Growing Agile Learners: The Award-Winning Program Transforming How Students Engage with Challenge
Picture walking into a school where students actively embrace challenges, where “I can’t do this” has been replaced with “How can I grow from this?” Where teachers don’t just teach content but deliberately nurture the expertise of learning itself. This isn’t wishful thinking – it’s the reality at Asquith Girls High School in Sydney, recently recognised as an Excellence Awardee in the Australian Education Awards for Best Student Wellbeing Program.
What they’ve achieved goes far beyond typical growth mindset posters on walls or motivational catchphrases. They’ve cracked the code on something most schools struggle with: actually changing how students think about and engage with learning.
The Numbers Tell a Compelling Story
The measurable outcomes from their AIM (Asquith Individualised Mentoring) program are striking:
- Students setting challenging goals increased by 12.5%
- High levels of perseverance jumped 30%
- Teacher expectations for student success rose 8.5%
But these aren’t just statistics. They represent a fundamental shift in school culture – one that positions learning as an art to be mastered, not just an act to be performed.
Beyond Growth Mindset: The Power of Learnership
At the heart of this transformation lies learnership – the expertise a person develops in learning itself. Think about it: we teach students what to learn, but how often do we explicitly develop their skill at learning?
The program recognises six different types of learners, from non-learners who avoid challenges to agile learners who embrace them, cultivate their Habits of Mind, design mistakes strategically, and invest their energy in growth. The goal? Moving every student along this continuum towards becoming anti-fragile – not just surviving in our complex world, but thriving in it.
The Secret Sauce: Sustainable Implementation
Here’s where things get interesting. Most wellbeing programs fail because they’re add-ons – nice ideas that gradually fade as priorities shift and staff change. Asquith Girls High School took a different approach. They built a comprehensive AIM Portal that weaves growth mindset, learnership, and Habits of Mind development into the fabric of everyday teaching.
Every term has a focus. Every year level builds on the last. Every lesson comes with three integrated components: professional learning for teachers, student activities, and practical classroom strategies. It’s not a program that sits alongside the curriculum – it’s embedded within it.
Teachers receive “just in time” professional learning through short videos linked to each lesson. New staff can quickly get up to speed. Experienced teachers regularly refresh their understanding. The false mindset – where well-intentioned teachers accidentally reinforce fixed mindset messages – is actively addressed through ongoing support and clear guidance.
The Habits That Make the Difference
Drawing from Art Costa and Bena Kallick’s research, the school has made the 16 Habits of Mind a shared language across the entire community. Students, teachers, and parents all speak the same language about HOW learning happens, not just what is learned.
But they’ve gone further. Using innovative profiling tools, teachers can assess each student’s Habits of Mind development and match it against the demands of specific learning tasks. This allows for genuinely individualised learning plans – not based on academic ability, but on learning capability.
A Journey, Not a Declaration
Perhaps most importantly, this program recognises that developing a growth mindset is, as Carol Dweck herself says, “a journey, not a declaration.” The four-year spiral curriculum ensures students repeatedly encounter key concepts with increasing sophistication. Year 7 students discover themselves as learners. By Year 10, they’re actively developing as agile learners, ready for whatever challenges lie ahead.
The Challenge for School Leaders
The success at Asquith Girls High School poses a critical question for educational leaders: If one school can achieve such remarkable cultural change, measurable improvements, and sustained implementation, what’s stopping others?
The full case study reveals the specific strategies, resources, and implementation pathway that made this transformation possible. For school leaders serious about moving beyond superficial wellbeing initiatives to create genuine, lasting change in how students engage with learning, the complete blueprint awaits.
Download the full case study to discover the detailed implementation strategies, access insights into the AIM Portal structure, and learn how your school can develop its own learnership journey.
