The importance of life skills in the educational process at Northbridge

They are magic formulas that promise results without us having to make a real effort. That could be one of the biggest problems of our time, and we want results but don't want to invest time and energy.

But what happens when things don't go the way we propose? The answer is almost always the same; we get frustrated, angry and feel bad about ourselves. Then it is time to stop and reflect on the importance of life skills in the educational process.

Life skills are essential to success in any activity we set out to do. They allow us not only to solve problems in daily life but also teach us to handle failure and frustration. Our school is committed to teaching students the value of failure and the experience of reflecting on it. We must learn from our mistakes; we must learn to insist and persist until we achieve what we set out to do.

At Northbridge, teachers are efficient role models in this task; our students often copy our behaviours and reactions. For this reason, on a day-to-day basis, we must show our students that they cannot give up at the first failure, and we must do this through concrete situations of daily life.

Teaching how to manage our emotions is essential. If we allow anger or frustration to dominate us, we will lose the motivation to keep insisting. Life comprises big and small challenges, and tolerance to frustration is the first step in turning failures into energy. The energy that, with the help of our teachers, points the way in the search for new solutions to the daily problems and challenges that life offers us. In this way, we generate confidence, motivation and discipline in our students.

The difficulty is welcome because, more than a problem, it is the opportunity to put into practice and exercise our imagination and creativity.