Is talent a myth?

Four key messages  Hard work  Purposeful practice  Opportunity  Outstanding support

David Beckham  Thousands of hours of hard work  Top class coaching  Praised for effort not ‘brilliance’  Learnt how to deal with failure

Bill Gates  Went to Lakeside School  Lived near University of Washington  Spent thousands of hours working on computer programming

Mozart  Child prodigy?  Writing music at the age of 6 (perhaps by his father and it wasn’t all original)  Best piece of work at the age of 21 (Hard work and purposeful practice)

Michael Jordan  Possibly the best basketball player of all time  Dropped by his college coach!  Over 10,000 hours of purposeful practice by the age of 18  Outstanding coaches / teachers

Serena Williams  One of the best female tennis players  Over 10,000 hours of purposeful practice by the age of 18  Outstanding coaches / teachers. One being her father

Why are African long distance runners so successful?

Four key messages  Hard work  Purposeful practice  Opportunity  Outstanding support

Matthew Syed  Number 1 in the UK  Represented England in various competitions around the world  Over 10,000 hours of purposeful practice  Outstanding coaches  Average ability during his youth

Matthew Syed

Y EAR 11

High achieving students A* / A  Insert pictures of pupils

High achieving students in Year 7

R EFLECTION “Anything is possible, don’t leave it too late”