Secondary School Survival Tips
This summer, we’re sharing our #SecondarySchoolSurvivalTips to help all new Year 7'ers feel confident, calm, and ready for what’s next. 💪✨
Got questions? need specific advice? DM us or follow the link in the bio/caption on our instagram @lvatrust
The Wellness Gremlins
The indicator feelings of stress, worry, and anxiety that can pop up during big transitions. But don’t panic! You can keep them in check with your daily D.O.S.E of feel-good brain chemicals: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins. Simple daily actions can make a big difference to your child's mood and mental health. Let’s tackle those gremlins together!
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Dopamine
Dopamine is the brain's "reward" chemical, released when we achieve something or experience pleasure, helping us feel motivated and satisfied.
✅ Tick off a to-do list
🎨 Try something new
🎯 Set and achieve SMART goals
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Oxytocin
Oxytocin is known as the "love hormone" it’s released through bonding, touch, and connection, helping us feel safe, trusted, and emotionally close to others.
🤗 Join a club (#1 tip)
🐶 Spend time with pets
💬 Have a meaningful chat
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Serotonin
Serotonin is the brain chemical that helps regulate mood, sleep, and appetite, often linked to feelings of calm, happiness, and emotional balance.
🚶♀️Be in nature/outdoors
🍌 Eat mood-boosting foods
🧘 Daily thankfulness/mindfulness
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Endorphins
Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters, released during exercise, laughter, or even dancing — helping you feel relaxed, happy, and energised.
😂 Laugh out loud
🕺 Dance or exercise (#1 tip)
🎧 Listen to your favourite music
Nutrition, hydration, movement, and sleep, the obvious yet often overlooked essentials. They're usually the first things to slip, but they’re vital to our holistic wellbeing. These are the foundations of feeling well, thinking clearly, and coping with life’s challenges.
The importance of being pro-active and in control!
It’s too easy to slip into quick fixes to boost these feel-good hormones, like excessive screen time for dopamine, people-pleasing for oxytocin, junk food for serotonin, or over-exercising for endorphins. our body and mind crave our daily D.O.S.E if we are not careful we will go into auto pilot and slip into un-healthy habits! While these things can offer short-term relief, these habits can lead to imbalance and burnout. Healthy, mindful choices are key to lasting wellbeing.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is the foundation of a young person's confidence, decision-making, and resilience. When teenagers have a healthy view of themselves and believe in their worth, they’re more likely to set healthy boundaries, resist peer pressure, and bounce back from setbacks. It shapes how they see themselves, and how they show up in the world. That’s why building self-esteem is one of the most important life skills they can learn.
INTRODUCING: THE SELF-ESTEEM SHIELD
(CREDIT TO ESTEEM @ACET-UK)
The Self-Esteem Shield, created by @Esteem, remains one of the most powerful and engaging tools we've found to help young people begin their journey of self-discovery and confidence-building. It's a simple yet meaningful way to reflect on strengths, celebrate achievements, and set positive goals.
Top Left – I am... (Personal Qualities)
💬 “I am kind, thoughtful, creative, and a good friend.”
→ Encourage them to reflect on their character and personality traits that make them unique.
Bottom Left – I will... (Ambitions/Goals)
💬 “I will start a new hobby, work harder in school, and believe in myself more.”
→ Invite them to write goals or positive actions they want to take, no matter how big or small.
Top Right – I can... (Abilities)
💬 “I can speak up for myself, solve problems, draw well, and stay calm under pressure.”
→ This quadrant is for skills, both practical and emotional.
Bottom Right – I have... (Achievements)
💬 “I have made new friends, learned how to ride a bike, helped someone, overcome a tough time, got up for school on time.”
→ Get them to think about accomplishments and personal wins they’re proud of.
So what is wellbeing and what does it have to do with how resilient we are?
Emotional wellbeing is the ability to understand, manage, and express our feelings in healthy ways. It plays a vital role in building resilience; our capacity to bounce back from challenges, adapt to change, and keep going when things get tough. When we take care of our emotional wellbeing, we strengthen our inner toolkit for facing life’s ups and downs with confidence and clarity.
This activity encourages self-reflection on abilities, stress, purpose, and belonging. Sit with your young person and talk through each question, help them recognise their strengths, name everyday stresses (in order to address them healthily), explore how they can contribute, and identify the communities they’re part of. It’s a great way to build self-awareness, confidence, and connection, which are all key to emotional wellbeing.
But what does that mean for us?
What are your abilities?
The skills you have, the hobbies you have
What do you do/could you do that would be fruitful?
For your community, for yourself
What are our normal stresses?
The things everyone experiences
What communities are you in?
Self-awareness
What is self-awareness?
Part of emotional Intelligence is being self-aware. Many of us assume we know ourselves well, and the same goes for our teens. But true self-awareness is rarer than we think. Recent research has uncovered some surprising truths: there are two types of self-awareness, and things like low self-esteem or even over-confidence can sometimes get in the way. It also turns out that simply thinking deeply about ‘ourselves’ doesn’t always lead to clarity. For parents, understanding these insights can help us better support our teens as they navigate who they are, how they’re seen, how they affect their environment and how their environment affects them.
Taking back control. Respond Don’t React!
Internal self-awareness is about understanding what’s going on inside us, our thoughts, emotions, values, and behaviours, and recognising how these impact those around us. For young people, developing this awareness helps them take ownership of their actions, manage emotions, and build empathy.
External self-awareness is our ability to see ourselves from the perspective of others, understanding how our behaviour, words etc, is perceived. For teenagers, this means recognising how their words and actions might affect the people around them. Helping them become more socially aware and adaptable.
Ultimately, it’s managing our emotions through a healthy lens of how we affect our environment and how it affects us.
STOP
Spot the emotion, what is it?
BREATH
Consciously slow your mind to regain control. When strong emotions hit, simple breathing or grounding techniques can help you shift from a reactive state toa responsive state, giving you control over your choices.
CHALLENGE
How is this emotion serving me? why am i feeling this way, is it a me problem, or a them problem?
CHOOSE
How are you going to respond? think about the outcome? If its ‘a you problem’ what self-care strategy will you choose? If it’s a them problem, will a healthy challenge get you your desired results? Is the problem worth your energy?
Online behaviour: 3 core areas to address
Relationships
Friends
Banter
Bullying
Flirting
Exploitation
Sexual
Criminal
Financial
Emotional
Radicalization
Content
Algorithms
Influencers
Exposure
Gambling
Online behaviour: it’s complicated.
From screen time struggles to social media safety, the digital world brings new challenges for every parent of tweens.
This October, we’re hosting an event to open up the conversation around three key areas of online behaviour and how we can support young people to navigate them well.
Keep an eye on our newsletter and website for ticket info.
In the meantime, explore trusted online safety resources now on our site.
Let’s raise digitally smart and emotionally safe kids, together.
Empowered Relationships
Fitting in and forming friendships are hugely important to young people, especially during transitions, because their sense of belonging shapes their confidence, choices, and emotional wellbeing, making it vital for us as parents to listen, guide, and stay connected.
Three Tips to Relational Success...
1. Start with kindness, not pressure
Encourage your child to be friendly and open, but remind them they don’t need to rush into making “best friends” right away. Building healthy friendships takes time.
2. Set boundaries early
Help them recognise what makes a good friend and how to set boundaries if someone is unkind, pushy, or makes them uncomfortable. Roleplay simple ways to say “no” or walk away confidently.
3. Stay connected at home
Make space for regular check-ins so they can talk about their day, any friendship worries, or peer pressure. Knowing they have a safe (non-reactive/non-judgmental) space to process helps build their confidence and resilience.