Growth Mindset

Welcome to the Growth Mindset page. We hope that this will help you to support positive attitudes towards learning and high self-esteem in children at home, just as we are doing in school.

At the bottom of the page, you will find relevant and useful documents about Growth mindset.

What is Growth Mindset?

The term ‘growth mindset’ refers to a way of thinking, learning and taking on challenges. A person with a growth mindset is open to constructive criticism, takes feedback and uses it, takes on new challenges, pushes themselves outside of their comfort zone and shows resilience and perseverance.

Studies show that it is people with a growth mindset (as opposed to a fixed mindset) who achieve in life, are successful in all they do and most importantly are happy and fulfilled. This is what we want for all of the children in our East Wickham Family.

Growth Mindset at East Wickham Primary School

The staff and children at EWPA were introduced to the concept of growth mindset in 2014. Since then staff and children have participated in a range of activities, assemblies and experiences to learn more about it and most importantly develop and display a growth mindset in school. Children are taught how their brains work and how new connections are formed when we try new things and then practise them over and over again. We have explored the ‘learning pit’ and how they can move themselves out of it. Children understand that success is about hard work and practice. They have learnt about influencial and famous people who have succeeded due to having a growth mindset and not giving up when things were challenging. We have had PSHE lessons and assemblies about growth mindset, but most importantly, teachers and children have embraced the language and the way of thinking that promotes using a growth mindset in all aspects of their school life.

Some key aspects of Growth Mindset at EWPA

There is absolutely nothing wrong with making a mistake- we learn from them
We never give up! We try a different strategy or approach
We learn from each other- we are responsible for our own and others learning
We challenge ourselves
We take risks – we don’t limit ourselves by taking the easy option
We actively participate in all learning – we learn by being involved
We remember that mastering something new feels so much better than doing something that you can already do
We remember that the brain is making new connections all of time – the only thing you need to know is that you can learn anything!