INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL TOUGHNESS AND RESILIENCE IN YOUNG PEOPLE (MORNING SESSION)

Doncaster Council, in partnership with AQR International, is running a half day conference introducing the Mental Toughness concept, how we assess it and how to develop it in young people.

We are inviting you to join an exciting pilot project to develop a Mental Toughness and Resilience toolkit with year 6 and 7 pupils.

This will be a two-year project tracking year 6 pupils through transition and into year 7. It offers opportunities for primary and secondary schools to collaborate and work in partnership to improve pupils’ mental toughness and resilience. Research indicates that these are key skills in children managing their learning and adapting to new situations and challenges. This is particularly important during year 6 with rigorous tests followed by transition into secondary school. There is further evidence to suggest that many pupils particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds struggle to adapt to the new challenges of secondary school.

The project forms part of the Doncaster Children and Young People’s Plan 2017-2020 has identified key themes of Achievement, Healthy and Happy as priorities for action. This includes ensuring children and young people are resilient and equipped to access education, employment or training. Children and young people’s voice-driven priorities tell us that they want to be equipped to handle bullying, be more resilient and better able to handle difficult situations.

The aim of the mental toughness and resilience project is to gain a clearer understanding of how children and young people living in Doncaster deal with adversity and the effect this has on their school attendance, performance, welfare and behaviour.

As part of the project, schools will receive comprehensive training on the concept of mental toughness, psychometrics, mental toughness development interventions. There is no cost to the school to participate as this is funded through the Doncaster Schools Forum.

The Conference:

AQR International are facilitating a half-day conference to introduce the concept of mental toughness, the origins of the concept and the key research and benefits of Mental Toughness in education. Delegates will have the opportunity to try the Mental Toughness Questionnaire and experience some taster activities.

The conference will be held at Castle Park, Armthorpe Road, Doncaster on Monday 26^th November with morning and afternoon sessions available.

Keynote speakers include:

• Professor Peter Clough – Peter is Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Huddersfield. He is the global leading authority on Mental Toughness. Peter has taken the concept and made it widely accessible to a spectrum of sectors including education. Peter has published a number of key papers on Mental Toughness in education.
• Dr John Perry – Dr Perry is Head of Psychology at Mary Immaculate College in the Republic of Ireland, having previously been a senior lecturer at Hull University and Leeds Trinity University. John has also published a number of key research papers on Mental Toughness in education.
• Doug Strycharczyk – Doug is the CEO for AQR International, an innovative test developer, which he founded in 1989. In recent years, Doug has worked with Professor Peter Clough to define mental toughness and to create the world’s leading measure of mental toughness. Doug is now recognised as a leading authority on the application of mental toughness to the worlds of work, education, sport as well as social applications.
• Steve Oakes – Director of Education for AQR. Steve Oakes has 17 years’ experience teaching post-16 students as classroom teacher, heads of faculty and senior leader. Over the last five years, he has worked with more than a hundred schools to develop effective non-cognitive skill development systems.

Claim a free ticket to the morning session below, or you can click here if you’d like to book for the afternoon session.

Please get in touch in touch at toni@aqr.co.uk if you’d like to find out more!