detail on the topic.
See next slide (7) for signs of stress
Slide 8 has more on healthy life-styles
Slides 9 & 10 have more on evidence based revision
Get support for yourself if needed

7. Watch for signs of stress
Children and young people who experience stress may:
worry a lot
feel tense & be irritable
get lots of headaches & stomach pains
sleep badly
lose interest in food or overeat
not enjoy activities they did
previously
seem negative and hopeless about the future
cry

8. Healthy life-styles: your role
You can help your child
Get enough sleep (8-10 hours each night)
Have a good breakfast
Reduce high-fat, high-sugar and high-caffeine foods and drinks which can make children edgy and reduce sleep
Be active (especially if it is with done with other people)
Make time for treats and fun

9. Mindfulness © Headspace
Mindfulness could help pupils and/ or their parents; research shows it can reduce stress. Here is a simple explanation of how it works. It is not a magic wand and parents should not try and force their children to take it up.
© Headspace

10. Useful websites and apps
The Headspace app
The SAM app
Apps
Headspace: meditation helps with stress and anxiety, and Headspace aims to make meditation more accessible with 10 short guided meditations, a personalized progress page and reminders to help keep you on track. 
A free self-help app for anxiety (SAM app) conceived and co-designed by experts at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) has been downloaded by over 500,000 users from around the globe in over 100 countries since its launch in July It has been in the top 100 Health and Fitness Apps in 85

11. What will the school do to help reduce SATs stress?
Edit this slide to explain to parents what the school will be doing to help pupils such as revision groups, mindfulness.

12. Why is it important to have good mental health?
Children & young people with good mental health are better at:
Managing their behaviour
Coping with difficult situations and life changes
Doing well at school
Making and keeping friends
Doing well at sports and hobbies
If parents are unsure of the value of the lessons this sets them out in ways which they will relate to.

13. Taking the learning away:
The BBC have produced a helpful video for pupils on coping with exams. Give your children the link so they can have a look for themselves.
You might want to show a short clip from the video so that parents can see what their children will be seeing. Ask them to offer their children the choice of watching it with them or on their own. This will help them feel more supported and less nagged at. 13

14. MindMate help for parents
Explain that there is a website which has been developed in Leeds to help improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. There is a link to the website embedded in the image.

15. Goodbye and thanks

16. MindMate Lessons