From the Principal
It is well to cultivate a friendly feeling towards error, to treat it as a companion inseparable from our lives, as something having a purpose, which it truly has. (Maria Montessori - 1870 to 1952)
Maria Montessori was an inspirational Italian physician and educator who advocated individuality, independence and experimentation. At the core of experimentation is the willingness to embrace and understand our mistakes. Although mistakes are an important part of the learning process, they are positive, enabling us to progress our understanding, overcome our fears and make courageous decisions. However, to learn from our mistakes, we must first reflect on our errors and subsequently extract the lessons.
Mistakes are not created equal. In an article by Mindshift, Why understanding these four types of Mistakes can help us learn; it classifies mistakes into four categories to develop a better understanding of mistakes.
- The stretch mistake –happens when you are expanding your current abilities and truly challenging yourself to learn new knowledge and skills.
- The aha-moment mistake –happens when we achieve the desired result accidentally through a mistake.
- The sloppy mistake –happens when we become overly familiar with something or lose concentration. It can signal an opportunity to enhance focus, process or habits.
- The high-stakes mistake – tend to be related to a performance situation where we want to minimise risk-taking behaviour through practice, growth and critical reflection.
As we head towards the end of Semester One, where assessment tasks are returned, and reports cards are finalised, I encourage every student to not only take the time to celebrate their achievements and personal triumphs but also to seize the opportunity to better understand their mistakes, as a way of further developing their self-understanding and efficacy as a learner.
College Community Code of Conduct
Clayfield College promotes standards in keeping with the PMSA Christian ethos, and from this, we derive key values such as strong and healthy relationships, care in a safe environment for growth and development, and respect for self and others. A Community Code of Conduct has been developed to provide all members of our Clayfield College community with guidelines for the effective development of positive relationships within our school.
The Clayfield College Community Code of Conduct sets clear standards of behaviour expected of all College community members in the school environment or when attending any school-related function/activity either on College grounds or at other location. Please access the Community Code of Conduct on our College website by clicking here.