At Gade Valley, we are very passionate about developing pupils as learners – promoting growth mindsets is central to this.

A growth mindset is a belief that intelligence, ability and talent can be developed.  The key principles include: understanding that your brain can grow; knowing that effort is important; making mistakes is a part of learning; facing challenges will move you out of your comfort into the learning zone; and perseverance is very important to overcome obstacles.

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 will only have a go if I think that I will succeed
• 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 

Some key aspects of Growth Mindset at Gade Valley School

• We remember it’s always OK to make mistakes – we learn from them
• We never give up! We try a different approach, or use a different strategy
• We don’t compare ourselves with others, but we do learn from others
• We challenge ourselves – which really helps us make progress
• We take risks – we don’t limit ourselves by taking the easy option
• We join in as much as possible – and we learn much more by being involved
• We remember that mastering something new feels so much better than doing something you can already do
• We remember that the brain is making new connections all the time – the only thing you need to know is that you can learn anything

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.

If you like to know more please speak to your child's class teacher.