growth mindset, independent learning & building resilience · 2019-11-30 · growth mindset,...

Growth Mindset, Independent Learning and Resilience 2019 EW

Growth Mindset,

Independent Learning & Building Resilience


Nant-y-Parc Primary School

Growth Mindset, Independent Learning and Resilience

Policy Contents

Aims and Objectives

School Vision & Philosophy

The Learning Pit

Building Learning Power

What is Growth Mindset?

Strategies for Developing Resilience

Pupil Voice

The New Curriculum for Wales

Digital Competency

More Able and Talented Learners

Reporting

Transition

Monitoring Quality


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

We hope that Growth Mindset and independent learning strategies will:

Raise standards of achievement for all learners;

Promote a climate of resilience and perseverance where learner contribute responsibly to their own learning journey;

Make learning personalised with learner and staff working towards individual needs and interests;

Build determination and strategies for dealing with failure and challenge;

Foster social and emotional skills;

Build self-confidence and a sense of self-worth;

Nurture and discover interests or talents;

Develop a simple understanding of the learning process and the brain;

Develop an understanding of multiple intelligences;

Encourage imaginative, creative and problem solvers;

Foster initiative and collaborative learners, who support and celebrate each other’s success;

Encourage curiosity and enthusiasm.


PURPOSES OF THE POLICY / OUR SCHOOL VISION PHILOSOPHY

What do we want for our learners? At Nant-y-Parc Primary School we aim to provide an outstanding level of education for all learners, striving for academic excellence, a rich creative curriculum and a wide variety of inspiring and enjoyable experiences. We want our learners to have high aspirations, feel respected, heard and cared for as individuals, as well as part of a strong and supportive community. We aspire for our learners to feel empowered to think for themselves, become independent leading their learning, making informed choices about their learning. We envision learning as a holistic approach and value the importance of building self-belief and perseverance in our learners. We explicitly teach learner qualities or ‘Building Learning Power’ (BLP). BLP are strategies that foster learning, collaboration, reflection and support lifelong learning enabling pupils to contribute to the world, now and in the future. At Nant-y-parc we believe celebrating success is pivotal at all levels and we encourage our learner to support and celebrate their peer’s success too! We want our learners to be emotionally intelligent and to adapt to an ever changing world. Learning at Nant-y-Parc is never limited by pre-determined ideas of learner. In fact, learners are always part of the learning process and participate actively in the level of challenge they feel is most relevant to them. In nearly all lessons learners are encouraged to take ownership of their own learning and to play an active part in how their lessons, classes and the school are run. As a Growth Mindset school we endeavour to foster a culture whereby learners feel proud of their learning and understand that making mistakes is a crucial part of learning, as is the improvement of work. Errors are regularly planned to be used as learning points within lessons. Learners are encouraged to be active learners and take responsibility for their own progress. In order to learn, we need to be challenged and embrace struggle. We often use the analogy of the ‘learning pit’ to help learner talk about where they are in their learning journey.

The Learning Pit The Learning Pit below is used as a metaphor for learning.


BLP Building Learner Power A quick look…

Building students learning power is about:

Helping young people to help themselves become better learners

Developing students’ learning habits Preparing young people for a lifetime of learning

What is the visionary idea based on?

An extensive body of research into learning and the brain Recent research into the key dimensions of learning habits

Practical trials in schools across the country At Nant-y-Parc we have adapted the BLP for our setting and community. Below is an example of our learner qualities.


What is Growth Mindset?

A Professor of Psychology at Stanford University (Carol Dweck,) research demonstrated that people who believe that their intelligence can be developed (thus demonstrating a growth mindset) outperform those who believe their intelligence is fixed (fixed mindset). When learners learn that they can “grow their brains” and increase their intellectual abilities, they do better. This very much compliments Thorndown’s ‘I can’ and ‘I can’t do it …YET’ philosophy. It has been found that by focusing on the process which leads to learning (such as concentrating, persevering and learning from mistakes), we can foster a growth mindset in our learner. Approaches to learning which involve meta-cognition, consistently have shown high levels of impact. The evidence also indicates that teaching these strategies can be particularly effective for low achieving pupils. Growth Mindset teaching is most effective when learners are taught strategies for coping with failure and when they are explicitly taught about the learning process; including feelings associated with new learning. At Nant-y-Parc there is:

A consistent approach to Growth Mindset through display, teacher/peer coaching, direct teaching and feedback;

A resilient learning culture by pupils taking ownership of their learning using specific strategies to set goals, and monitor and evaluate their own development;

A shared belief that anyone can improve and that persistence nurtures improvement;

A culture of praising persistence, effort and resilience, rather than for being ‘clever’. Wherever possible, praise highlights the effort, skill, process or attitude, rather than the person.

