Growth Mindset

At Horsendale Primary School, we know that pupils who have a positive attitude towards their learning will make good progress and be successful – pupils who have a ‘growth mindset’ will do this.  Growth mindset is part of our school ethos, as we know having this mindset will help us all to ‘dream, achieve and flourish’.

The research

This part of our ethos is based on the research of the psychologist, Dr. Carol Dweck, who coined the term, ‘growth mindset.’  Her research showed that pupils who believed they could improve in their learning by putting in effort, actually did just that.  The following video explains this concept in more detail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUWn_TJTrnU

Key aspects of growth mindset at Horsendale:

• we celebrate mistakes and learn from them
• we never give up – perseverance is key
• we learn from feedback
• we relish challenge and take risks
• we take inspiration from others
• we continually try to improve our own learning

Team effort

As a team of parents and staff, we can encourage our children to become confident and resilient learners by modelling a growth mindset ourselves.  The way in which we encourage children to learn and explore is crucial to their success, at home, as well as at school.  Together, we can celebrate the key aspects to develop a growth mindset in our children and ultimately, help them with their learning.

For further information about how to promote and develop a growth mindset at home, have a look at the links below:

https://www.mindsetworks.com/parents/growth-mindset-parenting

https://www.oxfordlearning.com/growth-mindset-tips-for-parents/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/help-your-child-try-new-things

Growth mindset is embedded within our practice at Horsendale.  It is part of our daily classroom teaching and learning – in classroom talk, activities and displays.  We also reinforce the approach by sharing stories related to growth mindset on a half-termly basis.  We all know that we can learn anything if we want it enough.  With a growth mindset, we have a love for learning and know that it is an exciting journey that will lead us to ‘dream, achieve and flourish.’