A Safe and Supportive Space to Learn

“The academic and emotional resilience of the students is something that is a strong focus at LEH. It is easy to talk about resilience but much harder to build it. We owe it to our students to enable them to have the resilience to best meet the challenges that they will face, both now and in the future.

As LEH teachers, we create an environment in which academic resilience is considered vital as this allows us to learn the most. Confidence and resilience go hand in hand. Students need to be reflective of their work, look for errors made and be open to guidance and advice on how to do better.

If their confidence takes a knock at not achieving top marks in everything that they do, then that process is impossible. This can sometimes be described as learning from failure. However, it does not need to be as extreme as that. We want our students to have confidence in their ability to do well and take every opportunity to be reflective. This will mean that they become the best they can when it comes to high stakes moments such as public exams, job interviews and times that really count. inspection report for its excellence and impact. Our staff are committed to a range of teaching strategies, including Guy Claxton’s Learning Power Approach (see box).

The message is that school is a safe space for mistakes to be made. We are careful to scaffold our approach in lessons as the students progress through the school. We also tailor things to different individuals, some of whom find it harder or unsettling at first.

As Head of Upper School, it is a privilege to see how the students’ resilience grows as they move through GCSEs and into A levels and then university. I recently observed an U6 interview practice session where pairs performed a mock interview in front of their peers. Not an easy task!

We do not spoon-feed the students with information, instead encouraging them to be independent learners who are unafraid of challenge, something that was recognised in the recent

After each one they were given feedback from other U6 students about what had gone well and some constructive criticism. Each pair was comfortable in getting the most out of the experience, rather than being overcome with performance anxiety. They were able to take the feedback positively and the resilience shown

WHAT IS THE LEARNING POWER APPROACH?

In his book The Learning Power Approach: Some Non-Negotiables author and education expert Guy Claxton says: “It derives from a commitment to preparing young people for 21st century life, not just for the next stage of education (though it does that too).

“This means that we (practitioners) are not just thinking about today’s lesson, or the up-coming exam, or covering the syllabus, but about the way in which this lesson contributes to the long-term aim of equipping people to flourish in the real world beyond school.” in taking on board what hadn’t gone well, was impressive. They created a safe environment where they did not fear getting things wrong but instead saw it as an opportunity to learn. This only comes as the result of all the work done lower down the school.

Within the pastoral system we also aim to build emotional resilience. The impact of the last two years on the wellbeing of students cannot be overstated. In some senses one might have expected COVID to have increased resilience. We have all come through difficult times. However, of course that is over-simplifying things, and the individual impact of the pandemic is hugely complex and varied. Teenagers have had a particularly tricky time, missing out on key opportunities to build emotional maturity and resilience.

As the pastoral team, we are constantly reflecting on how to support our students through the wellbeing curriculum and Life Advice lessons. We want them to understand their feelings and where possible to give them the skills “to ride the wave” rather than being overwhelmed by their emotions. If only we could stop negative feelings and emotions from occurring, but we can’t. Instead, we teach them to recognise that positive and negative go to plan: the peer mentor system, a new wellbeing room, two school counsellors, TootToot (an app to seek advice and support anonymously which is managed by pastoral staff), and a pastoral system that is ever growing. With such varied support, we ensure that students can use whatever means are comfortable to seek help. In this way they learn that they can get through the tough times and out the other side, ultimately becoming stronger and better able to handle a similar situation in the future. emotions are part of life and not something to fear. Being a teenager is tough and confusing. We have support for those occasions when things don’t

All too often I see the media or wider society referring to “the snowflake generation”. This is certainly not a term that I would apply to students at LEH. I am endlessly impressed by our students and the resilience that they show in all areas of their lives. It something as a school that we feel proud of. Of course, the job is never done, there are always ways we can adapt to better meet the needs of young people. However, I am confident that LEH students are going into the world with the resilience they need to meet head on, the challenges they will face in 21st Century life.”

How Does Hope Favour the Bold?

Every pupil at LEH is familiar with the school motto, and many alumnae continue to hold it dear as a guiding principle. Our team of L6 Creative Directors explain what it means to them and how it has helped them navigate life so far.

Chloe

To me, resilience means being prepared to take a risk, for the hope of striking gold; pushing through when it gets tough. Last year, during my GCSE exam season, I decided to continue rowing competitively, attending training nearly every day of the week. It was mentally and physically hard to finish a two-hour exam, and then afterwards complete another two hours of training. However, I felt emboldened by my fellow rowers to apply myself, and my friends supported me through that time, and I finished Upper Fifth with a set of results I was satisfied with. LEH has taught me to organise myself, to be independent, but also rely on my friends for strength and not be afraid of failure.

Libbie

During my time at LEH, I’ve realised that real resilience is about being kind to yourself and allowing yourself to be supported by a community of people who want what is best for you. I found this community in my teachers and fellow pupils who gave immense support during the GCSE period: the toughest milestone of my school career so far. At times, when the work felt like too much and the concepts felt inconceivable, I always felt like I had a support system to fall back on whether it was for help with academics or just having someone to talk to.

Shayna

The LEH motto ‘Hope Favours the Bold’ suggests to me that it’s ok to take risks which may or may not pan out the way you hoped. It gives you the chance to explore more about yourself; whether success ensues is secondary. Being bold isn’t just a personality trait, but also a choice as it allows you to make decisions for yourself and accept the consequences regardless. In my opinion, it helps to have an end goal, a target you are set on achieving. Once that’s in place your willpower to attain that will guide you. There are no set pathways in life and failure doesn’t mean the future’s bleak, it just suggests that a different pathway is more suitable.

Emma

At LEH we are taught that it is okay to fail, and it is not something that we should fear or be embarrassed about because it actually benefits us hugely. When we make mistakes, we can learn from our past actions. As a competitive swimmer, this is something that I have to do very frequently. After a bad race I may initially feel angry or disappointed and like I do not want to do it again. However, I’ve learnt how beneficial it is to do badly at times, as I can then go into my next race knowing what to do differently in order to achieve the results I want. The school inspires us to have big goals and dreams, and also teaches us that in order to achieve them, we must be brave and take risks, even if we are unsure, in order to reach our full potential.