With the recent launch of its "failure week", London's Wimbledon High School is teaching its pupils to embrace risk, give things a go and not be
afraid of the unknown. As one of the UK's top girls' schools, the focus is
to ensure that students understand that failure is a normal part of life and
learn the merits of not succeeding all the time. Over the course of the week,
pupils attend workshops and assemblies, as well as hear stories of their own
parents' and teachers' failures.
When Headmistress Heather Hanbury arrived at the school four
years ago, she made a commitment to developing the resilience and robustness of
her students. Some were so focused on academic success that the fear of failure
was crippling them. Conscious of ensuring the stress doesn’t get the best of
the girls, "failure week" is an attempt to teach her pupils how to
'fail better'.
It's not just young people who are afraid of failure. No
matter what your age, a lot can be learned about overcoming your fears by
listening to other people's stories. Want to get inspired? Take a look at these
videos from Stockholm's Berghs School of Communication where some of the
world's most loved creators like Stefan Sagmeister and Paulo Coelho share their
experiences.
