SALVATION came early during lockdown from an unexpected source…Disney+.

An oasis in the desert for parents everywhere who just need a few hours to do their work.

It has led to my children watching pretty much every Disney film ever, even the ropey made for TV ones.

This week I have been watching ‘The Making of Frozen 2.’

It is brilliant, properly brilliant.

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I never realised just how much painstaking work goes into every scene.

But I had an epiphany while watching it.

There was tremendous benefit in the brutally honest feedback they gave to writers/set designers/songwriters when reviewing their section.

It must have been horrible for the person receiving the feedback, but they came back the next day and created something much better.

In my first year of teaching my head teacher told me that feedback is a gift.

It just so happened that she used to wrap up one of these gifts every day and deliver them to my classroom door.

Did I like hearing it?

No, but it made me better.

It’s something that I think we often get wrong in teaching.

Fearing that we will stifle a pupil’s confidence, we often over-praise work when there is an improvement to be made.

Pupils will not thank us in the long run when we say a piece of work is fantastic, only for it to achieve a B grade when the student wanted an A*.

Now I’m not advocating heartless honesty in every situation.

If I told my son that his new ‘fast shoes’ didn’t make him run any quicker it would make him sad.

But I think there is a happy medium to be found where strengths are celebrated while, at the same time, opportunities for improvement are discussed.

So, Whitmore pupils, we will continue to provide these ‘feedback gifts.’ They may not initially be what you want to hear, but it will allow you to be the best you can be.