From the Head of Learning and Teaching
Is your daughter lost in the motivation wilderness?
On Wednesday night at the Year 9–Year 10 Parent Information evening, I talked about the fact that in the middle years of schooling, motivation can be hard to come by. Indeed, for all of us, motivation can be quite elusive. Global data on student engagement shows that this period in a child’s schooling is where motivation takes a nosedive. Anxiety about performance, failure avoidance and fear about the future can creep in and replace those positive feelings and behaviours parents once observed in their child. So, what can we do?
Motivation often comes after action. Habits and consistent routines and structures often need to be put into place before motivation arrives. You can tell your daughter not to worry initially about intrinsic motivation, worry first about the habits and engagement behaviours.
Once a student begins to slowly see some rewards from consistent habits, motivation tends to increase. At the Year 10 Academic Care meeting this week, I encouraged the girls to set a seven day sprint goal for themselves and to track achievement of that goal. For instance, if the student is studying a novel this term and she is not usually motivated to read her texts, putting in place a routine of reading her novel for 20 minutes a day is a quick way to get some progress happening. The students have been asked to track their goal and reflect on it at the end of the seven days. After completing this sprint, I would encourage girls to choose a new goal to focus on for the seven days, such as revising her most challenging subject for seven days (beyond just doing the homework).
Secondly, as I articulated at the Information Evening, encouraging your daughter to focus on her personal best, rather than comparison with others, is vital to achieving positive motivation and engagement. Comparisons with others can be very damaging and can lead to crippling anxiety, avoidance of failure and in severe instances, total disengagement. Encourage your daughter to compete against herself in a course. This is the best way to improve as it gives her an accurate yardstick. One cannot accurately measure themselves against other students because they cannot, with any accuracy, actually know what the other student knows, what their circumstances are and what their starting point has been. And when the result isn’t her personal best, try to steer her clear of self-judgement and instead get her focusing on the effort she put in, her processes, organisation and next steps. This focus on the processes of learning is crucial as the student will then be able to approach the next task differently. If she loses confidence in her ability to improve, if the hope isn’t there, this is when motivation plummets.
In the end, motivation isn’t a magical quality that appears out of nowhere, it’s built gradually, through action, habit, and self-reflection. By helping your daughter establish small, consistent routines and encouraging her to focus on her own growth rather than comparisons, you can guide her out of the motivation wilderness. As parents and educators, we have a powerful role to play: to hold space for hope, to celebrate effort, and to remind our girls that progress, not perfection, is the goal.
Staffing: New Director of Learning Enhancement
We are thrilled to announce Stephanie Dimitrelis as our new Director of Learning Enhancement (Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12).
Stephanie brings a wealth of experience and expertise in diverse learning and inclusive education. Most recently, she has been a Specialist in Diverse Learning at Sydney Catholic Schools, where she led a team supporting 46 schools in enhancing educational access and participation for all students. Stephanie has extensive experience in diverse learning across primary and secondary contexts.
A lifelong learner, Stephanie has a Master of Educational Leadership, a Certificate in Gifted Education, a Bachelor of Arts – Psychology with a GradDipEd and is currently studying Neurodiversity and Autism. In addition, she is working towards Coaching accreditation. She is passionate about supporting students with disabilities and high potential, striving to create an inclusive environment where every student can thrive.
Stephanie commences at MLC School on Monday 12 May 2025. Please join me in welcoming Stephanie to her new role!
MLC School is currently recruiting for a High Potential Learning Leader to support Stephanie in catering to the needs of our learners across the Junior and Senior Schools identified as high potential. We are very optimistic about the impact that these two roles will have on student outcomes at MLC School.
– Melissa McMahon
Head of Learning and Teaching