It is all too common for people to give up when learning something new or trying a tricky problem but at Myton we want our students to be successful with tasks like this. One way to help students stick with a problem is to give them a frame of reference to talk about their learning. We are starting to use ‘The Learning Pit’ to do this. Students are said to be ‘in the pit’ when they are feeling confused, distracted, angry or challenged, however it is important to remember that that these emotions are normal and that persistence often leads to success. This tool helps students to improve their mindset. Instead of thinking ‘this is too hard’, we are helping them to think ‘I’ll get there, but it may take a bit of effort’.

Students will have seen ‘The Learning Pit’ in their maths lessons last term, but we are now adopting it across the whole school. It would be great if you could talk to your child at home about what things they get stuck on. How do they feel when a task seems too difficult? How much effort does it take to ‘dig’ themselves out of ‘The Learning Pit’?