Growth Mindset

Our school motto is ‘Believe to Achieve’. This motto was chosen by our pupils following the re-writing of our school vision by the whole school community. Since the launch of our motto, we have been working hard to develop this with the children and have been exploring the need for the children to have a Growth Mindset.

This is an approach that encourages children to recognise the importance of effort, time, patience and practise in developing their intelligence and not to give up when they find something hard. It also encourages the children to understand that ‘failure’ or making mistakes is all part of learning because “if you haven’t failed then you haven’t tried anything new” (Albert Einstein).

The children develop an understanding of intelligence and more importantly the fact that your intelligence is not fixed – it can GROW! During Circle Time, the children discuss possible answers to these questions: “What is intelligence?” “When do you feel intelligent?” “What does a Banks Lane learner need?” as well as ordering famous people based on their intelligence with very interesting results. Who would you rate as the most ‘intelligent’ person out of David Beckham, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Harry Styals and JK Rowling?

They also watch inspirational videos about ‘Famous Failures’ – well worth a look on You Tube – to emphasise the need for perseverance and resilience when faced with difficult challenges. The children embrace the concept of a Growth Mindset to improve their attitude to learning and this is something that can be applied to everyday situations.

We need your help to ensure that these principles are being promoted at home – particularly when it comes to home learning. If your child gets something wrong then it doesn’t matter; it means that they are learning. Encourage them to try again and practise things that they find hard because, as they say, ‘practise makes perfect’! Always have a positive attitude to their home learning by supporting them to give it a go – especially if the task seems ‘hard’. They may not be able to do it yet but with time, practise, patience, effort and lots of encouragement from both parents and teachers they will be able to do it eventually.

Instead of hearing “I can’t do it!” we should hear “I can’t do it – yet” and our children really understand the need to ‘Believe (in themselves) to Achieve (success)’.