This is one of two sessions for the 2016 School Governors conference on what school governors can do on student health and wellbeing. This presentation focuses on giving schools a system approach to exam stress

1. www.hertsdirect.org
Exam Stress and Anxiety:
The quick high level guide to a school
public health approach
Jim McManus, Director of Public Health, Hertfordshire County Council
Jim.mcmanus@hertfordshire.gov.uk
November 2016

2. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk

3. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Content
• This tool
– makes some key points on exam anxiety
and stress
– Identifies some key components which can
contribute to or prevent it
– Suggests a cycle of action for schools
– Provides you with some further resources
and reading to address it

4. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
A plug
Have you joined the whole school approach
network to young peoples’ mental health in
Hertfordshire? More schools are joining?
This can provide you with a helpful approach and
infrastructure to address issues
Contact publichealth@hertfordshire.gov.uk
jen.beer@hertfordshire.gov.uk

5. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
The cycle of beating exam stress at a school
approach
What is it?
Students
Parents
School environment (i.e. the
systemic aspects)
Ownership
Understand what it is and the
four dimensions
How will you support parents
understanding and acting on
these?
How will you address the
school environment to protect
and reduce exam stress
1. Write a plan
2. Own it at governor level
Questions to ask What you need to do
How will you address
cognitive, behavioural and
affective aspects

6. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
What is it?
• situation-specific trait
• Some level of individual differences in extent to which people find
examinations threatening
• broad and narrow definitions.
– Narrow - focus on fear of failure (emphasising how
performance is judged), or evaluation anxiety (emphasising
how test anxiety can be located with other, so called,
subclinical anxieties including sports performance, public
speaking, and so forth).
– Broad/systemic – individual factors and school factors and
social factors contribute to stress

7. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Dimensions
• cognitive:
– negative thoughts and deprecating self-statements that occur
during assessments (e.g. ‘If I fail this exam my whole life is a
failure’)
– performance-inhibiting difficulties from anxiety (e.g. recalling
facts and difficulty in reading and understanding questions);
• affective:
– person’s appraisal of their physiological state (such as tension,
tight muscles and trembling);
• behavioural:
– poor study skills, avoidance and procrastination of work
• Systemic:
– Factors in school which contribute to this
• E.g. fear appeals by teachers

8. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
“Take me to ‘the zone!”
• There are a number of factors that can increase
your performance. In each case, we will be
working on reducing stress to get you back into
the zone.
• 1. Physical factors - relaxation, rest, etc.
• 2. Rehearsal - practice, practice, practice
• 3. Thought - what you think is what you get

9. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Some Anxiety is Good for You
• Look at this chart -

10. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
What does it mean?
• Everyone needs some “stress” to perform at the
peak of their abilities, so at the beginning, as
stress increases, so does performance.
• But, if stress keeps increasing, there comes a
point, for you, where your performance will drop
off - that’s what you would call “test anxiety”.

11. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
“The Zone”
• The best place to be on this chart for optimal
performance is in the middle. Athletes call
this “the zone”.
•
 

12. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Strategies – the key MUST dos
1. Address the cognitive and behavioural aspects
1. Cognitive – thought framework, being in
good physical state to think and perform
2. Behavioural – e.g. study skills, timetabling
3. Affective – tension, trembling, panic
2. Address the systemic issues
1. School day design, school environment
2. Attitude and behaviour of teachers
3. Spot the signs, intervene and refer
4. Whole school approach

13. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
The Role of Governance
• Everything schools do and offer has been agreed by the
school’s Governing Body.
• E.g. Schemes that have financial implications (e.g. the
salary costs for School Counsellor) have been
discussed and agreed to by the Governors’
• E.g. The impact of services are reviewed by the
Governors’ Community Committee as per its Milestones
of Progress document.
• E.g. The impact of mental health and wellbeing support
from the school on exam results is scrutinised by the
Governors’ Teaching and Learning Committee.

14. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Governance in Action –
the Circle of Accountability

15. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
The cycle of beating exam stress at a school
approach
What is it?
Students
Parents
School environment (i.e. the
systemic aspects)
Ownership
Understand what it is and the
four dimensions
How will you support parents
understanding and acting on
these?
How will you address the
school environment to protect
and reduce exam stress
1. Write a plan
2. Own it at governor level
Questions to ask What you need to do
How will you address
cognitive, behavioural and
affective aspects

16. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Resources
For students
• http://
www.studentminds.org.uk/exam-stress.html
• http://
www.themix.org.uk/work-and-study/study-and-exam-tips/exam-stress-1241.html?gc
• http://
www.ucl.ac.uk/student-psychological-services/other-resources/ExamAnxiety
For schools
• http://
www.youngmindsvs.org.uk/school_stress
• https://
thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-21/ed

17. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Resources
For Parents
• http://
www.youngminds.org.uk/for_parents/worried_about_your_child/schoolwork_exam_
• http://
schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9E9C3630-AD7F-4C09-965C-B4464F515AB9/0/Tes
• http://
www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/pages/coping-with-exam-stress.a
• http://
www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/parentsandyouthinfo/parentscarers/worriesandanx
•
For Teachers
• http://
www.education.udel.edu/wp-co
• http://
www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvic

18. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Resources
Coping with panic attacks
• https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/well-connected/academic-
pressures/stressed/managing-exam-anxiety/exam-panic-
attacks
• Terrific tips for exams
• http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/article10.html
• Anxiety workbook for teens
• http://www.ycentral.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/2014/11/Anxiety_Wkbk_for_Teens_1.pdf