A Growth Mindset School
West Lodge is a 'Growth Mindset School' and this philosophy is central to the culture here.
We want all our pupils to relish challenges, embrace mistakes as part of the learning process, value the importance of effort, respond carefully to feedback and take inspiration from others. This will help them to achieve, not only with us, but also in their future lives as adults.
We know that in order to fulfil the potential of our pupils and encourage them to become confident and resilient learners we, as a team of parents and staff, need to be modelling the mindset of a learner who is not afraid of making mistakes but who thrives upon them, knowing that this is all part of the learning process.
Hear pupils and Mr Francis explain more:
The focus on growth mindset was something that was integral to our decision to choose West Lodge for our children.
Parent
Mrs Collins, Assistant Head Teacher, explains the benefits of metacognition.
These are things that you will see every day at West Lodge:
- We celebrate making mistakes – we can learn from failure.
- We never give up – perseverance is the key if we are to succeed.
- We learn from each other.
- We don’t compare ourselves with others.
- We challenge ourselves and take risks.
- We remember that our brains are making new connections and growing all the time; we can grow our brain.
The average impact of metacognition and self-regulation strategies is an additional seven months’ progress over the course of a year.
Education Endowment Foundation
Using our Learning Powers to be the best learners we can be
Every day we challenge pupils and staff to consider what makes a successful learner. The qualities of a good learner are illustrated by our ‘Learning Powers’ which prompt the children to be the best learners they can be and be successful outside of the classroom, too.
Each Learning Power has an associated animal character to aid the younger children’s understanding:
- We concentrate like Emily the Elephant.
- We are curious like Kelly the Koala.
- We are resilient like Albert the Armadillo.
- We co-operate like Sadie the Squirrel.
- We want to improve like Marvin the Monkey.
Pupils share which learning powers they use most:
Assemblies regularly consider what kind of learners we want to be and how we can positively approach challenges inside and outside the classroom. The school buzzes with talk of perseverance, challenge, risks and celebrating mistakes.
A well-known saying from the film Finding Nemo has become our adopted motto: “Just keep swimming!” Central to this attitude and approach to learning are the theories and proven evidence of Growth Mindset.
This is a term coined by psychologist Carol Dweck and her research has identified the characteristics of learners with a fixed and a growth mindset. The following video explains the concept in more detail:
Don't get distracted by others, even when work is tricky.
Year 6 pupil
In a chess game I am entranced and don't notice anything around me.
Year 3 pupil
I use Albert the Armadillo (resilience) and Kelly the Koala (curiosity) most. I’m most curious about how things work, like how the world spins round in 24 hours.
Year 1 pupil
I have improved my concentration in my work by using Emily's Learning power in my lessons.
Year 6 pupil
If you are good at concentrating then you are most likely to be successful.
Year 6 pupil