The Learning Curve

The current theme of our Positive Education lessons is Dreams and Goals and this week children across the whole of Primary have been discussing how important it is to keep trying when faced with challenges to achieve their goals. 

Assembly Work

It was lovely in our assembly this week for us to welcome the older children from The LaunchPad who were able to show their pictures and explain to us all what they wanted to be when they “grow up”. Our discussion then focused on how we can achieve our goals and what we can do when things get hard: keep trying and persevere.

Some examples of work that we have been doing in our classes about staying motivated and persevering when things get hard are;
 

Year 1 

We have a wonderful 'Goals for 2023' display that shows the discussions they have had about what goals they have for themselves for this year, what they would like to achieve and get better at. This work they have done will be kept and discussed with them at the end of the year to see if they have achieved these things.
Some examples include, 'be brave on my roller skates', 'improve my judo skills', 'be kind to my family and friends'.

 

Year 3

At the start of the year, during a Circle Time, 3B talked about The Learning Pit and why making mistakes is a key part of learning. We discussed each aspect of our learning journeys and how it can make us feel at different times. 
This is how we came up with the idea of 'The Help Table'. It is a space to go to which may have helpful resources, a peer or a teacher to ask questions to when you're in 'The Learning Pit'. We are continuing to build our resilience in 3B and embrace challenges, remembering to ask for help when we need it. This week we will be reflecting on other ways we can create a classroom environment which supports that. Maybe 'The help table' is no longer what we need and instead a new idea is born but most importantly, the students will have their say on how we can build a classroom ethos which encourages students to stay motivated when doing something challenging. 

Year 6

In Year 6 we are going to focus on goals for this end of term and the students will write a goal in each of their Maths and English books. This will show what they would like to achieve for both of those subjects and assess whether they have attained them at the end of this Spring term.

Being able to persevere and overcome challenges is important to success, so preparing our children for this at school and at home is a key challenge for us all. Encouraging your child to handle setbacks well contributes powerfully to this. If your child is working on a puzzle or trying to zip their jacket and you see them struggling, try not to step in immediately. Allowing your child time to work through frustrating and difficult tasks will help build their perseverance.
A key message for us all - try to let children fail from time to time!