Dear Parents,
This year sees the launch of Lyonsdown Learning, a scheme that will give pupils at Lyonsdown School the opportunity to develop values enabling them to become more effective learners and fulfil their potential in any area, be it with us, at their secondary school, or beyond.
Each half-term will see the School focus on a specific learning habit, all of which have been carefully chosen by the staff at Lyonsdown. The provisional order that these will be delivered for the 2017-2018 academic year is as follows:
Autumn Term: independence and creativity (both will be covered in the second half of the Autumn Term for 2017 only)
Spring Term: perseverance and curiosity
Summer Term: collaboration and reflection
We will be delivering each habit throughout the school, in assemblies, when relevant in lessons etc., but please do talk to your son or daughter about the learning habits at home whenever you think they are relevant. We will be trialling other ways to deliver Lyonsdown Learning, and will keep you informed of any developments.
Lyonsdown Learning competition
This week, your son or daughter may tell you about a competition that will allow them to be directly involved in the development of Lyonsdown Learning. Currently, we have not allocated symbols to any of the learning habits and would like the pupils to design them.
The first learning habit is independence. To enter the competition to create the symbol for this learning habit, your son or daughter should design (by hand or on the computer) a poster on a piece of plain A4 paper that they think best represents this learning habit. The word independence must be visible on the poster.
Entries should be handed in to the School Office no later than Friday 24th November at 3:30pm. Children in Pre-Reception to Year 2 should hand their entries to their class teacher, who will deliver them. Please ensure that all entries are named on the back of the piece of paper. Results will be announced as soon as possible after this date. The competition for the other learning habits will be announced in due course, with the creativity competition taking place before Christmas.
More information
There are a variety of books available on the subject of growth mind-set and learning habits, but Jane Simister’s The Bright Stuff: playful ways to nurture your child’s extraordinary mind is one that has proved very popular with parents. This is available from large book stores, but can be ordered from Amazon too:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bright-Stuff-Playful-nurture-extraordinary/dp/0273728172
If you have any questions about, or suggestions for, Lyonsdown Learning, and the development of life-long learning dispositions, please do not hesitate to contact me through the school office as usual.
Kind regards
C. Hammond