Living Faith values contemporary education, continually evolving with the research to ensure our students are prepared for the future. Developing the ‘whole’ child forms a key part of this vision, with a growth mindset sitting at the core.

The first week of the school year is ‘Growth Mindset Week’. This is a week dedicated to learning about how our brain learns and makes connections. Students learn how to shift their mindset so they are ready and excited about undertaking challenges and making mistakes. This week is also a chance for students to get used to their new classroom environments, build rapport with their teachers and develop the classroom culture. Developing a growth mindset in our students is a priority at Living Faith.

How do we develop a Growth Mindset at Living Faith?

Embracing Challenges

One of the fundamental aspects of a growth mindset is the ability to embrace challenges. When children understand that effort, perseverance and learning from mistakes lead to success, they are more likely to approach challenges with a positive attitude. We encourage students to view difficulties not as roadblocks but as opportunities to grow and improve.

Fostering a Love for Learning

A growth mindset promotes a love for learning. Children with this mindset are motivated by the belief that their intelligence and abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. At Living Faith, we support this by creating an environment that values curiosity, exploration and a genuine interest in learning by engaging in authentic real-world tasks. We encourage students to ask questions, seek out new information and view each day at school as a chance to expand their understanding of the world.

Resilience in the Face of Setbacks

School life inevitably comes with its share of setbacks, whether it's a challenging task, a difficult problem or a social hurdle. A growth mindset equips children with the resilience to bounce back from these setbacks. Instead of seeing failures as a reflection of their abilities, children with a growth mindset perceive them as opportunities to learn and improve. We support students through these moments, emphasising the importance of learning from experiences and using setbacks as stepping stones to success.

The Power of YET!

Fostering a growth mindset in your child can be the key to unlocking their full potential and laying the foundation for a lifetime of success. Families can help reinforce a growth mindset by helping students shift their thinking and the language they use. By adding ‘yet’ to negative comments about their learning we can change the way students view challenges. ‘I don't understand this’ becomes ‘I don't understand this ...YET’. ‘I’m not good at this...YET’. ‘This doesn’t work...YET’. ‘I can’t do this...YET’. To help reinforce a growth mindset in your children we encourage you to use the power of ‘YET’ in your conversations at home.

Living Faith prides itself on teaching and learning practices that promote student engagement, purpose and the development of 21st century skills. With a holistic approach towards nurturing and developing the ‘whole’ child, Living Faith implements leading-edge concepts to best prepare students for our rapidly evolving world.

What are our concepts and what do they mean?

Growth Mindset:

A growth mindset is a learning theory that focuses on the belief that a person’s abilities and performance are not set in stone. In fact, they can be improved through effort, persistence and belief in oneself. At Living Faith, Growth Mindset Week occurs across the entire school in the first week of the year, where students are encouraged to participate in a range of learning activities that promote the establishment of a positive growth mindset culture. Once this foundation is laid, growth mindset becomes a regular part of daily life at Living Faith.

Project-Based Learning and Exhibition Evenings:

PBL is a method whereby students learn by actively engaging in meaningful, semester-long projects that involve authentic, real world problems and experiences. Students learn through inquiry with their teachers and peers, resulting in the development of deep content knowledge as well as 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. They then go on to showcase their PBL journey to the community at Exhibition Evening, allowing students to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Contemporary Competencies:

We understand the need to prepare our students with 21st century skills required to thrive within our ever-changing world. Contemporary competencies, also known as ‘soft skills’, are explicitly taught throughout all year levels and include: adaptability, collaboration, complex problem solving, creativity, emotional intelligence, innovation, leadership and resilience.

Service Learning:

Lutheran Education Australia defines Service as, “Faith active in love.” Service is a core component of Living Faith’s culture, and is one of our Contemporary Competencies. All students engage in real-world service learning projects that encourage them to grow as compassionate, responsible citizens who recognise and respond to the needs of others and our planet.

In the following edition of Faith Matters, we will continue to unpack some of the other remaining systems Living Faith prides itself on:

● Agile Learning Spaces
● Pastoral Care
● Play-Based Learning
● Collaborative Classrooms
● Digital Technologies

Bianca Ravi
Director of Learning