Coping effectively with failure

Examinations are, lamentably but understandably, a time of worry and stress for a lot of students. There are the months of revision, followed by the big week or so of examinations, and then the agonising wait for results. It is therefore understandable that the results the girls receive may feel like the 'be-all' and 'end-all', but it is important for them to remember that there is a broad world beyond examinations and academia. Whilst recognising that results have value, particularly when needed as a 'passport' to the next stage of one's life, it is also very important to remember that they do not define a child's worth as a person.

Young people are multi-faceted and so much more than exam-taking machines; they pursue a wide range of skills and hobbies, and schools help them to develop their talents in these areas. In addition, schools like St Mary's value character formation as much as academic excellence; the person you are to become is as important to us as what you may achieve.

That is why one of our key Mary Ward characteristics is 'coping effectively with failure'. Seeing the bigger picture can help when examination results are not quite as expected. We know that our students' personal qualities are not tied solely to their academic attainment. Our students are kind, patient and hard-working; they value friendship, and promote the values of truth, justice, sincerity and freedom.

Of course, there are also lessons to be learned. Part of coping effectively with failure is taking time to reflect, recognising what you might have done differently, implementing change, and accepting that, although your results may not have been what you hoped, you can improve in the future.

This year, at St Mary's, we have been developing cognitive skills as part of High Performance Learning to help the students cope effectively with failure: students are learning to plan, to self-regulate, and to express their intellectual confidence whilst also engaging in logical, critical and crucially flexible ways of thinking.

Alongside these, High Performance Learning has given us the vocabulary to talk openly about the sort of values that support lifelong success rather than the short termism which comes from preparing for a test. Our students have frequent opportunities to persevere and practise resilience in their everyday school experience; by setting up tasks in lessons which have choices built in, we ensure that students are empowered and focus on outcome rather than just on processes.

That said, examinations can be stressful and not doing as well as one had hoped is hard to deal with, which is why our lessons this week have focused on learning from the experience and setting targets rather than using them purely as a summative experience. I also spoke about how to use feedback positively in Senior School and Junior School assemblies this week.

Writer Matthew Syed stresses the importance of softer skills, such as resilience, in Chris Parr's recent article in the TES. He adds that "it is important that children are given the space to learn by doing, and to occasionally fail, but not to see that as devastating", as it is necessary in order to "grow better" and to "become more successful". Social media has only added to a society that is increasingly pressured; reality has been edited, cropped and censored, so that failure is hidden from view. As a result, there is a danger that young people are becoming increasingly risk-averse, limiting themselves in order to avoid the possibility of failure. At St Mary's, we want all girls to remove all self-limiting behaviour and fulfil their potential through embracing High Performance Learning.

Each St Mary's girl is unique and has her own talents and strengths, which we cherish here. As a community we value them for so much more than results achieved in tests. By learning from mistakes and keeping examinations in perspective, we aim to support our girls in achieving excellence and fulfilling their potential.