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Longstone is a co-educational Controlled School catering for 230 pupils with a wide range of Special Educational needs from Nursery age to Key Stage Four. Our school is growing, we are adding a Yr. 13 class to our provision in September 2024 and aim to offer provision for pupils aged 3 - 19 by September 2026. Our pupils have been diagnosed with Severe or Moderate Learning Difficulties, spanning across all five overarching SEN categories. Longstone has a wide catchment area, extending far beyond the environs of the school. Many of our pupils were previously enrolled in schools where they faced difficulties coping in a setting not always suited to their individual needs. Staff work hard to help pupils transition smoothly, helping reshape their attitude and perception of school and education. In general, emphasis is placed on providing the children with a stable environment which is understanding and caring. We are proud of our Gold Award Rights Respecting School status. In Longstone pupils learn about their rights and they work together with the adults in our school to promote the UNCRC on a local and global scale. We introduced Skills Builder as we recognised that we had a gap in our KS4 curriculum; we needed a way to plan for the development of, teach and review our pupils' progress with their Thinking Skills and Personal Capabiliites, and we felt Skills Builder fitted that brief perfectly. We piloted the programme in KS4 and have since introduced it to our KS3 department.
Overall impact
The support from the Skills Builder team is phenomenal. The strategy meetings and support time is really useful as a check in to make sure we are on track with our action plan and they are really knowledgable about the programme, able to answer any questions you or your staff may have.
Keep it simple
Each teacher decides on the Essential Skill that best fits with their teaching and learning activities for the term and they then focus on using that particular Skill in their lessons. Pupils can immediately identify which skill they will be learning in that subject as the skill icon is displayed on the front door of the classroom - it is the first thing they see when they come into the room.The skill icons are also included in classroom displays as well, and can be referred to during classes. In KS4, we have included Skills Builder in our Pupil of the Week certificates. This means pupils are hearing about the skill areas often and linking them with achievements, talents and abilities. KS3 plan to use the same format for their Pupil of the Week certificates next year. We have a Skills Builder Policy and Action Plan and importantly Skills Builder is included in our School Development Plan, showing it is included in our long term strategic vision.
Start early, keep going
As we are a Special Educational Needs school we have chosen to only use Skills Builder packages in Senior School. KS3 teachers this year slowly introduced elements of Skills Builder and they found the Expanded Univeral Framework particularly helpful for our pupils with more complex/severe needs. We use Skills Builder langauge in our pupils Individual Education Plans. Our KS3 Coordinator, Mr O'Connell, talked about the benefits of Skills Builder to our Yr.8 parents/guardians as part of their induction to Senior School. At the start of the year, we send home letters to parents about the Skills Builder programmme and direct them to the Universal Framework and Home Zone webpage. In KS4, we use Benchmark self-assessment, sometimes with the help of another adult and we use the Skills Reports to identify Personal Development targets. Pupils can easily see the progress they have made when they Benchmark again, making it measurable, which is great.
Measure it
The Hub report is a fantastic way to see the overall progress whole classes have made across all 8 skills areas. The Hub class assessment tool is individual to the needs of the pupils; the Hub recommends which step to start at and provides mini-lessons to help teach that particular step. It also tells us which resources are the most popular. I particularly like the way you can favourite mini lessons so you can find them easily to use again. Hilary Strain, one of our Yr. 9 teachers who used Skills Builder this year for the first time, said "It is useful to use already differentiated skills depending upon pupil capability/level. For the ability of pupils coming up in to year 9 this coming year, I believe this is suitable for their needs, abilities and understanding".
Focus tightly
In KS4 staff help the pupils self-assess in all 8 essential skills using Benchmark. We sit with the learner and look at their map and Skills reports and agree on a target for Personal Development together. The pupil spends 30 minutes each week during Form Time talking about their progress with that target. Pupils are encouraged to talk about the practical activities they have done in the previous week that is linked to the target and it is also an opportunity for our staff to put in additional support for the student, if needed. In addition to this, pupils learn about the skills through the different curriculum areas. For example, our Science Teacher Ed Guthrie will frequently refer to Problem Solving in his lessons and experiments. For some of our pupils, Numeracy is particularly difficult and so the Maths Teacher Mrs McCracken saw an opportunity to link Maths with Staying Positive. Barclays Life Skills staff talk about the 8 essential skills when delivering their workshops.
Keep practising
We include Skills Builder in our Rights Respecting Assemblies. For example, Mrs McCracken recently did a World Numeracy Day Assembly which focused on how we use every day Maths to problem solve and Skills Builder was infused throughout the presentation. On our Educational Visits paperwork staff complete a Skills Builder audit where they identify how pupils will use a few of the essential Skills on their trip, giving specific examples relevant to what they will be doing. We have begun to link our Club provision to Skills Builder and other activities for example, the Duke of Edinburgh Award. In September we have our first ever Year 13 group and they have 2 periods of Skills Builder included in their timetable.
Bring it to life
Our Yr.12 pupils think about how they demonstrated or developed across the 8 essential skills areas while on their Work Experience placements. Pupils have a daily log book which they write up what activities they participated or observed in when working that day and then they reflect on how the 8 essential skills areas fit in with this. Next year each year group will participate in 1 practical, bigger scale Skills Builder activity. For example, the Yr. 11 group will link Skills Builder with their annual Enterprise Fair for their Prince's Trust coursework.
What's next
We will continue to share best practice between departments and offer the additional support time as training, as well as drop in Skills Builder clinics for staff throughout the year to ensure there is sustained effort throughout the year.
