Head’s blog
The theme for the week was all about Growth Mindset and Miss Harrison led a fantastic assembly on Monday. This was followed up by Chapel services led by Miss Harrison, Mr Philips and Dr Warden, the Foundation Chaplain. The focus of both the assembly and chapels was to look at the difference between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset and how pupils could develop and succeed by having more of the latter. The Chaplain used Russian Dolls to show how our talents and intelligence can grow and Mr Phillips talked us through his childhood experiences and perseverance to become a high level rugby referee.
This theme links to our new effort grades report as it doesn’t matter where your starting point is, you will only improve by putting in the effort. Pupils should move away from thinking “I can’t do this” and move towards “I can’t do this yet” and “What do I need to do to work out how to do this?. I also spoke to the children in assembly about having a Growth Mindset in relation to groups and teams in sport. Some groups in sport and Maths for example, are organised on current performance levels. I explained to the children that whatever groups or teams they are in, the most important thing is for them to try their best and embrace challenge and their performance levels will improve. The groupings and teams are not fixed and there are opportunities for movement for those that work hard.
“No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”
― Carol S. Dweck
It was lovely to see so many children embracing musical challenges during the Informal Concert on Wednesday. There were some magnificent performances from some budding rock stars and very talented musicians. What was just as pleasing was to see some of our younger children give their first musical performance having only recently taken up an instrument. All the children and music teachers should be congratulated on their efforts.
