In This Together

Stress is completely natural; we all experience it in some way or another. In small amounts, it can be good, because it pushes you to work hard and do your best but we understand it’s not a welcomed feeling and it can sometimes be difficult to manage.

Here are our tips for managing stress that we hope will help you while your studying from home.

Managing your workload:

• If you feel overwhelmed with your workload, make a to-do list and identify the most important tasks you need to achieve.

Be brave and get the larger or most difficult tasks out of the way first. Most of us procrastinate because we dread the task we’re putting off, but it’s almost always never as bad as you think!

Take some time to recalibrate:

• Ensure you’re still striking a balance, take breaks, call a friend, relax with a cup of tea or exercise, keep hydrated and ensure you still prioritise sleep.

Staying motivated:

• With our day to day habits and routines having to adapt so quickly, it’s understandable if you feel deflated and fatigued.

Waking up at a reasonable time every morning will keep your body clock in check, make the most of this time whether it’s spending more time loved ones, relaxing in the garden, saving your spends, or finally having time to binge-watch your favourite tv show!

Managing pressure

• Try not to worry about the future or compare yourself with others. Some of our worries can be out of our control or become bigger the longer we linger on them.

Take a break and do something creative, focusing on something that you enjoy can help you re-energise. Develop or reach out to your support network whether this be to friends, family, tutors or professionals.
 

Our Student Support and Careers and Welfare team will remain available to provide you with support. We’ve set up remote support lines and email addresses for you to call should you need to – details can be found here or you can email us at careers&welfare@tmc.ac.uk.

You can find out more information and seek further guidance from the NHS website.

Being confined or isolated for an extended period can be challenging and affects everyone differently. It is normal to feel stress and worry about your situation and the changes it has had on your day to day life. That’s why it’s important to take action to help reduce the potential impacts on your general health and wellbeing:

Set up health daily routines:
A routine can help reduce boredom and help you create a sense of normality.

• Maintain a healthy and balanced diet, it’s easy to over snack when your procrastinating.
• Keep your body clock in check with a regular sleep schedule and try not to sleep in too late.
• Take on a couple of chores around the house, to help out family and to stay sharp-minded.
• If you can study from home, try to stick to your normal study times and keep an activity log.
• If you have spare time, consider doing tasks that will help you feel a sense of achievement - read a book cover to cover, master the splits or organise your wardrobe.

Stay active
Exercise is a proven way to reduce the effects of stress.

• Look for home workout options, there are loads of apps, Instagram feeds and youtube workouts available that are great for when you can't leave your living room or have little or no equipment. There is lots you can still do with household items like tins and water bottles!

Stay connected:
It’s important to share how you feel and try linking with those in a similar situation.

• Reach out to people you trust like friends and family via phone, text, email and video chat.
• Consider creating group chats for any groups you may not see so you can all keep up to date with each other.
• Take part in isolation challenges with friends that bring you laughter and pass the time.

Take time to relax

• Plan activities that help you feel calm or safe.
• Make plans for the future that you and friends can look forward to.
• Try to get fresh air or spend time outside if possible.
• There’s nothing wrong with binge-watching Disney+ if you really want to!

Stay informed with what you need to know
It’s normal to want to stay informed and up to date with what’ happening but too much exposure especially if you are self-isolating can be detrimental to your mental health. If you are feeling overwhelmed by news or social media, set time limits to the amount of time you spend watching or reading news or commentary.

Check your thoughts and feelings:
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed or stressed. It’s important to remind yourself that this will pass.

You can find out more information and seek further guidance from the NHS website.

As a student at The Manchester College, you're entitled to both counselling on campus, as well as 24-hour support from our partner PAM Assist. 

For more information, speak to a member of the student experience team on your campus to find out how you can access this.

In order to provide you with reassurance if you have applied to join us in September 2020, in line with latest Government guidelines, we have made the decision to accept teacher assessed GCSE grades when confirming places to study on courses.

This means that, where applicants have received teacher assessed grades that meet the conditions of their offer, we will enrol them onto their chosen programme of study.

However, in relation to English and maths, where students do not have the required grade 4 actually awarded to them, they will still be required to re-sit these as part of their study programme.

The College also wants to reassure students that our Student Support and Careers and Welfare team will remain available to provide support. We have set up remote support lines and email addresses for you to call should you need to – details can be found here.

Support will include access to the equivalent of ‘free school meals’, welfare and bursary support for those who are most in need. We will issue specific advice on these points in due course. If you are currently in receipt of these funds we will contact you directly via an email to enable us to make arrangement for your bursary support going forward. Please check your inbox for this email and reply with the details requested.

In addition, if you have support needs outside of working hours you can take a look at our list of useful contact where you will find a list of ways in which we can help you.

Additional Support Available

List of helplines

Young People Support

Myplace, is an ecotherapy project delivered by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, in partnership with the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.  

Myplace empowers people and their communities to connect with local environments and wildlife in order to learn new skills, build resilience and improve their physical health and mental wellbeing.

• 1,182 individuals have benefitted from Myplace so fars
• 95% of people feel benefits in just six week

In light of the current situation regarding Covid-19 we have temporarily paused all on site delivery. However, we are pleased to announce Myplace are continuing to run free, live, virtual Ecotherapy sessions to small groups, via a safe online meeting room platform.

If this is an offer you or someone you know may benefit from, please complete the self-referral form. Please send the completed form to: myplace@lancswt.org.uk

Myplace Referral Form

If you require any more information about Myplace please visit the Myplace project website.

Music to motivate you, no matter the vibe. 

Try out our study playlists on Spotify:

Total Concentration - purely instrumental 

Relaxed Study - chilled out music with lyrics 

Keeping Active - music to move to