DD15 has struggled a bit academically over the years. However, she is focused, has a part time job and will start college in September. She knows what she wants to do when she leaves school.
Last week she started her GCSE’s. She mentioned that last week, during assembly the teachers and HT keep reiterating the importance of exams (obviously, goes without saying). Dd says they keep making a point of saying that without decent GCSE results they (the students) will get absolutely nowhere in life (she says they say this a lot). I can understand their point but feel that repeatedly saying things like this is just throwing out extra and unnecessary stress and fear at a time when many students are feeling the stain.
DD isn’t usually an anxious person and wasn’t getting overly stressed about the upcoming exams but since these assemblies it has really been concerning her. She was very quiet last week, didn’t sleep well and ended up with headaches and feeling completely knackered.
Yesterday she and a friend went into town for a meal. Dd rang me in tears asking me to come get her asap because she felt like she had an upset tummy coming on. I managed to get her back home in time and she was indeed poorly. She was much better after and I’m sure it was anxiety induced. She doesn’t usually have tummy woes but as an IBS suffer myself (which also runs in the family and is greatly exacerbated by stress) I am concerned this exam anxiety and added pressures via these assembly talks will trigger it off in her (my 26 year gut issues were triggered by a stressful event).
I fully appreciate the need for teachers to try to get through to their students the importance of exams but I do sometimes think they get so over consumed by it all that they overlook the students for whom exam situations are actually a very stress inducing and uncomfortable experience.
Anyhow. I am doing all I can in helping dd with relaxation techniques. She is taking some cbd gummies and having early nights but what else can I do to help her get through the next few weeks because of course, now she’s worried her digestive system will let her down mid-exam!