Junior School Kew
Bending without breaking Ben Dooley Deputy Head of Junior School Kew
The Carey Positive Learner Attribute of ‘Resilience’ is defined as follows: ‘I am able to persevere, sustain effort and bounce back when experiencing setbacks.’ Exposing children to being uncomfortable in their learning, and allowing them to develop a range of coping skills is a key to the educational journey and developing resilience. Do you remember the mix of excitement and uncertainty that a brand new school year held for many of us? New school shoes, books, bag, calculator, lunchbox, locker, teacher, friends, routines, teams – the list goes on. This is an appropriate time to think about ‘Resilience’, the attribute Carey is focussed on this year. Our children are growing up in a very different world to the one we grew up in. Carey students today will have to learn new information at an unsurpassed rate, engage with and learn from multiple new sources, navigate online challenges and learn to manage multiple electronic devices, all while dealing with common experiences such as moving to a new house in a new neighbourhood, breaking their arm or leg, getting glasses, encountering anti-social behaviour, making new friends and occasionally getting hurt or let down by those friends – all in the space of a week! So it seems that now more than ever, we need to support children to develop greater levels of resilience in their lives. Resilience is characterised by the ability to bend but not break, and in practice reaffirms faith in ourselves 30 | Torch
as learners. It stems from hardship, but is rooted in a desire to continue to survive. Importantly, it is enhanced when that survival is nurtured by the collective support of others, which is the experience we strive for in a school setting. A smile amidst tears reminds us of the potential in all of us to thrive, despite times of difficulty. It is our responsibility as parents, family, friends and educators to help our children develop greater resilience. The children in the Junior School have many deliberate opportunities to act in a resilient manner each day. We expose children to challenges, and cultivate an approach to learning in life that views obstacles as a critical part of success. This includes the camps program where, for many children, the activities and distance from home is a challenge;
APS sport where the desire to win is developing and the sting of a loss is genuine; classroom group work when they are not paired with the friend they want; or the expectation to work cooperatively with a wide range of people with a shared goal in House. Nowhere is this attribute more prevalent than in the children who commenced at Carey in Prep and Year 5 this year. These new students have demonstrated a desire for learning and a preparedness to challenge themselves, from simply taking off and putting on socks and shoes in a PMP session for the Prep students to climbing a 20-metre indoor rock wall as part of the Year 5 APS Sports program. Almost without exception, these students would have felt uncertain, nervous, and feared the unknown as they navigated and stepped
