6th form Grow Workshops Guest blog from Olivia Truscott, a sixth form volunteer for Grow. Over the past term, we have started a year 5 workshop series called Grow, looking at building resilience, understanding emotions, and managing change and disappointment. We have had an amazing team of 6th form students from local Hitchin schools
Young People Changing the landscape COVID-19 We have lived through a week that will define a generation. The COVID-19 crisis has turned the world upside down for all, but mostly for our children and young people. As the dust settles and we come to terms with the likelihood of schools being closed until September, with the
Time Trek Time Trek holiday club Guest blog by Carys Faulkner, young leader at Time Trek Time Trek holiday clubs are early anticipated in Hitchin!! They are run by local churches in the school holidays and Phase gets involved providing leaders, resources and ideas. In the recent Feburary half term a half day holiday club was
Vitality Big Half Run, they say? It will be fun! This coming Sunday 5 of us will be running the Vitality Big Half in order to raise money for Phase. Right now I am definitley feeling a mixture of emotions, ranging from excitment to terrified!! > But why are we doing this...? Because
The Studio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aged 11-18 years? Fancy a time to be creative? To meet with others? A space to chill out and chat…? > Why not come and try out the Studio... The Studio provides a space to be, create, talk, make new friends, learn new skills and have some fun! 4pm-5pm
kindness Random Acts of Kindness Have you ever carried out a random act of kindness? Or been on the receiving end of one? There are some amazing stories I have heard of incredible acts of generosity. A friend recently told me of a time when he was making the huge and difficult choice to quit
goals The tricky art of elephant eating Did you notice this new year that lots of people were talking about their ‘goals’ rather than their ‘new year’s resolutions’? It might just be the circle of friends I have or the people that I see on Instagram, but it felt like a shift to me. I think
ditch the news "The news and the truth are not the same thing..." Said a wise man once, Walter Lippmann in fact, the American journalist credited with coining the term 'Cold War' and writing extensively on media and democracy. I try to follow world news but I’m rather selective on what I read and what I ignore. When newspapers and
parents Managing emotions As part of our Grow workshop, we have been looking at positive ways for children to manage their emotions and have encouraged them to reflect on strategies that they would find helpful when they feel angry, sad or worried. This page will explain some of the strategies used, as well
mental wellbeing Blue Monday... This coming Monday (20th January) has gained the name Blue Monday. The third Monday in January is supposedly the day when due to a number of factors including the weather, failure to stick to new year’s resolutions, debt level, Christmas seeming a long time ago, people are feeling at
Try something new New year, new decade, new start, new hopes, new dreams, new, new, new!! As we begin a brand new year it can be a great time to think about how we want this year to be different from the last, a chance to reflect on the changes we can make
team Reflection and planning Photo by Nikola Jelenkovic [https://unsplash.com/@joe_banana?utm_source=ghost&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit] / Unsplash [https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=ghost&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit] We’re coming close to the end of the year now. Christmas anticipation is looming,
Faith The Heart of Christmas Today is the end of two weeks of our Christmas Unwrapped workshop, where we are able to share the story of the first Christmas with 15 groups of Year 6 students in Hitchin. One of the central messages of the workshop is how we have wrapped the message of Christmas
hope Bringing Hope this Christmas... Christmas lights have been switched on, Christmas music is playing, and it is now only 19 days until Christmas! I wonder what it is that you are hoping for this Christmas? What is it that you are expectant for? With hope comes that anticipation, that waiting. As we enter this
reflection So, here it is, Merry Chr... Too early?! Never! Despite having young children I am usually the first in my house to want to put the tree up, the lights round the front door and the mulled wine opened. I have also opened day one of my advent calendar, despite it only being the 29th November.
team Tales of the unexpected Recently I was telling someone about the work that I do at Phase as the Office Manager – the 5 areas that I cover (Office Admin / Finances / HR / Supporters / Communications) and what that entails for each area. But, as I thought about this a bit more it became apparent that actually
mentoring Mentoring; a space to grow What do you do if you don’t know how to do something, say some DIY? Perhaps you would look for some videos on Youtube [https://www.youtube.com], read some articles or even call a friend you know who has the knowledge you need. In a small way this
resilience R is for Resilience How would you define resilience? This is the question that we get the students thinking about when we deliever our year 7 and year 8 resilience workshops. As part of the work of Phase, we deliver workshops to students in year 7 and year 8 looking at the topic of
Young People Something new Hello, I'm Emily and I am new! Well, not brand new. I joined the Phase team at the end of August as the Early Intervention Lead, but there are still lots of things I am getting my head around. It’s been a crazy few weeks, but I
team Volunteering and why it's super cool Amanda gives us her wisdom about volunteering. Looking after other people (being a friend, a good member of the community or taking on a cause) are all ways to help other people One of the best ways to help look after other people is by volunteering! If you volunteer in
mentoring The M-factor What is the 'M-factor'? Mentoring! Mentoring is such a valuable tool that adds so much to somebody’s life. My experience of mentoring has been really positive and helped me to learn and grown in myself. By meeting with someone regularly and consistently really honestly has so many
social media Say cheese!! It’s World Smile Day today, Friday 4th October. That Friday feeling usually makes me break out in a grin, I have to say. Friday is my favourite day of the week because you have all of the anticipation of the weekend ahead plus I get to have pizza on
wellbeing How have you got on? At a recent On Your Mark’s workshop run by Phase with Year 6 students we asked students to show, on a spectrum of extremely excited to extremely worried, how they were feeling about starting at Secondary school next year. I was talking to the students who were extremely excited.
self care Get going!... I have my lovely Dad to thank for my love of being active. Sunday afternoons were designated as Family Activity (known as FA!) time when we would tramp round the chilly Derbyshire countryside, visit a National Trust property or be forced to mow the lawn or cut hedges. At the
Making Plans... If you could choose whether to plan the rest of your life or whether to live in the unknown which would you choose? Trying to make plans for your future is not easy. I remember sitting in the sixth form common room on a Monday morning at the start of