At Holy Trinity CE Primary Academy and Nursery, we encourage children to become confident and resilient learners, allowing all children to achieve their full potential.
We know that in order to fulfill the full potential of our pupils, we need to be modelling the mindset of a learner to not be afraid of making mistakes or giving up when they find things hard, but who thrive upon them and understand that this is all part of the learning process. We want all our pupils to relish challenges, embrace their mistakes, value the importance of effort, respond carefully to feedback and take inspiration from others.
At Holy Trinity, we consistently endeavor to challenge and develop the attitudes of all pupils toward learning by considering what makes a successful learner. We have dedicated sessions in class on how we can positively approach challenges inside and outside the classroom and it’s lovely to see the school buzzing with talk of perseverance, challenge, risks, and celebrating mistakes.
Central to this attitude and approach to learning, are the theories and proven evidence of a Growth Mindset by psychologist Carol Dweck.
The theory behind Growth Mindset is based on two types of mindsets, that children and adults may possess, a ‘fixed’ mindset and a ‘growth’ mindset. Below is an overview of the traits of each:
Fixed Mindset
- I like my work to be easy
- I don’t like to try a challenge
- I won’t do it
- I can’t do it
- I believe I cannot change how clever I am
- I don’t like to try new things because I won’t be very good at it
- I give up easily
Growth Mindset
- I never give up
- I like my work to be difficult – it means I am learning
- I love challenges
- How can I achieve this
- I can do it
- I want people to praise me for the effort I put into my work
- I believe I can get more intelligent by working hard
- I learn from my mistake.
We are very excited about the prospect of nurturing a growth mindset culture at Holy Trinity.
Key aspects of growth mindset at Holy Trinity:
- 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.
There is a link attached below for you to share with your child:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/help-your-child-try-new-things
Below are some videos we’ll be using this half term to learn about Growth Mindset from Class Dojo – they’re easy to watch and explains it really well.
Episode 1:
Episode 2:
Episode 3:
Episode 4:
Episode 5:
How you can help at home:
- Praise the amount of effort your child is putting into things rather than how clever they are;
- Talk to your children about their brain is like a muscle – the more they use it, the stronger it gets;
- Encourage your children to not give up if they are finding something difficult;
- Challenge your children to try something new or challenging.
