A Bumpy Path Will Build More Confidence Than a Smooth One
I warmly welcome the return of our School community for the final term of this year.
This week, I formally announced the newly appointed Head of Junior School, Ms Karen McArdle, to commence in the Barbreck role and as a member of the Senior Leadership Team in January 2019. Please click here to view our video announcement.
Also stepping into a new role is current Early Learning Centre Teacher and Curriculum Coordinator, Ms Sarah Bethune, who will commence as Head of the Early Learning Centre from next year. Sarah brings to the role significant expertise in the area of early childhood education and a comprehensive understanding of leading and implementing a learning program that embraces the Reggio Emilia approach coupled with a school readiness program and early introduction to numeracy and literacy.
Our ELC children have been captivated by the opportunity to visit the new Barbreck Library each week for their reading lesson and I enjoy watching the children excitedly explore this space on regular occasions. Their inquisitive love of books and the ease of access to the new library go hand in hand. Their smiles and laughter are a wonderful reminder of the positive impact this magnificent new building has on the learning opportunities for St Catherine’s children of all ages.
It is with much gratitude and appreciation that we will acknowledge the significant contribution of Mrs Alana Moor as she steps into her well-deserved retirement at the end of this year. We are currently in the planning stages for a special function to celebrate Mrs Moor’s remarkable achievement and contribution to the education of many Barbreck girls and children in our ELC. Invitations to this event will be posted shortly.
Date saver: Mrs Moor’s Farewell and Thank You, 6.00pm Wednesday 7 November 2018.
The School is in the final stages of recruitment for 2019 teaching roles, with details to follow in the coming weeks.
The holidays are always a good opportunity to catch up on some reading with many research articles saved to my ‘holiday reading’ list.
The Confidence Gap for Girls was one such article that caught my attention and drew on the research completed by co-authors Claire Shipman, Katty Kay and JillEllyn Riley for their book: The Confidence Code for Girls.
“The early weeks of a school year can rattle even the most self-assured kid — the swirl of new classes, teachers and tribes, and the pressure to try out new co-curriculars, sports and even personalities.
Tween and teen girls face an added challenge because their confidence is already plummeting during those years. Of course, puberty is a turbulent time for confidence in both genders. But girls experience a much more significant, dramatic drop.
Between the ages of eight and 14, girls’ confidence levels fall by 30 per cent. At 14, when girls are hitting their low, boys’ confidence is still 27 per cent higher. And the effects can be long lasting.”
Such research provides a strong argument for the benefits of single sex education. An all-girls’ setting allows girls to find their voice in the classroom and to build their confidence without the learning climate and culture of the classroom, and the control of the subject dialogue, being dominated by their male peers (exhibiting up to 27 per cent higher levels of confidence!). All too often staff who newly start at St Catherine’s from a previous co-education teaching environment comment on the pleasure of having girls actually raise their hand in a capacity to offer a response to a question in our classrooms. Such teachers comment on their observation that girls’ engagement in the classroom can be dampened by their male counterparts.
So how can you spot the signs of this confidence fall in your daughter? She may grow more unwilling to take risks, to try something new or to fail. It might be a reluctance to speak up in class, to try out a new sport or put herself out there with an unfamiliar classmate. Overthinking, people-pleasing and perfectionism typically come into force, effectively grinding her confidence to a halt. It is also not easy to convince girls to embrace risk and failure, and to suppress the negative thoughts in their minds.
Some useful tips for parents include:
- Trade her comfort zone for her danger zone
Comfort zones inhibit growth. That does not mean she has to quit the soccer team because she is already great at soccer. But you should encourage your daughter to move beyond what she does well and tackle something scary. Risk looks different to every girl — for your daughter it might be inviting a new friend over, or checking out the debate team, or getting to school on her own.
- Take the fear out of failure
Failure will strike. It is inevitable, especially when your child is taking risks. It is also essential for her to learn to move through it, normalise it and rebound, to be ready for it the next time it happens.
Change the channel. Immediately after a disaster, do not analyse what went wrong, or assure her that you can fix it, or tell her that it does not matter. Her amygdala (fear centre) is on fire. Before rational thought can ensue, she needs a break. Have her take 30 minutes, or three hours, to do whatever will allow her brain to switch gears and take a breather.
- Retrain her brain
Of course, at the centre of the confidence changes in adolescence is what is going on in girls’ brains. The largely female trait of rumination really kicks in at puberty, which can be brutal because girls do not usually know what has hijacked their heads and feelings, and overthinking creates even more risk avoidance.
- Do it yourself
To make these tips really resonate with our daughters, parents must become role models for risk and failure. Talk about your nerves. Let your daughter know when you are worried about a new challenge, when there is something you might want to try but it scares you. Even better, include her in your process and ask for her advice about it
- Embrace the bumps
This is a useful directive for parents more than for girls. If the school year seems rocky already, instead of resorting to panic or racing to fix things, remember that your daughter actually benefits from challenges. A bumpy path will build more confidence than a smooth one.
A study prepared for the United States Department of Education observed, “more positive academic and behavioural interactions between teachers and students in the single-sex schools than in the comparison to co-ed schools.”
Whether she wants to be an astronaut, ambassador, or accountant, a girl needs to know — not just think, but really know — nothing can stand in her way. Girls’ schools, like St Catherine’s, send that message to girls every day.
This Sunday we will celebrate the successes of our Year 12 students at the annual Valedictory Dinner. This event is an opportunity for the School and parents to acknowledge the efforts of our students as they prepare to embark on the next chapter of their lives. I hope our Year 12 students leave St Catherine’s feeling empowered to approach all their future endeavours with confidence, wisdom and integrity.
Annual School Survey
Communication was recently sent to Parents, Staff and Students inviting participation in the Annual School Survey. The Survey will be available to complete from Monday 15 October for two weeks. The Survey demonstrates the School’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement; as such, we believe it is essential to seek the feedback of our School Community on a range of issues relating to the School. As indicated in my previous communication, the Survey is conducted by MYP Corporation to ensure confidentiality. I strongly encourage you to participate. However, it is not compulsory. If you decide that you do not want to complete the Survey, or receive daily reminders, simply click ‘Unsubscribe’ in the instruction email.
