Staff at Chesterfield College have started to use Fika, a free app available to all staff and students, to help them get their mental muscles in great shape!
The Fika app is designed to help you improve your mental fitness by exercising your mental muscles to build resilience, confidence, positivity and motivation with bitesize 5-minute exercises. It is available for staff and students to download for free.
Making a difference
We asked a couple of members of staff to tell us how useful it has been for them so far and how it has made a difference in their day to day lives.
Janet Haslam, SEND Advisor, told us:
“I’ve really enjoyed it. I have finished all the modules and got all my certificates. It gave me my time to sit and think about me and it gives you coping strategies too. My favourite one is a ‘don’t do list’. It has made me think and look at myself a bit more.
When you first go on the app it asks you some questions and gives you a mental fitness score – my percentage was around 40% to start with then after 7 days I was at 61%. You can see the progress you have made.
Even though I have finished the programme, I still get a reminder every evening and the app gives you a little bit more to do on a topic. It could just be 10 minutes reading but it really helps. I will keep doing it.”
A lifeline
Beth Gittins, Assessor and Tutor for Beauty Therapy explained:
“I started running to help my mental health a few years ago because it makes me feel so strong. However, I have an injury at the moment so I can’t run. This app came along just at the right time for me as an alternative to build my mental fitness. It has been so useful and I loved using it. I have been using it for about 3 weeks now and I have noticed I am enjoying things a lot more. I’ve also been a lot calmer in class and I have used it to support my daughter too. It has been a bit of lifeline really.
I am planning to use it with students too. I asked them what they wanted to get out of working at the open evening; they told me felt they needed help to build confidence. I think the app will help me to support the students to improve their confidence further. I am going to incorporate using it into the sessions or as homework. The mental fitness test that is part of the app helps to measure your progress which will be a great tool for students.”
Get started
Why not download it to look after your mental fitness levels? There are a few easy steps to get started.
1) Download the Fika app on your phone. Here’s a QR Code to take you straight to it.
2) Register to Chesterfield College using your college emails address and create a password. Select staff or student.
3) Start exercising your mental fitness in 5-minute daily bitesize sessions.