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Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'I hope to turn my love of gaming into a career'
"I remember my first ever time gaming when I was with my uncle, and he taught me how to play Call of Duty." Arkay has been "in love" with gaming ever since and has been playing "for the majority" of her life. But the 17-year-old started to take it more seriously when she joined the Confetti Arrows - a team representing Confetti College in Nottingham, where she is enrolled on a Level 3 BTec esports production course - earlier in the year. She believes the esports industry - competitive multiplayer gaming often live-streamed for spectators - is changing and hopes to turn her passion for it into a future career. Her team, which competes playing Overwatch 2 - a team-based hero shooter game - qualified for the British Esports Student Champs final, which will take place in July, after a flawless run, losing no matches this season. Arkay's roles in the team are known as "flex" and "support", meaning she provides healing to her team members in the game and tailors her play style to a variety of different gaming scenarios. She said her teammates had helped her "a lot" since she joined, adding she wanted to "learn everything" about esports and "hopefully" have a career in it. "It was very male-dominated 10 to 20 years ago, but things have changed, and women are really being accepted more in the industry," Arkay said. Her team is not the only Confetti Arrows one to have been successful this season. One that plays a game called Valorant made it through to the northern final of the National Esports Student Championships but got knocked out in the last stage of the competition. Miki Kielbowicz, in-game leader and captain of the team, started taking gaming seriously during the Covid-19 pandemic when he was unable to play traditional sports like football. "My drive to win drew me to esports," he said, adding he thinks of it "like a chess game". He said: "I know my team; I have a deep understanding of their personalities, and that helps me create strategies around them." Ryan Grundy, tutor and head coach of the Confetti Arrows teams, said attitudes towards esports are changing. "In the past, gaming has been linked to staying indoors and leading an unhealthy lifestyle which lends itself to fast food, sugary snacks and drinks," he added. "You wouldn't see a top traditional sports team nowadays without a nutritionist or a psychologist - and esports is starting to follow a similar trajectory." He said the aim was to improve a player's mental health, focus and reaction times. "Milliseconds can be the difference between a win or a loss in esports; you're always trying to get that edge over other teams," he added. Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Where does esports go after Commonwealth omission? Esports course boosts SEND pupils' school attendance Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies
BBC News
18-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Exam revision: 'Our dad's a teacher - this is how we deal with study stress'
Exam season is around the corner for GCSE, BTec and A-level students. It's a time of life that is remembered forever, and the run-up to it can bring stress and strain to students and families up and down the how do you get through it, and what can parents and carers to do help?Meet the Jolleys, a family-of-five from Steve, 48, is head of sixth form at The FitzWimarc school in Rayleigh, where he helped me through my own A-levels back in daughter Emma is 19 and studying criminology at Bristol University, but says she found A-level revision overwhelming. Brother Ben, 18, loves maths and physics and says he found studying for his GCSE exams came more easily than for his sister - but he says he's working harder for his A-levels this there's younger sister Jess, who's 15. She loves PE and art, and wants to go to basketball college in September after doing her family, three very different children. So how do they manage exam stress? And does having a teacher as a parent help? 1. Open up the conversation "I was very overwhelmed and I didn't want to do it," says Emma, thinking back to her A-level revision last recently got diagnosed with ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - which has helped her understand why she found her A-level revision period so difficult. Emma says she sometimes finds it hard to focus until a deadline is drawing closer."I need the pressure - but I also hate it because I get so stressed and so burnt out so easily," she also says she sometimes struggled to get started with revision - even though she wanted to do it - because of how her ADHD affects her ability to start tasks, and organise revision sessions into manageable chunks."I think there's a lot of shame and guilt, because I thought I was being lazy," she says. "You feel really rubbish about yourself. Then when I get really overwhelmed I get headaches."Emma says her dad helped her to draw up a study plan, and to keep her on track when she didn't want to revise. "I have very strong memories of Emma sitting at this kitchen table crying her eyes out, getting really, really stressed about revision," says dad Steve."And us kind of saying: 'OK that's fine, you need to take a break. But tomorrow you need to go again'."Developing resilience, digging deep and trying again after a bad day are things Steve says Emma did brilliantly while finding A-level revision overwhelming."As a parent, you don't want your kids to go through things that upset them," he adds. "But actually where this is concerned, you kind of have to keep going."So what can parents and carers do?Talking about your feelings can be tough, but parenting expert Stevie Goulding, from the charity Young Minds, suggests keeping the lines of communication open all the way through the exam period, and making sure you're ready to listen when they're ready to talk."Anxiety gets magnified when young people are under further strain and stress," she says."Really recognise and reflect: 'I've noticed you've not been sleeping or eating as much', speaking observations into existence, and making sure there's a lot of reassurance." 2. Be creative There's no escaping it, revision can be really boring."I absolutely hate just sitting down with a laptop or book and just working," says Ben. "But I think it's the best way for information to get into me."His GCSE results comprised mostly of the top grades of 7s, 8s and 9s. He loves maths and physics - something his sisters find hard to sitting A-levels this summer, before taking a year out to decide between an apprenticeship or and older sister Emma both say that doing past papers and applying their revision to the questions has really helped with their study in the past. "If I'm not doing questions to apply it, it just doesn't go in," Ben what works for one student may not work for others, and expert Stevie suggests that thinking creatively about how your child can revise is a good idea - think flashcards, mind maps or even YouTube videos."I love flash cards - they're so easy and quick," says youngest daughter Jess."It also means we can get involved as well," adds dad Steve, explaining that parents can help to test their children on them. 3. Stay connected to what you love When we're stressed, it can be tempting to push aside time for fun and relaxation - but it's actually really important in helping us to perform well in exams, Stevie says."We really need to look after our brains. It's really important to get the balance."For Emma, reading or walks with her mum, dad and their dog Maisie was important time to carve out during basketball for Jess, who is worried that her current knee injury means she won't be able to play to relax during her GCSE exams."Now I just come home and nap," she says she's feeling the pressure with her GCSE grades, as not only does she need them for basketball college here, but her dreams of basketball college in the US for university afterwards rely on them brother Ben enjoys playing on his Xbox with friends, but says he drags himself back downstairs to do work when he realises he has been ignoring his revision a little too a lot of exams rely on memory, expert Stevie says that staying hydrated, eating healthily, exercising, and having time to do the things we love can help us look after our with your favourite TV show or even a scroll through TikTok can also help to find that balance. 