Beyond the Game at Alice Smith School: Helping Young People Perform Under Pressure — On and Off the Field

Context

In November 2024, Alice Smith School shared their first Beyond the Game case study — a story of how the school partnered with Future Action to create a bespoke programme designed to help students thrive under pressure, build their confidence, and develop practical wellbeing strategies for life.

That initial case study, “Optimising Performance at Alice Smith School: A Polyvagal-Informed Approach”, captured the early success of the programme and introduced the innovative 5C’s Framework — a model built around:

1. Comprehensive Confidence

2. Causes of Performance Anxiety

3. Constructing Containers of Safety

4. Catching Glimmers

5. Coaching

If you haven’t read that first case study, it’s a brilliant insight into how this journey began — and it’s available here.

Since then, the ambition at Alice Smith has only grown.

Following its initial success in sport, Vice Principal Richard Stockings and Head of Year 11 Amanda Coates were clear on their next goal: to help young people transfer these strategies into all areas of school life — from exams to leadership to everyday moments of stress.

This second case study tells that next chapter.

Intent

As Richard explains:

“We know the challenges our students face aren’t limited to the sports field. Public speaking, performances, exams, interviews — these are all moments where young people can feel under pressure. Our vision was to take the magic of Beyond the Game and help students recognise it belongs everywhere.”

Amanda adds:

“This isn’t about creating extra work for students — it’s about helping them see they already have the tools within them. Our role is to guide them in using those tools wherever life gets loud.”

Implementation

To bring this vision to life, Future Action returned to Kuala Lumpur in April 2025 for an immersive few days of workshops, training, and reflection — working alongside students, staff, and parents to deepen and expand the programme.

Student Workshop: Beyond Sport

Students from football, rugby, volleyball, and climbing explored how their containers of safety — their personal strategies to stay calm, focused, and brave under pressure — could help them thrive not only in sport but also in school and life.

Student Feedback Session: Shaping the Future

A smaller student panel shared their honest reflections on how they’d used Beyond the Game strategies so far — what was working, what they were proud of, and what more they needed.

Parent Workshop: Performing Under Pressure Together

For the first time, parents were invited to explore their role in supporting their child through pressure moments — helping create a consistent environment of care, calm, and connection both at school and at home.

Expanding the Vision: Conversations Across Both Campuses

It was also incredibly exciting to meet with key staff across both the Primary and Secondary phases of Alice Smith School. These conversations explored how Beyond the Game could be developed further to ensure that even more young people across the school benefit from the programme — not just in sport, but across all areas of school life.

Impact

The data gathered from their brilliant young people from this latest phase is powerful — showing significant growth in both wellbeing and confidence.

Mental Wellbeing Gains (SWEMWBS)

🟢 +30.83% improvement in overall mental wellbeing

📈 Average score increased from 22.17 → 29.00 out of 35

👉 This means students are feeling noticeably more optimistic, connected, and emotionally resilient than before.

“I now feel more able to deal with pressure in sport and school.” — Year 10 Student

Performing Under Pressure (PUPQ)

🟢 +34.11% improvement in students' confidence and ability to manage pressure

📈 Average score increased from 23.67 → 31.75 out of 40

👉 Students now feel significantly more equipped to stay calm, focused, and perform well — whether it’s in sport, exams, or public speaking.

“I’ll definitely be using some of the tactics to push myself further — not just in sport, but in life.” — Year 9 Student

Additional Wellbeing Outcomes

✨ +34.1% improvement in optimism

🧘 +21.9% improvement in ability to feel relaxed

👉 Students are more hopeful about the future and better able to regulate their emotions — two critical markers of long-term wellbeing and academic readiness.

Students consistently told us the programme had helped them perform better — sometimes without even realising it in the moment — and that they now had practical tools to calm themselves under pressure.

Reflections & Next Steps

As Richard Stockings reflects:

“This feels like a real turning point. We’ve gone from helping students manage pressure in sport, to seeing them apply those strategies across their whole school experience. And we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

Amanda Coates agrees:

“What excites me most is how deeply students have engaged with this — not just in sessions but in their everyday thinking. They know how to coach themselves through pressure now. That’s a life skill that will serve them forever.”

James Worland, Secondary Principal added:

“This entire undertaking has been an incredibly revealing exercise that has prompted many in-depth, student-centred conversations. I feel this work is the catalyst for some very big things to come and I'm very enthused about what that could mean for our entire school community.“

Final Word from Future Action

A huge thank you to Richard, Amanda, James and all the brilliant colleagues we met with across both phases of the school.

Their passion, openness, and commitment to this work is what brings Beyond the Game to life in such a powerful way. It’s clear that their care for young people goes way beyond the curriculum — creating a culture where students feel seen, supported, and stretched to be their very best.

It’s been a privilege to walk alongside them on this journey so far — and we’re incredibly excited to see how Beyond the Game continues to evolve at Alice Smith School in the months and years ahead.

Want to take the first step to supporting your students’ wellbeing and helping them perform under pressure?

Join our Beyond the Game waiting list here — and we’ll be in touch to learn more about your school’s needs and how we can help you develop a bespoke approach to bring this programme to life in your setting.

Thank you for all you do for your young people. Have a brilliant week.

Neil Moggan and the team at Future Action

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