What is the Accelerator Programme?
The Accelerator is a year-long training and development programme.
At the end of the first year you will have:
- An expert lead practitioner known as your ‘Skills Leader’
- A team of confident trained teachers
- Demonstrable student progress in eight essential skills
- A Skills Builder Award in recognition of best practice
How does the Accelerator programme work?
You’ll join a cohort of just 200 UK schools. We’ll match you with a dedicated Skills Builder Education Associate who is a qualified teacher. Your programme will include Skills Leader and teacher training, peer learning opportunities, planning meetings, and a complete curriculum and assessment model for your students.
Places are limited. Apply in the Spring term and be invited to get started early in Summer.
What could you do on an Accelerator programme?
Secondary schools tailor the programme to fit existing curriculum plans, careers strategies and school priorities.
Skills Builder, at its best, is embedded throughout your ethos and practices: policies, staff training, the curriculum, assemblies, and more. Here are some ways others have got started. You might:
- Introduce all eight essential skills to the whole school from the outset. Or, you might prefer to work with a target group of students initially.
- Use a weekly tutor time slot and the 300+ 15 minute lessons from Skills Builder Hub to teach a focus skill to a particular year group, or KS3. Tutors can then reinforce skill development through their subjects.
- Embed employability skills into your curriculum, prioritising Gatsby Benchmark 4. We can use training time with your curriculum teams to audit PSHE schemes of work, for example.
- Look for special days in the school calendar to run longer activities or off-timetable days.
- Use self-assessments from Skills Builder Benchmark to set individual targets during CIAG or Personal Development meetings.
- Link employability skills to work experience provision, where students use downloadable passports, diaries and reflection tools to gather evidence and collect feedback from employers.
Students on an Accelerator Programme make twice the progress building their essential employability skills.
* Apply in the Spring term and be invited to get started early in Summer.
What is the Skills Builder Award?
- The goal is to equip your students with the essential employability skills they need to succeed in education, wider life and future employment.
- The Skills Builder Award recognises secondary schools who are delivering high-quality essential skills education.
- You will achieve an Award by embedding principles of best practice outlined in the Award Guide.
- You will work closely with your Education Associate in three Planning Meetings to develop and implement a manageable, long-term plan.
- Awards are dated for three years and reviewed annually by our team.
What Skills Leaders say about the Accelerator
What Skills Leaders say about the Accelerator:
What Skills Leaders say about the Accelerator
What Skills Leaders say about the Accelerator
How did the Accelerator fit into your strategy?
“The programme can really tap into some of those talents, aptitudes and skills that we may not see in the delivery of the regular curriculum.”
What’s been the impact for you?
“I found the CPD opportunities really helpful - particularly around leading change, changing the culture of the school and supporting colleagues.”
How have the training and support been?
“We don’t often have opportunities to work throughout the whole education sector…The Skills Builder network opens up a whole range of different organisations.”
“One of the great things is that you get to share good practice with other schools which is invaluable.”
What’s been the impact in the classroom?
“I think the programme has had a really positive impact on the teachers here. It wasn’t until we started the programme that we realised it was what we’ve always been looking for.”
How have you found the tools and resources?
“Everything that you need is there and there are a lot of resources on offer… all of the resources are high quality. Everything you need to successfully implement the programme in your school is there for you.”
What would you say to people thinking of applying?
“Whatever your starting point, whatever your history is with skills education… I would really urge you to look into the programme.”
“The help, support and guidance you get is invaluable. You are not alone. The support and everything is in place.”
“Go for it! It’s not an add on and it’s not extra work. It has massive benefits for both students and staff. For us, it fits like a glove.”
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Get the prospectus, tips on applying and latest updates on funded places in your area - click here
Still have questions? Email us at accelerator@skillsbuilder.org and we will be in touch
Skills Builder Partnership
The Skills Builder Partnership brings together 900+ education institutions, employers and leading organisations around a common approach to building eight essential skills. Central to our approach is our rigorous progression framework, a set of underlying principles and a complete suite of tools and teaching materials.
The Skills Builder Framework
The Skills Builder Universal Framework is the national standard for teaching essential skills. It breaks each skill into teachable steps, supporting progress for all ages and abilities - including those with special educational needs. The Universal Framework was developed by Skills Builder with the Careers and Enterprise Company, Gatsby Foundation, Business in the Community, EY Foundation, CIPD and the CBI.
The Skills Builder Principles
Refined over a decade, the Skills Builder Principles outline best practice in teaching essential skills for learning and life. The six principles will form the basis of your strategy, and your success in embedding them will be recognised with the Skills Builder Award.
