St Peter's Positive Education strategy prioritises a growth mindset.
In a constantly changing world where preparation for real-life scenarios demands a balance between EQ and IQ, old-school, traditional learning no longer meets the needs of our school-going youth.
St Peter's Girls Prep has implemented several forward-thinking teaching methodologies which speak to the key concepts of well-being and ensure a natural flow of the educative process.
Positive Education is a relatively new concept that emphasises a "character+academics" approach, combining intellectual growth with the development of character strengths, values and competencies. It teaches critical aspects like emotional intelligence, self-knowledge, flow and how to form positive relationships. The tenets of Positive Education derive from the School of Positive Psychology, founded by Martin Seligman, Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania, whose research focused on the well-being of students and their optimal performance. The strategy encourages pupils to develop a vested interest in both the subject under study and the methods through which they study it.
One of the distinguishing features of the St Peter's leadership team is a strong focus on keeping the school in line with international trends. For example, Head of Academics, Pam van Gass, and Grade 5 Class Teacher, Melanie Aspeling, travelled to Australia to receive Positive Education training and to observe the curriculum in practice at the Geelong Grammar School in Victoria. As a result, St Peter's established five pillars of Positive Education to embed these principles throughout their practices, protocols and the journey of pupils through the school.
"The Positive Education concept connects so carefully and so efficiently with our ethos that it made sense for us to adopt it for our own pupils. We have been living this way of teaching for years, but this approach enables us to explicitly teach the skills we have nurtured all along," explains Pam. "It makes learning relevant and meaningful, and the children LOVE it. Although the programme is still very new, with the curriculum only officially being introduced across Grades 5-7, we already see a positive impact. We hear the children, after break time, discussing how they used coping mechanisms in specific situations, so we know they are already putting what they have learned into practice."
She believes that teachers have a responsibility to deliver a skills-based programme, which meets international standards and has the flexibility to adapt quickly to changing circumstances without compromising learning. "It is important to equip children with the ability to determine and plan for the next step, and this is enhanced through self-reflection. Therefore, we also advocate a Skills Mastery methodology, which focuses on continual improvement, reflection and intrinsic motivation. The term 'mastery' describes the ability of a person to grasp a new concept, action or practice to the extent that they can perform or describe it completely, and the accompanying sense of accomplishment is a great motivator for our children. The school leans towards ensuring mastery in each child rather than simply moving through the curriculum, with some children failing while others pass or excel. "The concept of Skills Mastery develops autonomy and encourages pupils to take responsibility for their own learning, as they progress at their own pace," she says.
Her passion for the girls' well-being and development is evident. "Here we talk learning. The teachers discuss how the children learn, what the challenges are and how best to approach them. We believe that an environment where children are happy and engaged leads to a very successful academic outcome overall, and we strive to deliver that."
The school also uses Inquiry-based study where children solve a set of powerful, non-googleable questions around pertinent issues such as Refugees, Democracy, Climate Change, Conflict, Leadership and Influential Women through group work and instructor-guided peer exchange. Inquiry-based learning focuses on comprehension - rather than rote learning - and when children take ownership of their own learning, they tend to engage more deeply with the content.
"We have just completed an FLP (Flexible Learning Programme), where we collapse the timetable and integrate the learning across all aspects of school life. At St Peter's, learning is exciting! It's DIFFERENT! We use it to develop a growth mindset. And where we encounter challenges, we can manage them individually because we believe in supporting every single child throughout their learning journey at our school."