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As a school, we were implementing a new curriculum. We wanted a programme of work that would develop children's essential skills and in turn, enable them to get more from our new curriculum. We were able to link the Skills Builder Accelerator to our IRESPECT system in school which identifies personal qualities that the children can develop during their time at school.
Overall impact
The Accelerator programme was very well received by staff and children. I think the assembly launch worked very well.
Keep it simple
All staff have taken part in staff training. We focused on one essential skill - listening. We chose this skill because we felt that this needed to be a focus area for our children across the school. We launched the programme to the whole school during an assembly.
Start early, keep going
Staff agreed that they could add on a listening lesson into their PSHE lesson or straight after lunch. We haven't involved parents.
Measure it
All staff have completed a baseline assessment on their class. From this baseline, we have then been able to monitor the progress towards the listening skill through the year.
Focus tightly
Weekly lessons and input through assemblies means that children have had constant opportunities to revisit the listening skill. Some classes have used the listening tokens to enable the skill in their class.
Keep practising
During a whole school science day, we focused on the listening skill and encouraged children to demonstrate the skill when working with children from different year groups.
Bring it to life
During the lessons we have thought about when the listening skill would be used. It was a great skill to start with as it is a skill that everyone uses.
What's next
We need to look at moving into a new skill now. It is important to acknowledge that this needs to be a long term effort by the whole school.
