Welcome to our Blog

So many girls experience friendship difficulties.  And with many schools running school trips, with all the associated risk assessment and logistics, one of the factors that can significantly impact how smoothly the trip goes are these friendship difficulties between...

With exam season nearly upon us, here are three approaches you can use to support students to handle their exam anxiety so they can study well. Focusing on the now Many students tell me how worried they are about whether they will get the A-level grades they need for...

With 2018 marking the centenary of (some) women winning the right to vote we can celebrate the progress that has been made for girls and women in many spheres of life in the UK. However, an area of increasing concern is the rising level of mental health problems experienced by girls. Whilst girls often outperform boys academically, the school experience for many girls is significantly unhappier.

Many schools have embraced a Growth Mindset approach to teaching and learning over the last few years. At Confident Teens we believe it has a central role in supporting teen girls to build their resilience, confidence and belief in themselves. The central premise of Growth Mindset is believing that we are all capable of developing new skills. And what’s key is the effort we put in ourselves and the strategies we use in our learning and development.

Body confidence is such a difficult area for many teen girls. They consistently face digitally altered images which present impossibly perfect girls and women. And as we know this can impact girls’ self-worth, as they use these fake images as a measuring stick to their changing bodies –impacting their confidence, and often distracting them in class. This article explains how the Body Confidence module of the Building Resilience programme encourages girls to change their mindset about their bodies.

As a teacher you know how distracted or upset girls can be when they are not getting on with their friends. In the “Relationships” module of the Building Resilience programme I teach teen girls to recognise healthy and unhealthy behaviours in a relationship, and explore their strategies for friendships. This support girls to feel empowered to make choices about the friends they are spending time with, and the relationships they enter into.

We often see reported (and see ourselves in schools) the low levels of self-esteem amongst teen girls and then, separately, we learn of how few girls are taking STEM subjects at A-level. (For example in 2016 only 1.9% of girls choose Physics A-level, compared to 6.5% of boys). I believe there could be a link between this lack of self-belief in many teen girls and low participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). By addressing issues of confidence and resilience, we can encourage girls to consider STEM subjects in their A-level choices. In turn this could lead to STEM degree choices and their future careers

Many girls struggle to see the connection between their long-term goals and their day-to-day choices. In the ‘Goals and aspirations’ module of the Building Resilience programme I support teenage girls to define their own goal, make a plan to achieve it – and then reflect on what they are doing on a daily basis to make progress on their plan. This is an effective way to raise aspiration, and contribute to increasing motivation in class.

Confident Teens is celebrating its four year partnership with Herts for Learning, a leading education company operating with a not-for-profit ethos.  Teachers know the impact on learning of friendship difficulties, social media and body worries for teen girls. They see the distraction, anxiety and, sadly all too often, mental health problems that can develop. Confident Teens’ ‘Building Resilience’ programme supports girls to combat these pressures and build their resourcefulness.

Many teenage girls find it difficult to express themselves, whether that is answering questions in class or speaking up with their friends. Through the ‘Speaking confidently’ module in the Building Resilience programme girls learn to develop the mindset and skills for expressing ourselves, adopting a growth mindset approach. Girls have plenty of opportunity to practice this in a supportive and fun way during the session. This article outlines how this session unlocked Jessica’s* ability and confidence to express herself.

Do you teach some girls who you know are brighter and more capable that they are showing? That are – quite simply – hiding their light.
This can be so frustrating as their teacher. You have so many things to do and think about, but you have a nagging feeling that some girls are simply under-performing.
This can be a common issue with teenage girls, and it can be for a multiplicity for reasons.