Building confidence through effort and persistence

At Clarendon, effort matters. We believe effort is a consistent decision to improve and grow with every incremental step forward, no matter how small. Every day, our students and staff embody effort through a commitment to self‑improvement, perseverance through setbacks, a determination to raise the bar and a willingness to support others.

One of the greatest pleasures of my first term in my new role has been spending time observing lessons across the school and seeing our students demonstrate persistence as they strive to improve in all aspects of school life.

Resilience, however, does not necessarily come naturally to children. It must be nurtured and perseverance is a skill they need to learn.

It has been inspiring to see how our curriculum deliberately builds resilience across our Mair Street, Sturt Street and Yuulong campuses. Clarendon teachers know that resilience grows not from early struggle, but from early success followed by increasing challenge. By establishing high initial success, they make later productive struggle possible. From the ELC to Year 12 – across  classrooms, laboratories, studios, rehearsal spaces, playing fields and the pool – I have seen Clarendon teachers break learning into manageable chunks and clear, achievable steps.

Clarendon lessons follow a clear sequence: teachers model the task in I Do. Teachers then guide students through supported practice in the We Do – checking understanding and reteaching as needed – then move students to independent practice in You Do once understanding is secure. This structured approach builds persistence by making effort purposeful and safe: mistakes are expected, strategies are explicit and success is visible. Because challenge is introduced gradually, students persist with confidence, applying methods that have already worked rather than guessing or giving up.

As parents, we often enjoy the end product—watching the performance, cheering on the match, framing the artwork or marvelling at the complex equations our young mathematicians can solve—and can be forgiven for thinking these outcomes come easily or as a result of some form of alchemy. What we do not always see is the carefully designed, controlled challenge embedded within our curriculum that enables students to achieve outcomes they are proud of while developing personal fortitude.

By asking students to trust the process, we help nurture the grit required for successful learning. It is this resolve—built quietly and consistently over time—that may be the most valuable learning our students carry with them beyond Clarendon.

Written by Mark Scruby
Assistant Principal – Teaching and Learning