This month's way to wellbeing spotlight is on Take Notice.

We'll be producing material to support and promote Take Notice, alongside focusing on a different, salient wellbeing topic each week. Please visit the other items in this menu for more details.

Don't forget, if you want to plan your own activity and need inspiration, examples of previous events can be found here. As face to face activities aren't possible during the current situation, we'd love to hear from you with alternative suggestions. Please send these to studentsupport@manchester.ac.uk.

Resources

You can find ready-made resources here or, if you want to create your own, visit the University's brandsite for the assets you'll need (you'll need to scroll down a little to get to them!).

If creating your own, you’ll need to buy InDesign (in Adobe Creative Cloud) from the University's Electronic Software Delivery system.

You should also ask IT to install the University fonts, they can do this simply for you here.

Social media

Don't forget to follow us on instagram: @uomwellbeing.

Every Wednesday the Wellbeing Team will be promoting positive wellbeing to encourage students to take care of themselves during these uncertain times. 

We'll be handpicking different events and activites students can take part in throughout the day at home - from mindfulness sessions to exercise classes.

This will be promoted through our instagram page @uomwellbeing and on our student support website. You can find a clickable PDF schedule for the day here, this will be updated every Tuesday. Further assets for social media can be found below.

If you'd like to run your own activities to promote positive wellbeing and need some inspiration, take a look at this event ideas page. Due to the current situation, we know that face to face activities won't be possible so if you have any suggestions for alternative events, we'd love to hear from you: studentsupport@manchester.ac.uk

Remember to use the hashtag #uomwellbeingwednesdays in any social media posts!

Suggested copy for newsletters etc:

Looking for a wellbeing boost? Every Wednesday your Wellbeing Team will be running ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays!'. These Wednesdays will include wellbeing events and activities that you can take part in from home throughout the day - from mindfulness sessions to live gigs. Follow @uomwellbeing to get involved!

Assets:

(Right-click to save images- social media and instagram story assets will be updated every Tuesday)

Uncertainty

Change and uncertainty can leave us with many negative feelings to navigate. Our prolonged attempts to maintain our wellbeing over the past year, may also impact our outlook on how to manage these feelings.  These feelings can also directly impact various aspects of life, including routine, mindset, our home environment, eating habits and our sleep pattern. For more information on how to manage each of these areas, click here. 

Evidence suggests that accepting change and uncertainty and our emotional responses to these, is one of the most effective ways to support our wellbeing.  In attempting to reframe our outlook on uncertainty, it may positively impact our wellbeing and carry us through this incredibly challenging time. When we realise we can’t predict or control the future, it gives us space to and energy to stay grounded in the present. 

Focus and motivation

In returning into another national lockdown, it may bring both old and new emotions to the surface; frustration, confusion and anger, emotions we may have thought to overcome in the last few months. The prospect of facing all these emotions again is, in one word – exhausting. 

Therefore, the idea of studying or working seems incredibly daunting with focus and motivation sometimes difficult to muster. There is no right or wrong way to overcome these feelings and they will indeed be different for everybody. In a time like this, concentration comes in short bursts, so we have put together a few tips and tricks to slowly build up motivation and focus. A graduate student who completed final year during lockdown  has created newsletters on focus and motivation, revision strategies, and more advice, drawing from her own experiences of being a student during the pandemic.  

Exams and assessments

We understand that a lot of stress will be caused by assessments and exams. You may find it helpful to follow @manchestersu to keep up to date with the discussions that Student Union Officers are having with the University, or click here their recent blogposts Mitigating the impact of the national lockdown on students and No disadvantage/detriment policy update. 

Exam and assessment support

As it’s exam season we wanted to let you know about the Library’s My Learning Essentials Assessment Support page. Here you will find online resources, live online sessions and support, as well as wellbeing and peer support.

If you have further questions regarding exam and assessment, you can visit Exam and assessment support FAQs. This page is designed to supplement any guidance provided by your School. If you have any further questions, you can contact your School Support Office.

