Time for Exams...

As examination season falls upon us, it is normal for many teenagers and students to feel stressed and under pressure - the pressure often inadvertently coming from the family. The BBC have produced tips on how parents can help children through the anxiety. It can be an equally anxious time for parents - this report indicates that it affects 24% of parents' own mental health. Positive Parenting Project founder, Anita, suggests that creating an environment that is conducive to learning and adopting a positive approach will go a long way in supporting children. There is a useful guide by Student Minds on helping control exam stress.

Childline have an innovative Art Box for expressing feelings and games to help students relax. Meditation is also becoming a popular form of relaxation. MindSpace have created various resources including one-minute podcasts on tackling various issues including anxiety - providing useful introductions to meditation and mindfulness.

Improving and evaluating performance with the PSS

The Public Sector Scorecard (PSS) is used to measure a number of critical success factors for performance management and improvement in the public and third sectors. An article has recently been published, highlighting the fact that although several research papers have been published describing the problems and pitfalls of public sector performance management, few have offered a solution. 

Here, a case study approach is used to take an in-depth look at the UK Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force and for Sheffield Let’s Change4Life, to address and evaluate child obesity using the PSS. 

An innovative outcome of this study, was the use of a combination of the PSS and the Theory of Planned Behaviour for the evaluation.