At the Ripley Academy we encourage students to demonstrate three key behaviours to further their personal and academic development. Once students have built up their understanding of these behaviours and can consistently display them in lessons, then they have become a ‘Ripley Scholar’. These key behaviours will ensure students make the most out of their precious lesson time and can continue their studies independently outside of the classroom. These key behaviours are:
Vision
Effort
Attitude
Vision
We encourage all of students to dream big and to be confident that they can achieve anything they set their minds to. To turn dreams into reality, our students must turn those dreams into actionable goals. Our Ripley Scholars are aware of their own passions, strengths and skills; all of which will help them in their journey to achieving their goals. It is our aim as a school to point students in the right direction as independent lifelong learners.
So, ask yourself:
– What are the first steps you will take on the road to achieving your goals?
– How can we help you achieve your goals?
Vision – How you can support as a parent/ guardian
To help your child start thinking about their hopes and dreams for the future, please use the following six questions as a starting point for a discussion. The questions are designed to allow our students to open up their thinking, gain confidence in their vision and start their own self-awareness as learners.
1) If you could only take one subject what would it be and why?
2) Describe an interesting lesson you had recently. Why was it interesting?
3) Who do you look up to?
4) What would you try if you knew you couldn’t fail?
5) What puts a smile on your face?
6) List five words you associate with ‘happiness’.
Effort
Effort is a combination of the intensity, direction and duration of your exertion towards a goal. A ‘Ripley Scholar’ is a student who can work independently by regularly undertaking proactive study. Many students within schools carry out reactive study, where the teacher sets a task and the student completes it. A ‘Ripley Scholar’ is a proactive student who sets themselves additional tasks once they have completed all the work set by their teacher.
Effort – How you can support as a parent/ guardian
Students can start the journey towards becoming a proactive learner by creating a checklist of tasks which they can complete, for example:
- Complete all homework
- Read through your previous classwork before the next lesson
- Ask about any upcoming lesson topics so I can read ahead
- If I do not understand a concept, I will carry out some research and then ask for help if I am still unsureo Create flashcards on a given topic; for example, the main and secondary characters within Macbeth stating their level of influence on others
The aim of this task is for students to make their time outside of lessons more effective. This will ultimately develop long term memory and promote learning within the classroom, as students will be better prepared for each lesson.
Attitude
A ‘Ripley Scholar’ has a positive attitude when it comes to their learning and they face up to challenges with resilience and grit. One step towards developing a positive attitude towards learning is to stop any negative thoughts. During moments of pressure and stress, many people start to listen to these negative thoughts. A ‘Ripley Scholar’ knows how to reframe these negative thoughts into positive thoughts. The first step to addressing these negative thoughts is to acknowledge the moments when they occur, then turn it into a positive.
Examples of reframing negative thoughts into positive thoughts:
– ‘I’m useless, I can’t do this’ becomes: ‘I’m learning. I am getting better every time I take on a challenge like this’.
– ‘This always happens to me. Everything is going wrong’ becomes: ‘everybody has tough times and I’m no exception. I know I am strong enough to cope’.
– ‘If I fail, I am in trouble’ becomes: ‘I have prepared the best that I can. I am well prepared. I will perform well.’
Attitude – How you can support as a parent/ guardian
Acknowledge any negative thoughts which are occurring in conversations at home. Discuss ways in which you can reframe those negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Starting the process of shifting negative thoughts to positives will ensure students enter lessons with a better mindset towards learning and make better progress.
