This pack is the exercise and handout sheets for the workout designed to help school governors think through a whole school approach to exam stress and anxiety

1. www.hertsdirect.org
Exam Stress and Anxiety:
handouts for workshop on
whole school approach
Jim McManus, Director of Public Health, Hertfordshire County Council
Jim.mcmanus@hertfordshire.gov.uk
For a full copy of the presentation and tool go to
www.slideshare.net/jamesgmcmanus
November 2016
Handouts for exercises

2. 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

3. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
What is exam stress
• 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
A quick self assessment
Dimension What are you doing
well?
What could you do
better?
Cognitive
Behavioural
Affective
Factors in the school
day, environment,
teacher behaviour
How good are you at
spotting signs?
What internal support
exists
How does the school
own this?

7. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Governance in Action –
the Circle of Accountability
How could this help you address exam stress and anxiety?