realise your potential - aqr international...mtq48 (the mental toughness questionnaire) which scores...
TRANSCRIPT
Realise Your Potential
Be the best that you can be
Personal Development Programmes developing:
Performance,
Attainment
Wellbeing
Positive behaviour
Kingswood’s Realise Your Potential Programme A case study on impact – Derby County Football Academy
The ‘Realise Your Potential’ personal development programme is designed to increase attainment and well-being among 13 – 18’s by building mental toughness and resilience and improving performance under pressure. The programme uses a mix of adventure activities, reflection time and review sessions to equip young people with new life skills and introduce them to a range of challenges that encourage self-awareness. Each activity focuses on different intervention groups known to improve areas of performance which affect students’ assessment outcomes. A sample programme:
Day one: Positive thinking changing ‘I can’t’ into ‘I can’
Day two: Goal setting learning to avoid feeling overwhelmed by goals and targets, and turning them into something achievable and motivating
Day three: Anxiety control learning to avoid panic and to deal with anxiety
Day four: Visualisation seeing a challenge and the situation in a positive light
Day five: Attention control learning to focus on doing what needs to be done and avoiding distraction
The main measure method of measuring the impact of the Realise Your Potential course is MTQ48 (the Mental Toughness Questionnaire) which scores individuals on the mental toughness ‘Four Cs’ model. The higher the number, the more mentally tough someone is in that area, the lower the score, the more sensitive someone is when under pressure. Young people complete MTQ48 at the beginning of their course and again at the end of the course and the difference between the two reports demonstrates the impact the course has had.
Derby County Academy was one of the first groups to pilot the Realise Your Potential programme. Derby County Football Academy had a group of young people already performing well in a sporting context which started with a relatively high mean Mental Toughness score. Below is the group summary which indicates the collective score of the group on mental toughness before and after the Realise your Potential programme and shows the distance travelled over the course of the residential.
This shows a significant positive shift in almost all of the scales measured by the mental toughness questionnaire. Most notable was the impact on Life Control (the belief that you shape what happens to you).
Testimonials from Derby County Football Academy
Darren Wassell, Derby County First Team
Manager (previously Academy Director)
“Derby County Academy are committed to
offering the very best all-around
development experiences for young players
and are open to pioneering new initiatives
that can deliver marginal gains.
It was an easy decision for me to be the first
professional Academy set-up to take part in
the new ‘Realise Your Potential’ programme
at Kingswood. The results speak for
themselves and we have already seen some
positive changes in many of the players on
their return to the club. The programme has
added to the positive dynamic of the
squads.”
Simon Ord, Head of Education & Welfare,
Derby County Football Club
“The results from the pre and post MTQ48
questionnaire which form a key part of the
Realise Your Potential initiative with
Kingswood speak for themselves. The
astounding results showed that overall the
group felt 19% more Mentally Tough but
showed a 29% increase in the area of Life
Control. As a result of their experience the
players would be more self aware and be
better able to cope with situations that
cause anxiety and stress both in a football
Academy environment and in everyday
life”
“The journey of self-discovery the different
age group squads have been on with the
‘Realise Your Potential’ programme at
Kingswood has had a profound impact on
their confidence and self-awareness which
couldn’t have been achieved in the normal
Academy setting”
Gary Webb, Safeguarding Officer and U14
Academy Coach
“Putting the lads outside their comfort
zone in a variety of physical and mental
challenges has definitely given us a greater
understanding of the different
personalities within the group. This
increased awareness along with the
evidence provided by psychometric
questionnaires has provided the coaches
and support staff at the Academy with a
great complimentary tool to support the
players through their experience with us at
the Academy”
Adam Barradell, Lead Youth Development
Phase Coach
Derby County - Student feedback
“The Realise Your Potential programme at Kingswood was a very good learning experience and
will certainly help me in the future. It was tough at times but reflecting on it I had a great time
and it was also good to see different sides of my team mates”
“I enjoyed Kingswood and I thought it tested me! I thought I showed good character to climb back
up to the Leap of Faith after failing on my first attempt. I believe I showed good resilience to try
again. It was a great experience and even though I did not like the height I kept on going and did
every activity. I enjoyed the bog run and enjoyed running through the mud and when other
teammates were struggling I kept on helping them and encouraged them so they didn't give up.
Being tested in a different ways I learnt a lot about myself”