Revisiting a theme in a previous editorial, I would like to share some inspiring thoughts on resilience, learning, and growth. In short, resilience is defined as the ability to successfully adapt to challenging experiences. Resilience is not an inherent trait; it involves specific actions, thoughts, and behaviours that are learned and developed through experiences and over time.

A video clip featuring tennis legend Roger Federer is currently trending on social media. In this clip, he shares an interesting statistic: he won over 80% of his matches played, yet he won only 54% of all points played. The point he was making is that when you, on average, only win just over half of every point played, you learn not to dwell on the past point, regardless of how well or poorly you played them. Instead, your focus must be on the next point. This demonstrates the importance of resilience and maintaining focus in the face of both successes and setbacks. It is a valuable lesson about not getting too high on successes or too low on failures, but instead maintaining consistent focus on the task at hand.

Federer's message resonates deeply with our educational philosophy at the Prep; failure is part of life, and we must learn from it. Even great efforts don't guarantee immediate success; and after a setback, it's crucial to focus on the next opportunity. Making mistakes is therefore an essential part of learning. We want our children to feel safe to explore, ask questions, and try new things without fear of judgment. This is why our assessment approach focuses on encouraging critical and creative thinking, and growth, rather than on what mark they achieved.

Through a relevant curriculum, we aim to develop innovative problem solvers, as outlined in Goal 1 of our ‘Strategic’ plan. To achieve this, we encourage our pupils to persevere, make mistakes and learn from them, experiment and ask questions, engage in trial and error, investigate and conduct research. While we provide support and guidance, we must be mindful of...

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Revisiting a theme in a previous editorial, I would like to share some inspiring thoughts on resilience, learning, and growth. In short, resilience is defined as the ability to successfully adapt to challenging experiences.

Resilience is not an inherent trait; it involves specific actions, thoughts, and behaviours that are learned and developed through experiences and over time.