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6
ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
‘Grit’ is a word with which all Shells should now be familiar.
Its role in the lively academic life of the School is the focus
of one of two key academic sessions in the Shell Enrichment
programme. We spoke to Head of Shells, Milly Pumfrey, to
get to grips with grit and to find out what it can do for us.
The Teddies Curriculum:
Using grit and determination to make
the most of academic challenge
Tell us more about Shell
Enrichment Activities.
The twice-weekly sessions are designed
to introduce Shells to the wide range of
opportunities available at Teddies – everything
from archery to chess and current affairs to
filmmaking. Importantly, Shells are deliberately
not grouped into Houses or Forms, allowing
them to make even more new friends and
connections across the year group. Two
sessions are dedicated to explaining the
School’s academic ethos, introduced to Shells
as the Teddies Curriculum.
What happens in the first session?
The first session is based around a classroom
teaching tactic called ‘the pit’ – educational
theorists’ description of a stage in pupils’
learning when they go beyond the point of
their own understanding and may suddenly
feel adrift. The point of the session is to
explain this process to pupils and to help
them to navigate these uncharted waters.
All learning means stepping into the
unknown, and it is a fundamental part of
the Teddies Curriculum that our pupils
are equipped to embrace this journey.
Emphasis is placed on helping the
children to identify their own personal
response to the challenge of the unknown.
How does it make them feel? Frustrated,
angry, worried, exhilarated? Pupils react
differently to such emotions. Some will give
up, some will distract their peers, some will
become agitated – others will fly, enjoying
being stretched.
IQ and talent are not the most important
things in learning. As long as you are hard-
working and you are motivated, then you
can do just as well or even better.
Philippa Koh
Grit is working
hard at your
worst lessons.
William Newson
One failure is a step
to understanding.
Andrew Rush
Lila Howard, Thomas Sheppard, Milly Pumfrey, Edward Crofts