Buryfields Learning Powers
Make mistakes
This is probably our favourite Learning Power.
Children and adults alike can genuinely fear making mistakes – and this can really hold some children back in their learning. Often those children who generally find things a bit easier – reading, remembering number facts and so on – struggle most when it comes to seeing mistakes as a really positive step in their learning. We teach the children that if they are making mistakes that it is a good sign that they are being challenged, and that of course, mistakes are there to be learned from. We celebrate mistakes with the children and try to admit to our own mistakes as much as possible so that they understand that everyone makes mistakes.
One of our favourite books we like to use to teach this learning power is ‘Stuck’ by Oliver Jeffers – although unfortunately Floyd doesn’t learn from his mistakes!
Aim high
This is one of the trickier Learning Powers for our children to get their head around. We chose this because we want our children to have really high aspirations for themselves – as we do for them. Dreaming big can relate to having high expectations of their own behaviour or what they might achieve in a lesson, as well as what they might achieve later in life. It is about having a can-do attitude, and a self-belief that they really can achieve anything they set their heart on.
Books we have used to teach this Learning Power include ‘Dream Big, Little Mole’ by Tom Percival.
Explore
Children are naturally explorative creatures, which sometimes can diminish as they get older. We would want all of our children to continue to have as much curiosity and wonder about the world as they do now and to always have questions that they want to ask. All of our topics and learning journey beginnings have an element of ‘Explore’ about them, for the teaching staff as well as the children! We might not always know exactly where we are headed but we know we are going to enjoy getting there!
One of our favourite books to explore Exploring is 'The Dot' by Peter H Reynolds and 'Tad' by Benji Davies.
Persevere
In many ways this is one of the easiest Learning Powers to teach if not always to achieve; children understand the theory of ‘if at first you don’t succeed’ but sometimes this can be harder than it sounds! In school we aim to allow children time to make their own mistakes and to persevere with some independence, but we also try to teach them that there may be a point when they need to ask for help!
There are so many books and stories that teach this skill or attitude; two of our favourite recent ones include ‘The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his business’ and ‘How to Light Your Dragon’.
It's good to be me
Celebrating individuality has, over the last few years, become a common theme in society. For us in school, we have of course celebrated each child’s individual characteristics, but we know that positive self-image and self-esteem is something that can easily be eroded when children are still very young. ‘It’s good to be me’ and our other learning power ‘Celebrate difference’ go very much hand in hand.
Books we love that teach this attitude include ‘Julian is a Mermaid’, ‘Odd Dog Out’ and ‘What Makes Me a Me?’.
Celebrate Difference
Whilst ‘tolerance and respect’ for people of other cultures and beliefs is one of the British values, and a value that we of course believe in and teach, we felt that it doesn’t quite go far enough to explain how we feel about ‘otherness’ and difference. At Buryfields we are not the most culturally diverse school and so teaching all of our children that there is joy in being different from each other, in looks, in lifestyles, in beliefs – in all things in fact! – is so important, for all children.
Books that teach this that we love are ‘The Diddle that Dummed’, ‘The Same but Different Too’ and ‘The Cow Who Climbed a Tree’.
Have a go
Linked to 'Make mistakes', it is essential that children develop the confidence to have a go - or rather to retain this positive attitude, as we often find that as chidlren get older they become more fearful of trying new things in case they 'get it wrong'. We also teach the children when having a go isn't the right thing in order to stay safe!
Teamwork
Learning to take turns, negotiate and co-operate can be really tricky! We provide children with lots of opportunities to practise the tricky skill of working with others, as well as reasons why teamwork is so important and positive examples of successful teamwork.
There are lots of books about working together as a team; we love Percy the Park Keeper 'The Rescue' and The Big Freeze by Pippa Curnick.
