A Principal's Award - something to aspire to

I ran into one of my favourite Dads in the chemist the other day. He told me how his daughter was so rapt that she was awarded the Book Week Principal's Award for reading. He said she had never had had one before and was so happy. (I know this little girl really well and I know the reading award was well and truly earned - she is one of the most avid readers we have in the school.)

Then a week or so later all the classes were doing an exercise about the capabilities they wanted to achieve by the end of Year 6. Little Chuneve in Year 2 'just wants to be able to get a Principal's Award.'

It's amazing how much weight that little gold sticker carries and the importance some children attach to it. They are a bit special. I give them out when effort and achievement goes hand in hand and children demonstrate the power of their learning. Obviously I'm not there every time this happens throughout our school - I'd go through packets of the things if that was the case! But I keep them in my drawer and kids know they really mean something. This is the point of an award - recognition and attention for learning and effort - and the knowledge that it's been earned and not just given out with no meaning attached.

Now that I look at these stickers - they are very pretty. I would have loved one as a kid!

Student of the Week - what to do about awards and recognition...

Sometimes parents ask us why we don’t 'do' Student of the Week on Assembly every Friday to recognise those students in each class who are performing and achieving well. Our decision not to do this was made before we opened and was influenced by our philosophy about providing an environment where all children will choose to work towards their potential in academic and social endeavours.

Strategies such as Student of the Week rarely motivate children to achieve more or behave appropriately – in fact they can often have to opposite effect of creating resentment amongst students who have not been awarded a Student of the Week award, despite achieving well and behaving well all the time. Student of the Week often turns into a turn-taking event in which students are picked based on some nebulous criteria because ‘they haven’t had one all year’. Children are very quick to see through these sorts of strategies.

At Peregian Springs SS we want to recognise all students for doing well at the times they are doing it. All students can aspire to this. Each class has their own way of recognising the great work kids are doing and we use assembly to congratulate those students (all those students) who are achieving above and beyond expectations in their academic, sporting and social endeavours.

I love to see our kids proudly standing for the whole group with smiles on their faces – and equally I love to see the rest of the school rejoicing in each individual’s achievement. Student of the Week becomes a routine activity that looses meaning in this context.