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Pioneer House is a high school and 6th form catering for students 11-19 years old who have significant learning difficulties. The main aims for the school are to support students to develop towards meaningful employment and independent living skills. Skills Builder is integral and woven into to our whole curriculum focusing on employability skills and personal development. Skills Builder plays a particular role with our Accessing the Community and employer engagement within the local community.
Overall impact
All students can link the skills framework in conversation to any employers and these are beneficial to the students future pathways. Employers like the Skills Builder framework and are given verbal and written explanation as well as tours round the school building, demonstrating the usage of the Skills Builder in each of the classrooms. Each of our work placement providers are given an employer work booklet that details the essential skills and how the students would be working towards these linked to their Princes Trust Accreditation booklets. All teachers and TA's support the Skills Builder challenge day or virtual trip and evidence is recorded by uploading photo's and videos onto seesaw. The Skills Builder framework supports teachers and TAs to focus tightly and accurately assess personal development and growth within these softer skills. The Framework supports teachers and senior leaders to set appropriate next step targets for students within EHCP reviews linked to employability. This year the employer engagement has been the biggest we have ever had which has meant that we had to have two events, splitting the sessions into a careers day for all our employers and a careers event for colleges, apprenticeship programmes and any other future pathways that our students would consider. Furthermore, employer engagement has been the largest ever this year with more employers providing regular (at least weekly) placements for students. As part of the bigger picture, the programme has supported senior leaders in their aims to demonstrate to employers and the wider world of work that students with SEN are employable and have a role to play within meaningful employment.
Keep it simple
The essential skills are up in classrooms and communal learning spaces so that they are referred to throughout every lesson. The skills are built into the assessment and feedback forms. We have an extensive work placement offer where Skills Builder is interwoven into the students' Princes Trust work booklets and all employers are informed about Skills Builder and the language used to encourage the students on their placements. The skills are built into many policies across school including the behaviour policy and the assessment and feedback policy. Skills Builder targets are woven into every students EHCP reviews and outcomes. All new staff are inducted using the staff handbook and are introduced to the culture of Skills Builder and the status we hold as a school.
Start early, keep going
Within transition to year 7, Skills Builder and the code of conduct are built into the transition sessions so that students are already aware of these when entering the school full-time. Parents transition also includes information on Skills Builder as an integral part of our curriculum. Within key stage 3 there are discrete lessons on the timetable for students to delve deeper into the essential skills as well as having the Skills Builder elements woven into the starter and assessment for every lesson. As students progress through school from key stage 3 to key stage 5 the work experience offer grows as does the focus on essential skills.
Measure it
We measure progress against Skills Builder skills in several ways. Each student has an individual spreadsheet for tracking progress against the expanded framework set by Skills Builder. All students have targets against Skills Builder in their EHCP form which is evaluated and reviewed annually with staff and parents. Students and staff reflect upon the Skills Builder skills used in every lesson as part of the plenary and end of lesson feedback cycle. Several units of accreditation including Princes' Trust, Preparation for Employment and Vocational Studies include progress referenced to Skills Builder skills.
Focus tightly
Students are given very regular opportunity to build and practice their essential skills. All students reflect upon the skills in every single lesson. All students have regular EHCP 1:1 tutorials with their tutor and reflect upon their targets and progress made towards these. Key stage 3 students have weekly Skills Builder enterprise lessons. Key stage 4 students have work experience timetabled every week and also access subjects such as Princes Trust, Preperation for Employment and Vocational Studies for which Skills Builder is interwoven. Key stage 4 and key stage 5 students have a large work experience programme including onsite and offsite work experience weekly, including engagement with employers. Students access the Skills Builder Challenge Day, the Virtual Trip and other events hosted at Pioneer House such as careers fair and careers day and a green careers event.
Keep practising
Students are given very regular opportunity to build and practice their skillsbuilder skills. Key stage 3 students have weekly skillsbuilder enterprise lessons. Key stage 4 students have work experience timetabled every week and also access a range of other subjects for which Skills Builder is interwoven. Key stage 3 have careers lessons and classroom jobs to begin to build the idea of employability and how the skills link. Key stage 4 and key stage 5 students have a large work experience programme including onsite and offsite work experiences weekly, including engagement with employers, such as Mess Cafe, the Bread and Butter Thing Warehouse and Manchester United Megastore. Our growing onsite work experience offer include smaller job roles such as site maintainence, playground monitors, teaching assistants, recycling monitoring and larger roles such as catering assistants, preparing staff lunches or being a barista in our Strawberry Fox Cafe which is a real life cafe run on site for community groups.
Bring it to life
All students from year 7 up to the year 14 have employer engagement sessions, these are delivered to each year group once or twice a term. Employers deliver interview practice sessions for key stage 4 and key stage 5 and all year groups will have meetings with employers about their jobs specifications or what jobs are available within their business. All students will visit employer businesses and see how the real world of work, with questions being used based from the Skills Builder Framework. Good practice is used within the school and on off site work placements for students preparing themselves for the world of work. Students are very aware of how the Skills Builder links to their placements and complete videos and written assessment work using the Skill Builder language.
What's next
Developments next year include; continuing to build on the successes of the external work experience offer to cater for an expansion within key stage 5; continuing to build upon the successes and continue with the business growth plan for the Strawberry Fox Cafe to include more community groups and opening to the public; addressing the challenge of having 7 new teachers next year due to expansion, retirement and maternity leaves and ensure all new teachers utilise Skills Builder and support to continue to develop the culture of focus on employability and the essential skills.
