Thetford
Growth mindset
Year 1 had a positive impact for celebrating mistakes and keeping positive in responses to children who had made mistakes. This boosted children’s confidence in trying something new. Teachers said this tied in with task related praise (rather than ego related) as it reinforced for them that being in school is about not knowing things first.
Parents were informed about the importance of this had boosted the impact and meant the approach was more consistent.
Most teachers felt the mixed ability and peer support helped develop growth mindset ideas.
Learning powers
One reception teachers had introduced characters with Doris the Duck being most successful, for not giving up. Children could see when they needed to persevere. They were encouraged to add a post it note to the Doris display whenever they believed they had not given up. They started to use learning language: ‘I was finding this hard so I tried again.’ The remaining teachers in the group had not tried using the powers.