Rising to a challenge, supporting each other and working as a team; developing confidence

- Mrs Owens on confidence at our Junior School

It’s that time of the year again when the Nativity crib is dragged from under the stairs, the costumes are dusted down and Mrs Kew is commissioned to write another script – for the Pre-prep Nativity play. As one of our young actresses says on stage in this year’s production of the Nativity play:

“But everyone here knows the story. It’s the same every year.”

“So why do you watch it again and again?” asks another.

Then, of course, they go on to act out the very important message that is the whole raison d’etre of the Christmas celebration.

Why do we do it, indeed? As teachers we ask ourselves that question every year when the going gets a bit tough in rehearsals; the shepherds forget to come on, yet again, and Mary has taken a bathroom break when she ought to be in the stable receiving important visitors. We always have the same answer, ‘It’s all for the children’.

Every year we will be surprised by a little girl who is so quiet and shy in the classroom and suddenly finds her voice, with a volume and clarity we have never heard before. Or another pupil who finds it so difficult to memorise words but has practised and practised and finally says “I know it all now!” There she stands, word perfect and triumphant, when we had thought we might have to lose that scene to the cutting room floor. Then there’s the confident child, who learns to rely on others for her cue. Or the child struggling with her Mathematics work that week who then stuns us with her pitch perfect solo.

Performance is all about rising to a challenge, supporting each other and working as a team, and developing confidence and self-esteem. Children with a low self-esteem can find rising to a challenge a source of anxiety and their immediate response is often ‘I can’t do it’. Children with a healthy self-esteem are generally more optimistic, and are more able to rise to the challenge with a ‘have a go’ attitude. Patterns of self-confidence and self-esteem start very early in life and, once children have grown up, it’s harder to improve self- perception. So it makes sense to develop in our pupils a sense of self-worth, right from the start. A performance, whether a play, assembly or musical concert, sets a challenge in a safe environment, where children are encouraged, supported and praised. It allows children to try and fail, practise, try again, and finally succeed. That’s what performing is all about…as well as reducing the mums and dads in the audience to tears of pride of course!

Year 3

Year 3 pupils are looking at speech and the spoken word in text; looking for speech marks and italics, learning to add expression, and thinking about the character who is actually telling each story. The girls also acted out an extract from a Mr Majeika story!

Year 4

The Year 4 girls held a Roman day on Tuesday as part of their Pompeii topic. The group spent the morning taking part in Roman craft activities such as making ink, designing copper brooches, and making wax tablets and mosaics, before holding a feast in the afternoon. The girls put on Roman style plays and read poems aloud (in Latin), presenting confidently and clearly to the rest of their peers.

Year 5

Year 5 pupils put on their group assembly this week, presenting the story of a young girl, Martine, who is sent on a journey through Africa to live with her aunt on a game reserve after her parents tragically die. In the story Marine meets a mystical white giraffe and believes it is her mission to protect this special animal from poachers. The girls performed many drama pieces and read aloud some of their creative writing work that the story inspired – well done girls.

Year 6

Year 6 has been working on building up confidence levels through practising presentation and debating techniques. The pupils are encouraged to take a moment to form their answers to a question, and then respond and begin a debate. The girls are respectful when listening to each other, before responding and debating the topic in question. The skills the group builds during this practice are numerous, but especially learning confidence and resilience.