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Our academy got involved with Skills Builder as it was recommended by other academies who had taken part in the programme and we were fortunate enough to gain a place for September 2020. We wanted to embed the essential skills in our curriculum in order to help our children raise their aspirations and expand their knowledge of the working world. We want all of our pupils to know that they can fulfil their full potential and get their dream job when they leave school. We felt that Skills Builder was the best programme to use to fulfil this aim and help teach our children the skills they will need in life and in the world of work.
Overall impact
The Accelerator programme has helped us to plan explicit and cross-curricular lessons teaching the essential skills which pupils will use in their everyday learning and in the world of work. The children have enjoyed working on new projects and learning how to develop new skills in every area of the curriculum. The teachers at Mablethorpe Primary Academy have found the training from Skills Builder extremely useful in day-to-day teaching and enjoy using the resources on the Hub. The training has enabled us to provide our pupils with engaging and exciting cross-curricular lessons whilst teaching the main skills!
Keep it simple
We have displayed the Skills posters in every classroom from Reception to Year 6, so the children can use them every day. Every week we teach cross-curricular lessons focusing on a particular skill, using our own curriculum overview and resources from the Skills Builder Hub. We use the assemblies provided to introduce one or two skills per term so that in one academic year, we have taught all 8 of the skills in our lessons. We have shared this information on our school website in our plans.
Start early, keep going
Our curriculum overview shows how we can link our lessons every week to a different skill. This gives the children time to focus on the particular skill they are working on. During the time when children were learning from home, we encouraged our families to use the Skills Builder Home Learning Zone. We have involved children from Nursery to Year 6 in whole school projects such as Careers Week and Enterprise Week. The teachers at Mablethorpe Primary Academy use the key vocabulary from Skills Builder in a wide variety of lessons so that it is accessible for all!
Measure it
We regularly assess our pupils using the data assessment tool on the Skills Builder Hub which is fantastic for tracking their progress. Our children also assess themselves and use a sticker system to show where they are with their learning of a particular skill. This allows teachers and children to see the progress being made in their skills, so we can see the positive impact of the Skills Builder programme.
Focus tightly
Students in our school take part in weekly lessons which may be stand alone or cross-curricular. The short stories and videos on the Skills Builder Hub can be used as introductions to a particular skill. We make teaching the skills a priority so that the children can use them regularly and see their own progress.
Keep practising
We learn about the essential skills every week and make reference to them in our lessons so that children know which skill they are using in that lesson. Teachers can use the curriculum overview which is linked to each essential skill, and that way pupils can practice these skills in every day lessons. Through out whole school projects (Careers Weeks, Enterprise Week), we have brought Skills Builder to life in the classroom! The pupils use the key words from Skills Builder when they are working together and can talk about what they mean.
Bring it to life
In our academy we have held Virtual Careers Weeks and an Enterprising Week in which the pupils are provided with new opportunities to learn about the world of work. We had many different careers for the children to learn about and follow up activities. We plan opportunities for our children to work on class projects in order to develop their essential skills, through real-life projects. During our Enterprising Week, our pupils are going to plan, design and make a product to advertise and sell.
What's next
In the new academic year, we are continuing to work with Skills Builder. We are continuing our membership as we have found the resources to be invaluable and are looking forward to using some of the new projects next year to enrich our learning of the essential skills.
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