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Growth Mindsets and Learning Mantras

At New Waltham Academy, children, staff and governors have been learning about Growth Mindset and now we would like to share this with parents.

We want the children to understand that it is okay to be stuck, and that some of their best learning is done when they find things the hardest. Rather than simply praising success, we praise effort and persistence. We believe the best thing to do is to teach children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. For children who find work easy, we make sure they encounter more difficult tasks. Our children recognise that effort and persistence are what help them improve.

 

Every class has been looking at and learning about the two types of mindsets that children and adults can have, (a ‘fixed’ mindset and a ‘growth’ mindset) and have used these to write their own class mantra for 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 want people to praise me for how clever I am 

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 

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 feel clever when I’m learning something new 

I learn from my mistakes 

 

It has been proven that having a Growth Mindset can improve children’s progress and attainment. As a result, we are teaching our children that by having a Growth Mindset they can grow their brains and intelligence and achieve anything they want!  This approach links with how we mark work and give feedback too: we always mark giving ‘next steps’ so that all learning for all children, is seen as a way to grow. If children have fixed mindsets they find it hard to cope with failure: we teach our children to see mistakes and failure as positive. This makes for a very energetic and inclusive culture. It also has a really positive effect on our ethos and on how children approach learning and support each other. We have also changed our marking policy to use the term ‘not yet’. Instead of marking work and putting that the objective has not been met, we use the term ‘not met yet’ which says to our pupils that even if they have difficulties overcoming something now, the time will come when they will succeed if they continue tackling the obstacle from different angles. The use of “yet” shows that there is a learning curve, and points to the process, not the outcome.

 

A quote from Carol Dweck:

"In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that's that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don't necessarily think everyone's the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it."

For example, children given praise such as "good job, you're very smart" are much more likely to develop a fixed mindset, whereas if given compliments like "good job, you worked very hard" they are likely to develop a growth mindset. In other words, it is possible to encourage students, for example, to persist despite failure by encouraging them to think about learning in a certain way.”

 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 being 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.

On the following pages, you will find further information about Growth Mindset and what it means to us at New Waltham Academy including some examples of motivational quotes displayed around school and a list of all our class mantras which encourage a growth mindset.

We hope you will support us as we try to develop a culture of children (and adults!) who love challenges, are intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning!

Yours Faithfully

Mrs J.E Perry

Headteacher

New Waltham Academy Learning Mantras

Trackers

Why fit it, when you was born to stand out?

Early Years

I am smart, I am special. I can do challenging things.

Year 1 AG/ET

Life’s difficulties are opportunities to be a SUPER HERO!

Year 1/2 NW

In this class we don’t do easy, we make easy happen through hard work and learning!

Year 2 LSm

What’s the BEST that could happen?

Year 3 AC

Keep trying, never give up and remember the power of ‘yet’

Year 3/4 EW

'If we enjoy learning with positivity and fun, it will be easier!' 

Year 4 AS/VB

Remember -I’m amazing, I can do anything, positivity is a choice, I celebrate my individuality, I am prepared to succeed

Year 5 RJ

Keep kicking the ball and you will achieve your learning goals

Year 5/6 KBB

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great

Year 6 RS

Mistakes help me learn and grow

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Phrases That Encourage a Growth Mindset:

1. Wow!

2. Look at that!

3. Tell me about it.

4. Show me more.

5. How did you do that?

6. Let’s see what you did.

7. How do you feel about it?

8. How did you figure that out?

9. I see that you _________ (be specific)

10. That looks like it took a lot of effort.

11. How many ways did you try it before it turned out the way you wanted it?

12. What do you plan to do next?

13. That looks like it took so much work.

14. Are you pleased with what you did?

15. What questions did you ask?

Fixed Mindset Labels: AVOID THIS LIST

You’re:

Smart

Cute

Great

Fast

Best

Pretty

Good

You are quick

Very clever

You’re beautiful

Lovely

You are so intelligent

Right

Amazing

You are the best

You are better than _________. (another person)

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New Waltham

Academy



Tel: 01472 233051

email:

office@

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