Psychology

It has been great to see the students back in school and being able to teach Psychology in more hands-on, creative and interactive learning this past year. Some of our favourite creative lessons this year have been the introduction of sheep brain dissections, getting creative with ‘food’ and ‘sweetie’ neurons (a firm student favourite for obvious reasons!), and exploring attachment theories with dolls.

Mrs L Wilson (Head of Psychology)

Science and Psychology Conference

We were fortunate to be able to take Upper Sixth students to the annual ‘Science and Psychology’ conference in December 2021. The conference has always been well received by students with this year being no different! The conference included talks on the power of dance by Dr Lucie Clements (both students and staff getting fully involved in ‘The Macarena’!), Prof. Richard Wiseman demonstrating the power of magic and illusion and explaining the psychological principles underpinning it, and a live hypnosis demonstration by Andrew Norton, followed by a lecture on the ethical issues associated with conducting hypnosis, especially during therapy. It was an immensely engaging day, with many students reporting that it was their ‘best conference ever’.

Mental Health Awareness Week

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week this year, some of our Lower Sixth Psychologists were tasked with conducting their own wider reading into the impact of perfectionism, digital media, and exam anxiety on teenage mental health. For example, Rhea (L6SMJ) read about the problems of perfectionism. Following her reading, she wrote: ‘It was very eye-opening as it made me re-think the positive connotations of perfectionism (hard work and striving for success) and showed me that it is more likely to be debilitating and can actually cause mental illnesses. The part I found most of perfectionism as a vicious cycle. The avoidance of failure at all cost minimises the feeling of shame, but prevents learning from mistakes, creating a tendency to give up sooner, thus preventing self-actualisation, which ultimately results in failure and feelings of shame, reinforcing the avoidance’.

Attachment Theory

Students are always fascinated by attachment theory, and one of their favourite lessons is when we use baby dolls to demonstrate how humans form relationships and bonds with those around us from the moment of birth. We look at how interactions between a child and its caregivers can affect the ways in which all future relationships for that child occur and develop.