Reflections: The term of the rubber duck!

For Mr Briggs, Deputy Head, Academic, it has been the term of the rubber duck! 

The last two weeks have seen the culmination of this year’s work on the concept of academic buoyancy, which we have discovered to be a very powerful Australian import. 

The term was developed by Australian psychologists Andrew Martin and Herbert Marsh to describe students who had developed the tools to bounce back from the everyday academic setbacks all students face.

This week Mrs Cunningham and I were able to share our research into this area as well as reporting on the very successful Year 8 project where the girls created fabulous resources and illustrations to help themselves and their fellow students to develop the key qualities required to develop buoyancy: composure, confidence, coordination, commitment and control. You can see the recording of the evening here.

We have also been incredibly fortunate to host 5 inspiring speakers this week who have further brought this theme alive in our fantastic Speakers’ Week. The speakers have presented a great variety of insights for the girls, demystifying success and sharing their failures with grace and humour. 

On Monday Harriet Evans shared a selection of one star amazon reviews for her (fabulous) books, whilst the Jane Pearce’s story of responsible entrepreneurship brought home the importance of following through your ideas and having the confidence and grit to keep going in the face of setbacks. Midweek brought a lot of laughter from comic Eva Bindeman (currently compering at the Komedia) and former comic turned coach and co-author of Will it Make the Boat Go Faster? Harriet Beveridge. It was cathartic for everyone to hear embarrassing stories and recognise the life lessons that can be gained from incremental gains. Today we will hear how teen author Libby Scott’s was able to turn her difficult experiences at school into inspirational literature,

We will continue to work on this theme and are already planning some exciting events for students and parents alike, including hosting a course from Deborah Ross on ‘coaching your teen’ – do let me know via email if you would be interested in taking part. 

Fundamentally it comes down to a ‘can-do’ attitude which our girls can all show, especially when supported by their in-school sisters. As our first speaker, Ultra-Marathon runner Katy Parrott said : it is ’attitude that can turn an ordeal into an adventure.’