At Skills Builder, our mission is that one day, everyone will have the essential skills to succeed. Our research shows that essential skills can bring better academic outcomes, higher levels of job satisfaction and earnings, as well as improved wellbeing. However, the opportunity to build these skills is not distributed equitably, with many individuals starting from a position of disadvantage being stuck in the Skills Trap: a cycle of low education, basic skills and essential skills. High levels of essential skills can compensate for lower levels of literacy, numeracy and ‘traditional’ levels of education. It is therefore crucial that educators intervene to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to build the essential skills to succeed.
In this webinar:
This webinar was another opportunity to ‘Learn from Each Other’ with speakers from across the Skills Builder Partnership. Attendees heard from Skills Builder's Impact Organisations Manager, Tom Varley, who shared key research findings, resources and strategies to support the inclusive building of essential skills. We were also joined by two guest speakers, Rachel Raisin-Moss from Bennerley Fields School and Claire Noble from Saxon Mount School. Both guest speakers, at different stages in their Skills Builder journeys within specialist settings, shared their experience, tips and goals for building essential skills inclusively.
Top tips for building essential skills inclusively:
Use what is already in place:
Look for opportunities to link essential skills into existing systems and provision that staff and pupils are already familiar with. This could include the taught curriculum, personal development and extra curricular offer.
Focus tightly:
Ensure that explicit time is set aside for the teaching of essential skills; for example, through a weekly skills-based lesson. Resources such as our Meeting Role Cards and Careers Cards provide structure and visuals for a discussion around essential skills and their importance.
Use visuals:
Our Widget Cards, along with our Skills Icons, can be used both to build learner understanding of essential skills, and to link essential skills with the life of the school; from classroom learning to enrichment events and experiences.
Reward success:
Skills stickers, using Skills Icons, along with certificates, are a quick, easy and visual way to reward learner use of essential skills. Essential skills can also feature in existing rewards systems, such as displays and assemblies.
Personalise the experience:
Our Expanded Universal Framework breaks the skills steps down further into manageable steps, which can be used as the basis for learner target setting and articulating strengths. This could include targets for EHCPs, as well as in specific areas such as behaviour.
Use a shared language:
Support and encourage staff to use the language of the Universal Framework and skills steps in their dialogue with learners.This could include using posters of the skills steps to highlight and praise when learners have demonstrated a particular skill step, which could prompt a wider conversation. External visitors can also be encouraged to use the language of essential skills.
The process can be as important as the outcome:
Provide learners with opportunities to reflect on where they have used essential skills in different scenarios. In curriculum learning, try to encourage them to think of the range of different skills they are using in each lesson, rather than only pairing essential skills with subjects (such as Creativity and Art for example).
