The data is telling us to protect what is already there

Seventy-one per cent of young people say they keep trying when something is difficult. The national picture includes serious challenges, and it also contains a great deal of strength worth protecting.

I wonder how often we unintentionally organise a child's school experience around the things they find most difficult.

We collect information about behaviour, monitor attendance, document incidents and identify needs. All of that information is important. But when we meet to discuss a child who is struggling, how much time do we spend understanding what they're good at, what they enjoy, what makes them laugh and where they experience success?

We might know exactly how many lessons they've missed and very little about the circumstances in which they thrive. And sometimes, through the way we respond to difficulty, we make those circumstances harder to access.

Think about the learner who is brilliant at sport but regularly misses PE because of their behaviour. Or the child who is naturally caring, capable of taking responsibility and helping others, but whose reputation means they're rarely trusted with those opportunities.

Sometimes our responses to difficulty unintentionally reduce access to the very experiences that might help children develop a different understanding of themselves.

This is something I've been thinking about while reading Growing Up in the 2020s.

The report gives us plenty to be concerned about. One in four young people met the criteria used to estimate a probable mental health disorder, nearly one in five met the threshold for persistent absence, 17% reported disruption in all lessons and significant inequalities were already visible by Year 8.

But there are other findings worth paying attention to. Ninety-four per cent described themselves as neutral about or happy with life overall, 95% said the same about friendships, and 71% agreed that they keep trying when something is difficult.

We need to be careful about grouping neutral and happy together, as those experiences can be quite different. But the finding about persistence is particularly interesting.

Seven in ten young people describe themselves as willing to keep trying when something is difficult. That's an enormous resource, and it makes me wonder how much of that determination we're managing to protect as children move through education.

Young people bring so much into school that rarely finds its way into our data. Humour, loyalty, curiosity, creativity, practical skills, kindness and courage. Some are brilliant at looking after others, solving problems, making people laugh or spotting when somebody needs help.

And there is something important here about development. Children build their identities through repeated experience. They learn about themselves through what they can do, what happens when they try, how other people respond and the opportunities they're given. Repeated failure, rejection or shame can influence what children come to expect of themselves and how willing they are to try again.

A child who has struggled academically for years may have learned that trying is likely to end in failure. A child who is regularly removed may have very little experience of being successful in a classroom. Another might have developed considerable independence and resilience outside school, yet find that those strengths are rarely recognised or useful within it. When we understand this, we can begin to think differently about how we support children.

Making self-belief accessible

At Navigate, Self-Belief, Opportunity and Hope are closely connected. What children experience influences what they believe about themselves and what they imagine might be possible. Self-belief develops through credible experiences of capability. For a learner who has spent years struggling, simply telling them they can do something may carry very little weight.

They may need a task broken down, more opportunities to practise, a different starting point or an adult who recognises progress that previously went unnoticed.

For one child, success might be entering the classroom independently. For another, asking for help before becoming overwhelmed, contributing to a discussion or continuing after making a mistake.

Our job is to make those experiences accessible and help children recognise the progress they're making. Opportunity is equally important. Sport, music, practical learning, leadership, mentoring, creativity and community involvement can all help young people discover strengths and develop a wider sense of identity.

It's worth looking carefully at who gets access to these experiences. Are children with poor attendance or repeated behaviour incidents also missing trips, enrichment, responsibilities and opportunities to represent their school? How often do the children who would benefit most from experiencing themselves as capable and valued have the fewest opportunities to do so?

Hope also depends on what happens when things go wrong.

Some children need adults to hold belief in their capacity to make progress long before they can see it themselves. They need realistic opportunities to return, repair, practise and try again.

A difficult morning, another incident or a suspension should lead us to consider what a learner needs next. Their history helps us understand the support they require, and we need to be careful about allowing that history to determine how much opportunity we offer them.

What should we be noticing?

There are some practical ways schools can build this thinking into the systems they already have. When reviewing a vulnerable learner, include their strengths, interests and experiences of success alongside their needs, risks and difficulties. Ask them what they're proud of, what they enjoy and where they feel most capable. Think about whether those experiences are happening regularly enough.

During learning walks, consider who is participating, taking responsibility, becoming more independent and experiencing success. Look at whether the work is accessible, whether children have opportunities to contribute and whether adults are noticing the small steps that make further progress possible.

It would also be worth reviewing which learners repeatedly miss out on enrichment, leadership and wider school opportunities. We need to maintain boundaries and accountability while being thoughtful about the consequences of restricting access to experiences that could make such a difference.

And when we measure impact, let's pay more attention to what children are increasingly able to do. Increased participation, stronger help-seeking, sustained effort, successful returns to learning, greater independence and wider access to school life all tell us something valuable.

These changes may be particularly significant for children whose progress is difficult to see through attainment or behaviour data alone. The national figures give us good reasons to be concerned about the pressures young people are experiencing. They also invite us to look more carefully at what children are bringing into school and how we are responding to it.

We're working with a generation facing considerable challenges, many of whom are already showing determination, creativity, kindness and courage in the way they navigate their lives. Perhaps we need to become as systematic about recognising and developing those strengths as we have become about recording their difficulties.

Pass it on: Our free Self-Belief, Opportunity, Hope and Noticing to Nudge resources on We Navigate Together can help schools recognise strengths, make progress visible and create more opportunities for children to experience success.