Foundations of Success and Wellbeing - from a real live school!

I was lucky to be able to attend our local school to see the culmination of a day-long performing arts workshop last week. A small school that’s big on heart, the ever-enthusiastic principal had organised for parents and community members to attend the last 45 minutes of the day so the students could perform the ballet they had learned. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the Prep – year twos performed the baptism scene from the Nutcracker. The kids were as proud as punch of their new skills.

What brought it all home for me from a learning and teaching perspective, was the wrap-up that the principal did at the end of the performance. The principal seamlessly tied in all of the school’s Foundations of Success and Wellbeing (in this instance referred to as “Keys to Success”) asking the students for examples where, during their day, they had had to demonstrate confidence, resilience, persistence, organisation and getting along. For each foundation, or positive habit, the kids were able to identify where they had used the dimension to overcome shyness, uncertainty, or nervousness about the new skill, to be successful in their performance. By explicitly referring back to these foundations, the Principal is reinforcing the positive habits, and the students, even at Prep level were clearly engaging in the concepts. I loved her explanation of confidence, where you “just have to take a deep breath and give it a go!” Oh how much we could learn from this in our daily lives ; )

Here is a link for the You Can Do It! education resource that outlines the five "Keys to Success". There are some beautiful concepts in this document – have a look at "Howbadzzat?”. It’s an index for teaching resilience and encouraging students not to "make mountains out of molehills" (Bernard, 2013).