Resilience Diploma

As part of our guided home learning programme during lockdown, our Psychology Department introduced an elective for Upper Sixth students to develop their assertiveness and resilience.

The new SHARD programme – the South Hampstead Assertiveness and Resilience Diploma – is a collection of personal reflection and development sessions, designed to allow students to access their strengths and values. The programme utilises tools from traditional and positive psychology and philosophy to help students become more assertive, resilient and emotionally self-aware, to ensure they know how to get the best out of themselves and their lives.

Student feedback on the course has been resoundingly positive:

“In lockdown, I’ve found myself turning to a lot of the tools such as practising gratitude. I’ve also followed the advice on sleep and have been taking walks to help regulate circadian rhythms.” 

“It was really useful to identify my personality strengths and learn how to use them to my advantage to live a better life. I also enjoyed learning about the inner critic and how to tackle it.”

“I’ve been more mindful about eating habits and I’ve really seen a difference in my sleep and motivation. Thanks for the brilliant sessions!” 

Head of Psychology, Dr Waghorn, commented: “It takes a lot of courage to really reflect on oneself and be open to change. It also takes real work to move away from habits and make those changes happen. I am very impressed with the students who took on that challenge – congratulations.” 

SHARD is one of dozens of stimulating electives on offer to Upper Sixth students this term in place of their scheduled A Level examinations.