Principal Reflections

Dear Parents & Friends,

How did you respond when your child last made a mistake?

We’ve all made a mistake or two at some time during our lives!!!! A mistake is an unintentional error or misunderstanding. Mistakes can be painful when they occur but as time goes by they become known as experiences and worthwhile, if we learn from them.

Before Thomas Edison eventually made the first successful light bulb, he made several thousand unsuccessful ones. When asked about his many failures, he is said to have replied, “I have not failed. I’ve discovered ten thousand ways which do not work.” Failure is often the forerunner to success; without errors being made, much of our modern knowledge and way of living would not exist.

Mistakes themselves are not bad, they are part of the way in which we learn, grow and mature. Mistakes should be regarded as experiences, which give us information from which we can learn and make improved decisions – provided we don't take them too seriously. Likewise, we can only learn from a mistake if we take ownership of it and admit that we made it. As soon as we start to blame other people for what occurred, we begin to distance ourselves from any beneficial outcome. Accepting responsibility makes learning possible and though we can’t change mistakes, we can, if necessary, change how we respond to them.

When our children make mistakes, we should avoid belittling them and making a big deal out of their mistake. Instead, much can be gained if we discuss with them what went wrong and how, in the future, they might be able to avoid the same thing going wrong again. They need to be assured that mistakes can be fixed and that these mistakes can be used as a way of learning how to find better ways to be successful.

Similar to adults, children need to take responsibility for their mistakes and we deprive them of this opportunity, if we remove the burden of responsibility from them by accepting their responsibility as our own. Our children will never learn about consequences, if there never are any. If we have a gentle guiding hand to offer our children to help fix their mistakes and solve their problems, we will give them skills that will make them happy and enable them to grow to be productive and responsible young people. Children learn by example, so, if we as parents can demonstrate the proper responses to mistakes, our children will be able to model their own behaviour and expectations, after our own.

Peace & Best Wishes.

Jake Madden

(Principal, St Edward's Primary School)