At Cranford Park CE Primary School, our ethos is a vital part of our school provision. We are caring, nurturing and supportive of each child, yet also challenging, with high expectations and aspirations for everyone in our school community.

Growth Mindset

One of the most important features of our school ethos, which encourages every child to ‘grow their brain’ is our work to develop a ‘Growth Mindset’ .

Research has shown that a growth mindset can encourage children to work harder, as children are aware that effort and difficulty help their brains to grow…they can literally make themselves smarter! Children with a growth mindset love a challenge, understanding that their abilities can be developed. Instead of saying they ‘can’t’, these pupils understand the power of adding the word ‘yet’.

At Cranford Park CE Primary School, we work to develop a growth mindset in every child, encouraging them to embrace challenges and make maximum effort in the knowledge that abilities are not pre-defined, but are capable of growth. Due to our ‘Growth Mindset’ culture, we do not ‘set’ or group children into fixed groups, but instead gather them daily with peers whose next steps are the same. We celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn and we praise focus, effort, resilience, perseverance and progress, not ability.

It is vital that home and school work together to give consistent messages to children about what they are capable of. So, we ask our parents to support us in focusing more on the effort their children have made than the outcomes they achieve.   Over time, this praise gives children greater confidence and encourages persistence, resilience and self-challenge for brain growth.