Strategies for Developing Resilience


What Can a Teacher Do?

Go the extra mile for less resilient students Believe in a Growth Mindset!

Have high expectations for all learners Give constructive feedback Normalise failure with small tasks

Help learners put things in perspective Create a positive environment Read stories and discuss emotions Encourage learner to accept responsibility for their actions

Language

All classrooms have talk scaffolds to support persistent coaching Using academic and persistent coaching to narrate learner’s behaviour and activities is

a powerful way to strengthen learner’s language and school readiness skills. Examples of scaffolds can be found below:

“You are working so hard on…” “You are so patient and just keep trying…” “You are staying calm and trying again” “You are thinking hard about…”

The Resilience Framework

All teachers are aware of vulnerable learners and factors that may put a child at risk of developing low resilience

Teachers are encouraged to use the framework to identify strategies to support these learners

The framework demonstrates that mental health and resilience are intertwined.

Below is the framework we use to identify helpful strategies for fostering resilience in your class:


Pupil Voice Research has strongly suggested that a sense of belonging is pivotal to the process of developing resilience in young learners. Subsequently, involving pupils in the learning process is essential as it gives them a sense of self-worth. At Nant-y-Parc gathering pupils’ views and opinions are a regular feature of school life. We believe that pupils are the stakeholders most likely to be affected by decisions, and are invited to contribute unique viewpoints as to how decisions are working on the ground. The views and ideas of our learner are sought, whenever possible, when planning, developing and reviewing policies and procedures that might affect them. Some of these are: • Consulting through pupil bodies - e.g. school council representatives; • Group or class discussions; • Circle time; • Questionnaires or surveys; • Focus groups or workshops; • Initiatives such as learning detectives/roving reporters. We believe for learning to be effective, learner need to be actively involved in this process, so that they are motivated, engaged and able to develop as independent learners. We encourage pupil participation is something which all pupils experience at the classroom level. Whole-school


approaches to pupil participation through learning are encouraged by adopting and developing strategies such as Assessment for Learning, by involving pupils in deciding what and how they learn, in evaluating their learning, and planning for improvement At Nant-y-Parc Primary School we also ensure that learner also have the opportunity to be involved in the focus, planning and setting up of the areas of provision both indoors and outdoors as we recognise that this will encourage them to become motivated and involved in

their own learning. The New Curriculum For Wales Successful Futures proposes that our curriculum should offer ‘a broad and balanced

structure’. This structure should comprise of ‘Areas of Learning and Experience’.

Each of the Areas of Learning and Experience should make distinct and strong contributions to developing the four purposes of the curriculum.

At Nant-y-Parc Primary School our staff are familiarising themselves with the Successful Future’s document and its Areas of Learning. Donaldson’s strategic vision is being developed throughout the school with a key focus regarding how to translate this into practice for our setting and learner. The school aims to adopt Donaldson’s Areas of Learning across the curriculum, beginning with the Humanities, Expressive Arts, Health and Well-being subjects. In addition, we hope to inspire and challenge our learners by encouraging them to lead their own learning through decision making and metacognition. We aspire to ensure all learner at Nant-y-Parc will become:

Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.

Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life

and work.

Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the

world.

Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued

members of society.

At Nant-y-Parc we are currently developing policies in line with Areas of Learning as

advised by Donaldson in his Successful Futures document. It is anticipated that these

new policies will be in action from September 2019, however current policies that

follow the National Curriculum 2008 guidelines will remain in place until this date.

With this strategic vision we will ensure that there are ‘No Limits to Learning’

How is the New Curriculum for Wales linked to resilience?


As part of the new curriculum learner are active participants in their learning journey. This is an essential part of resilience as it gives learner a sense of belonging.

All tasks are planned with the learners’ ideas in mind, are rich contexts, real-life (where possible) and involve problem solving (open-ended when appropriate), these are perfect avenues for building resilience and stamina.

Assessment for Learning is used in meaningful way in order to prepare balanced lessons which involve the right level of challenge (too much failure can undermine confidence building, however not enough failure won’t build resilience).

Learning is structured in a holistic manner in order to develop personal, social, emotional, physical skills.

Teachers use the Nant-y-Parc BLP to build learner qualities and positive attitudes to

learning so that they enjoy it and want to continue The new curriculum provides opportunities to build self-esteem and self-confidence to

experiment, investigate, learn new things and form new relationships. Learners are consistently encouraged to use their initiative through carefully planned

instructions, Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss, self-reflecting and use of their observational skills

Where appropriate activities in the outdoors are planned to encourage first-hand experience of solving real-life problems and learn about conservation and sustainability.

