Acting Deputy Principal

Mindset and Student Feedback 

Recently, I shared with our staff some interesting work by developmental psychologist David Yaeger, who has studied Middle School students and mindset. In Yaeger’s study, half of the students were told that “I’ve given you critical feedback because I have high standards, and I believe you can reach them.” Just that one sentence improved the students grades at the end of the semester. 

The work of supporting our students to develop a growth mindset is so important to their wellbeing; but interestingly, it has also been shown to be great for their learning. This is due to how students tend to approach feedback – it shows that if students have a growth mindset, they’re committed to seeking feedback; they want to get better, and feedback helps to sharpen that improvement. However, when students adopt a fixed mindset, it has been shown that they don’t seek or want feedback. This is because essentially, if it doesn’t tell them they are as good as they thought they were, it is going to be upsetting to them.  

In this context, one of the key roles we all have as a community is in supporting our boys to seek out opportunities for growth and feedback; we do this first and foremost, by modelling a growth mindset. When boys see that it is okay to make mistakes, they learn to see mistakes as opportunities for learning. 

We can also support boys in developing a growth mindset by encouraging them to seek feedback at every step of their education, and by letting them know that we set high standards because we believe they can reach them. 

The Writer’s Toolbox Staff Workshops 

Last week, every member of our teaching staff took part in a ‘Writer’s Toolbox’ professional learning workshop. ‘The Writer’s Toolbox’ is our whole school approach to literacy instruction; it teaches writing at the finest grain level, is supported by research, and is shown to improve writing - particularly for boys. Through the workshops, our staff are now more equipped with strategies, to further engage our students in the joy of writing! 

Professional learning is one of the cornerstones of our teaching and learning approach; we know that when teachers improve their practice, this leads to improvements in student learning. And in seeing the incredible growth in student writing scores of late, it is clear that our approach is working.

The other important element of staff undertaking this learning is that it models the notion of always seeking opportunity to learn, as well as the notion of lifelong learning. By modelling this to our students, we also encourage them to seek continuous improvement. Not only that, we find new and better ways to teach, support and inspire our students.  

Year 8 Respect Education Day

Last week, I was interviewed by the ABC about our ‘Respect Education Day’, which every Year 8 student took part in. I was proud to talk about the impact this has had for our Year 8 students, particularly in helping our boys to navigate issues such as masculine stereotypes, mental health, inclusive language and healthy risk-taking. I’d like to congratulate the Year 8 boys for the way they engaged in the day, as well as thanking our Head of Junior School, Tom Nash, and the Year 8 Teaching Team for this wonderful initiative!