growth mindset!
“If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.” Carol Dweck.
Fostering a Growth Mindset in the Classroom
At Wessex Gardens Primary School, we know that pupils who have a positive attitude towards their learning will make good progress and be successful. Consequently, instilling all our pupils with 'growth mindsets' has become a key priority for the school. We have introduced the theories of Dr Carol Dweck to staff and pupils and are determined to embed its ideas within our school ethos.
We want all our pupils to relish challenges, embrace their mistakes as part of the learning process, value the importance of effort, respond carefully to feedback and take inspiration from others. This will help them to achieve, not only with us, but also in their future lives as adults.
We are very excited about the prospect of nurturing a growth mindset culture in our School.
Encouraging children to become confident and resilient learners
Here at Wessex Gardens Primary School, we know that in order to fulfil the potential of our pupils and encourage them to become confident and resilient learners we, as a team of parents and staff, need to be modelling the mindset of a learner who is not afraid of making mistakes but who thrives upon them, knowing that this is all part of the learning process. The way in which we encourage children to learn and explore is vital to their success, not only at school but at home as well.
In our curriculum and learning assemblies each week, we have dedicated sessions to address what kind of learners we want to be and how we can positively approach challenges inside and outside the classroom. We watch videos about our main character 'Mojo', which show how learners can achieve a growth mindset and discuss ideas on how to persevere, challenge ourselves, take risks and celebrate our marvellous mistakes.
Key aspects of growth mindset at Wessex Gardens Primary School:
- We celebrate making mistakes – we can learn from them;
- We never give up – perseverance is the key if we are to succeed;
- We learn from each other;
- We don’t compare ourselves with others;
- We challenge ourselves and take risks;
- We remember that our brains are making new connections and growing all the time by exercising our learning muscles
