We are a ‘Growth Mindset’ school

At Ysgol y Faenol, our aim is for all learners to develop a love of learning. To help our learners to achieve this, we have been discovering the difference between Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset. By having a Growth Mindset with work, perseverance, and effort you can improve any skill.

This concept has been developed by US educationalist, Carol Dweck. One of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation, she focuses on why people succeed and how to develop this success in schools.

In her research on motivation and achievement, Dweck introduces the idea of Mindset. Mindsets are beliefs about yourself and your basic qualities such as your intelligence, your talents and your personality.

We aim to develop a Growth Mindset for all staff, learners, and parents too. Just as we can build our physical muscles with the right exercise, our learning muscles can also be developed and can grow in strength and stamina. We will be introducing and developing a new learning muscle to our learners on a fortnightly basis. We will also share them with parents, who can then support learners in continuing to develop them outside of school.

At Ysgol y Faenol the learners have been introduced to the language of ‘Growth Mindset’. Every learning area displays Growth mindset phrases.

People with a ‘Fixed Mindset’ believe that their traits are just given to them, so people with this Mindset worry about how adequate or inadequate they are instead of developing their traits. They believe that their talent alone creates success - without effort, and they are reluctant to take on challenges.

People with a ‘Growth Mindset’ on the other hand, see their traits as just the starting point and that these can be developed by dedication, hard work and effort. This view creates resilience and a love of learning.

When we encourage a Growth Mindset in children then they become enthusiastic learners. A Growth Mindset means that their intelligence can be developed which has a positive effect on their motivation and subsequently their achievement. These students embrace challenge and struggle as a key part of learning.

"The hallmark of successful individuals is that they love learning, they seek challenges, they value effort, and they persist in the face of obstacles" Carol Dweck 2000.

At Ysgol y Faenol we believe that children can achieve anything they put their mind to. We know that in order to fulfil the potential of our pupils and encourage them to become confident and resilient learners, we 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. We want all children to welcome challenge and learn from their mistakes. Anything is possible if you work hard enough!

We also believe in the power of ‘yet.’ A simple way to start changing to a growth mindset, is using a little word, yet. Some things are worth waiting for, and those things take work.

If you would like some more tips or ideas to help your child develop a growth mindset, please click on the resources below:

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