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To Sam

help please

So its the summer holidays and the thought of school makes me want to burst into tears, all the subjects I have picked throughout high school, were the worst choices of my life. And now they subjects is what my life depends on really because if I can't pass them, I won't even have decent qualifications. All work in every class is too hard for me, the teachers do not help, nothing can help, I just would like some advice please as I really cannot leave school with the rubbish qualifications I have, thank you.
Ask Sam

Sam

Hi there,

I know that as people move towards leaving school, they can often begin to worry about what the future might hold. This can leave us thinking back about decisions we’ve made before and how those choices are affecting us now. Learning from the past is good, but it’s also important not to let our past choices stop us from being happy now.

The first thing to do here is not to panic – you’re feeling as though everything is getting on top of you and it’s easy to get scared about this, but that’s going to make it worse. You should sit down and rank your subjects you’re worried about, most to least. Starting with the subject you’re most worried about write down what you’re finding hardest about that lesson and again rank them – so what are the top few things about that subject you’re struggling with.

Once you have done this for every subject, you’ll have a list of worries. Take these worries one by one to your teachers and explain that these are the things you’re struggling with and that you need extra help with them. You said they haven’t helped before, so if you find that they’re not helping this time then you might have to tell your head of year to make sure that you are getting the support you need.

Something to bear in mind is that while exams and the subjects you pick are all definitely important and you should try as hard as you can, they’re not everything. There are lots and lots of options if you feel like you have made the wrong choices before – it’s never too late to do something about your future. If you want some careers advice you could talk to the National Careers Service for advice on what your options might be for a chosen career.

I hope that’s helped – do get in touch with a counsellor if you’d like to talk more. You can call for free on 0800 1111, send an email or log on for a 1-2-1 chat.

Take care,
Sam

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