For planning and structing your time during exam season, why not try out our take notice daily planner and weekly planner.

Assessment pledge

Based on student feedback and with support and strong encouragements from the Students’ Union Executive team, the University has taken a number of steps to help and support students throughout the year. For more information on the University’s five point assessment pledge, click here.

Sitting your exams at home  

As we enter the exam period it’s important to acknowledge that this can be a period of high stress regardless of a worldwide pandemic. Whilst people have all different types of assessment preferences, for many, the seated exam is a familiar method. Now in a pandemic, with online exams, this disruption to the norm can be a really difficult thing to contend with.

Here are some ideas to help you cope with the change of taking an online exam:

1. If possible, you might want to consider separating the space you revise in and the space where you sit the exam in your home. Maybe you can sit the exam at the kitchen table? This is particularly important for those who work in their bedrooms, as the lack of division between the two spaces can affect your sleep.
2. If you’re not feeling confident about the logistics of your exam. You might be able to try and do an online run through. Ensuring you know how the exam is going to work can help ease anxieties surrounding the exam.
3. If you are missing the normal exam routine, perhaps you could set up a group chat with course mates. Maybe you could touch base before and after the exam to see how everyone's doing. This could be a good idea if you are feeling especially isolated at the moment.
4. Lastly and most importantly, even though everything may be feeling stagnant, try and give yourself a finish line or a reward after each exam you complete. In the normal world, when you finish an exam, you might grab a bite with your friends after. In isolation, especially if you have back-to-back exams, it is tougher to celebrate finishing an exam when you essentially never leave the exam hall. Planning your ‘finish lines’, the things you will do (big or small) to mark the end of an exam, can help add structure and ensures you are rewarding yourself in a time when you need it the most.

Finish line and exam reward ideas 

Food and drink: 

• Get a takeaway drink or bite to eat after your exam to switch up the day and support a small business. 

• Make a special homemade dinner: you could spend time researching and cooking a something you wouldn’t usually now you have a bit more time. 

• Order a meal-kit: Many restaurants across the UK are delivering meal kits, where you have the chance to recreate dishes from some of the best kitchens in the country. And, if there are friends and family you’d like to celebrate with, you could all order the same kit, cook it up simultaneously and ‘eat’ together on a video call. It’ll likely be chaos, but it’ll almost definitely be a great way to celebrate. If you don’t follow them already, @eatmcr have the best knowledge of Manchester takeaways and DIY kits, check out their blog the best DIY meal kits from Manchester restaurants - EAT MCR. 

• Discover some new mocktail or cocktail recipes: Many bars are delivering cocktails straight to your door or you could find your favourite recipe and make them yourself. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can use a smoothie blender or water bottle. 

• Enjoy an online cooking class: there are many free options on Instagram but our personal favourite is Migrateful. This platform runs cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers and migrants struggling to integrate and access employment. The cookery classes provide ideal conditions not just for learning English and building confidence, but also for promoting contact and cultural exchange with the wider community.

Post exam season celebration (which don't involve a zoom quiz!):

• Live DJ Sets: various platforms like Twitch and Instagram are hosting DJ sets streamed right to your living room. If you want to recreate post-exam celebration, this could be a great alternative! 

• Theatre Shows: The Guardian has put together the best of the best home theatre shows available. With most of them free or subsided, tickets are easily accessible and watched from the comfort of your bedroom. Check out this article for the hottest seats going right now.

• Murder Mystery: Secret Manchester has compiled a list of 6 Thrilling Online Murder Mystery Games You Can Enjoy From Home - Secret Manchester. Equally, many sites provide free templates and so all you need are willing volunteers and a wild imagination.

To plan these activities into your schedule, check out this exam finish line planner.

We are currently training our new intake of Wellbeing Champions ready to deliver exciting wellbeing events and campaigns from next Semester. Watch this space!