Digital Competency

At Nant-y-Parc learners are encouraged to lead their own learning. One of the

many avenues they do this is through digital competency in a wide range of subjects and scenarios. The four focused strands are:

Citizenship

Interacting and collaborating

Producing

Data and computational thinking

More Able and Talented Learners and Resilience

Definition of the term “More Able and Talented”

The term “More Able and Talented” (MAT) is used to describe those pupils, who we

believe require opportunities for enrichment and extension across the curriculum, and

a greater breadth and depth of learning activities that go beyond those provided for

the general cohort of learners.


More able pupils are those with ability, or abilities, beyond the large majority of their

peer group. Within this broad category are more able pupils and pupils with particular

talents.

Research strongly suggests that MAT learners are at a high risk of low resilience. It is

vital that we teach MAT learners to fail and strategies for coping with failure asset

out previously in this policy.

Reporting

At Nant-y-Parc Primary School, Parents’ Consultations are held twice yearly in the autumn and Spring Terms. An end of year written report is sent to parents in the Summer Term with parents welcome to comment on the report and make an appointment, if necessary, to discuss its contents. Meet the teacher is also planned for the beginning of each autumn term to allow parents to informally meet the class teacher and TA’s, familiarise themselves with the classroom and to allow opportunities for general discussion. Open afternoons are held for parents of Nursery aged learner to meet with the class teacher. Appointment times are provided. Teachers will comment on the individual learner’s development of the learning qualities and resilience.

Transition

Teachers are aware that life events can lower resilience in learner and adults. As such, we ensures they have clear policies in place, an open door policy in order to raise issues and concerns, a whole school approach promoting good mental health, positive classroom management, fostering a sense of belonging and positive peer influences.

Specific Transitional Support

The step from home to school can be a traumatic one, both for the learner and parents. At Nant-y-Parc Primary School, we endeavour to ensure that the process seeks to alleviate any trauma, thereby allowing the child’s education to get off to the best possible start.

Learner are received in to Nursery on a staggered basis to allow for a stress free transition. This is tailored to the individual needs of every child.

Settling In We receive the learner into their new environment paying attention to individual needs

through welcoming, comforting and generally getting to know the child


Learner are introduced the child to their personal coat peg with its individualised picture and name

We nurture self-confidence in the child by offering constructive comments, which build self-esteem

This initial settling period provides a good opportunity to discuss any concerns relating to the pupils e.g. speech, hearing diet, allergies etc We have strong links with our Flying Start Setting (September 2015) to ensure that transition between settings is as effective as possible for the learner. These links provide good opportunity to discuss any concerns / baseline / EYDAF assessment results with staff to ensure that all learner’s individual needs are met. We also have a afternoon Nursery Setting (Little Miners) within our own Nursery building which provides continuity and familiarity to the learner.

Transition into KS2 It is important that teachers in KS2 build on the teaching and learning that has gone before when planning the curriculum. At present, there is a Year 3 class Year 4 Class within Nant-y-Parc Primary School and the topic approach to teaching is continued. These classes are also developing areas of learning to encourage and continue with child led learning and development of skills.

MONITORING QUALITY

Self-evaluation is a strong feature of the work of the school’s approach to reviewing its provision. The Headteacher has overall responsibility for Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 review and for monitoring and evaluating the work of the school. This involves: setting targets for each child, sampling learner’s work, observing teachers teach, undertaking reviews of classroom environments and talking to the learner to establish what they know, can do and understand. Teachers’ planning is also reviewed regularly. Evidence is carefully collected and analysed and the outcomes are reported to teachers, individually and also collectively, where there is a whole school issue to be discussed and addressed. The whole process is designed to be very positive and supportive. LEA / EAS Advisors are also welcomed into the school to support the monitoring and self-evaluation process. Consistency and high expectations are achieved by working with the Head Teacher, Senior Leadership Team, teachers, and Areas of Learning Teams are responsible for ensuring consistency and high expectations are being met. Equal Opportunities At Nant-y-Parc Primary School we consider Equal Opportunities as central to the ethos and activities within the School. Adults and pupils who make up the School


community should feel valued and free from discrimination. This ensures that everybody’s talents and abilities are fully encouraged and developed. Please see the Equal Opportunities Policy for more information. POLICY REVIEW The policy will be reviewed in consultation with staff, parents and governors in line with the planned cycle of monitoring outlined in the School Development Plan. Amendments will only be made after full consultation with staff and governors.

In drawing up this policy the following were consulted – All teaching, support staff, parents and children. It was approved by the Governing Body on ………………………………………………………………… Signed: Chair of Governors…………………………………………………………………………………………… Headteacher………………………………………………………………………………………………

Date to be reviewed:

……………………………………………………………………………

growth mindset, independent learning & building resilience · 2019-11-30 · growth mindset,...

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