#ELDRIC

You may note that #ELDRIC appears in many of our tweets and marketing communications and it prompts many enquiries about what it stands for. It represents our commitment to enriching learning and developing resilience, independence and confidence for all of our pupils.

Whilst our education is already broad, we strive to provide enrichment opportunities which enable the children to:

– Make memories – enrichment activities bring the curriculum to life and are often the things that children reminisce fondly about when reflecting on their time at the school.

– Contextualise learning and have fun – they often involve practical activities, themed weeks, trips or visitors to the school, which break down the routine of normal lessons enabling children to have fun whilst learning.

– Build connections between different subjects – offering opportunities for application of knowledge, skills and understanding, creativity, critical thinking, higher order thinking and problem solving, often involving an overlap between different subjects.

Education is changing all of the time and the development of pupils’ character is an essential requirement of a 21st century education. To this end, at Gayhurst, we have identified and value the characteristics of resilience, independence and confidence and seek to develop these within all of our pupils. Focusing on this aspect of pupils’ development from a young age ensures that they are well prepared for many of the challenges they will face throughout their life and not just during their school years.

– Resilience – fostering a growth mindset, we encourage children to find opportunity in adversity and appreciate that making mistakes is a vital part of the learning process. Children are encouraged to demonstrate resilience when challenged so that they can strive and persevere to achieve.

– Independence – pupils are encouraged to be independent in all that they do, whether it is finding solutions to problems or organising themselves, they take responsibility and become increasingly more independent.

– Confidence – we focus on developing the child’s self-worth and self-esteem, believing that they have talents in different areas across the curriculum. We don’t doubt that through resilience and independence they can become confident individuals.