Emma Winter

Overcoming Anxiety and Finding Confidence: Emma’s Journey with Itec Skills on Mental Health Awareness Day

Friday 10th October marks Mental Health Awareness Day. Anxiety and panic attacks are more common in young people now than ever before recorded. Even before the pandemic, research from Cardiff University showed a significant increase in emotional problems among young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019. The proportion of young people experiencing high levels of emotional symptoms, such as nervousness, sleep difficulties, and irritability, rose from 23% to 38% over that six-year period.

At Itec Skills, we not only support with building career skills, but life skills as well. Here we meet Emma Winter, one of our learners in our JGW+ centre in Barry, who has kindly shared the impact this has had on her journey.

Before coming to Itec Skills and Employment, Emma was struggling to attend secondary school regularly due to her anxiety. This unfortunately affected her especially around exams. This meant that she struggled to complete her GCSEs. As a result, Emma felt uncertain and worried about her future.

When Emma enrolled at Itec, her main goal was simply to attend the centre without experiencing a panic attack. She lacked confidence in her abilities and didn’t have clear ambitions for her future. However, with the support of her Youth Tutor, Julia Cooper, Emma began to build confidence and explore her interests and goals.

The big ambition for her was to be able to attend centre without having a panic attack. With the support of her Youth tutor, Julia Cooper, she began to gain confidence and improved her attendance to the centre. This led to a better understanding of where she saw her future.

Over time, Emma worked towards easing her anxieties through a variety of methods and improved her communications with staff to allow collaborative efforts. Since then, she has completed ESW qualifications, often attending these sessions independently, a 301 qualification, a 311 qualification which involves teamwork, and is about to commence a Level 1 IT Users qualification before she leaves Itec in October to pursue Level 1 Film & Media with MAC.

Itec Learning Support Assistant Sarah Irving, said, “Emma’s journey through Itec has been one of remarkable growth and achievement.

“Eight months ago, Emma’s attendance was low, and it was a struggle for Emma to sit in the classroom for more than an hour at a time due to high anxiety. The only thing that sometimes seemed to help was sitting alongside one of her close friends. Over time, and through trialling several different methods, Emma began to attend more frequently, and eventually even independently. She worked alongside staff to challenge her overwhelming thoughts and feelings, learning to reframe and rationalise her anxieties. I would go even as far as to say she began to enjoy attending alone!

“Her increased attendance and developing ability to ask questions in front of her peers allowed Emma to find a passion for learning and create a journey for progression, which involved securing an unconditional place at college to study Film & Media. Emma truly is a credit to herself and a brilliant example of what continued commitment and willingness to work collaboratively can do. We’re really going to miss your witty sense of humour and off the cuff jokes but are overwhelmed with joy about you taking the next steps in your inevitable journey to greatness.”

Upon reflection of her experience, Emma said “Attending the JGW+ program has helped me socially, mentally and academically. I’ve gained confidence and overcame the anxiety I had. It’s also helped me gain academic achievements.”.

To enquire about the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme, click here to contact the team.