4. Avoid distractions You can't have too much of a good can help us to stay connected to friends and family during tough times, but they can also be distracting."I have to hide my phone underneath books or behind my laptop," says Emma. "If I see it, I'll just go on it."When asked how she will avoid the distraction of her phone during her GCSE exams, younger sister Jess says she "hasn't worked that one out yet".Dad Steve has offered to take it away - if Jess wants him to - in order to help her focus."I don't think anyone is going to learn if they're being forced to sit in a room with someone standing over them, or with the threat of: 'We're going to take your phone away,'" he says. "It's tricky." 5. Validate worries and be reassuring Sometimes it can be tempting to say to people: "Don't worry, it'll be fine." But that can invalidate their feelings, says expert Stevie."We're all guilty of saying it and it comes often from a very good place," she says."But for that young person there is a very valid worry there."Instead, she suggests acknowledging the worry, and saying something like: "I can absolutely hear that you are worried, and it's completely natural in exams, but you've put so much time and energy into revision."You've worked so hard and whatever happens, we'll be here to support you." What about when it all goes wrong? "I think when things are getting tough, just step away from it," says teacher and dad Steve."Staying healthy - mentally healthy and physically healthy - has to be the most important thing."When tensions are high at home around revision and exams, arguments may happen. Stevie from Young Minds says that walking away and having a cooling off period is essential."Once people have cooled down, you can reflect, say that you understand why they are feeling so frustrated, and ask if there's anything you can do to support them." And when it's all over? "I think something we'd definitely say as teachers is that it's not a good idea to come out of an exam and stand in a big group of people and hear what everyone else wrote," says his daughter Emma agrees."I just walked out by myself, got my bag and went home," she says. "I was like, 'I'm not ruining this, goodbye!'""It's just a great feeling of relief after you've done the exam," adds exams around the corner, the Jolleys are also keeping an eye on what they have to look forward to after it's all to Malta, Croatia and Magaluf are on the horizon, as well as a school prom. They just need to get through those exams to Radio 5 Live's Revision Time Special with Nicky Campbell from 10:00 on Friday, 18 April on BBC Sounds, with tips on how to keep calm when revising. Or for calming music to help you focus this exam season, listen to music stream Radio 3 Unwind on BBC Sounds.
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The trouble with T-levels and the academic/vocational divide
I am grateful to Susanna Rustin for her trenchant analysis of government failure to tackle the post-16 academic/vocational divide (T-levels are a disaster – and young people are suffering because ministers won't admit it, 17 March). While I agree that there is little evidence that T-levels are signalling the end of the 'second-class status' of vocational education, the problem is only partly the fact that T-levels are too hard (overreliant on outmoded written examinations) and too narrow (how many of us can honestly look back to being 16 and knowing which career we wished to pursue?). Equally significant is the underresourcing of further education as a Cinderella in the education system (how many ministers support their own children on to vocational qualifications?). As a governor of a large FE college, I know teaching staff and leaders are working hard to ensure that all students enrolled on T-levels thrive. However, they are simultaneously charged with solving the problem of those not in education, employment or training, and shoring up community adult education. The problem (specific to England) remains the outdated binary divide, with academic routes and qualifications occupying the privileged position and hampering efforts to offer student-centred accessible pathways. Way back in 1990, the Institute for Public Policy Research proposed a radical, all-encompassing British baccalaureate (not the half-arsed Rishi Sunak proposal of the same name). This was a modular single qualification, a replacement across the ability range for academic and vocational pathways. Its intention was to shatter the hermetically sealed inflexible systems that prevented 'academic' students from pursuing vocational interests, and vocational students from exploring academic areas of interest (beyond the thin gruel of GCSE English and maths retakes). It encouraged opportunities to mix academic and vocational modules in a common framework. I fear that if T-levels are the answer, we are still asking the wrong ButcherProfessor emeritus, Open University T-level bashing does not help recruitment. Some T-levels might not be working in some subject areas, but this is not true for all of them. For example, students on the T-level in digital production, design and development, where I teach, are well prepared for a wide range of careers in the digital sector. The problem we have is getting students interested in pursuing careers in digital. Sending the message that T-levels are a waste of time is not doing the sector any favours. This particular T-level course is better than the outdated BTec course it replaced. The content is more up to date and direct industry links are more visible. The approaches to teaching in vocational education make the course suitable for students who gain 4s and 5s at GCSE. All my students have gained 4s and 5s, some of them even 3s in GCSE English. All of them are navigating the T-level course with the support they require to achieve good grades. Universities are accepting this qualification as a route into many different computing-related courses. In some subject areas, T-levels might not fit the bill, but in others they are flourishing. Or at least they would be if the cloud of negativity was not being continually forced upon AhmedLecturer in computing and IT, Southport College Do you have a photograph you'd like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers' best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.
