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Porth Community School is a 3-16 school in the Rhondda Valleys. We serve an area where aspiration, resilience and the skills exemplified by the Skills Builder program are greatly needed. Skills Builder allows us to focus on important skills that are sometimes neglected in education.
Overall impact
The Accelerator programme has given us a sense of focus and direction in areas that, while essential for our leaners' development, have not always been delivered in as structured and purposeful a manner as we would like. Skills Builder addresses this deficit for us.
Keep it simple
We initially focused on the idea of Staying Positive and began embedding associated vocabulary as part of the school day, particularly during tutor periods. Wall displays, assemblies and communication with visitors from the local business community have helped us raise the profile of Skills Builder.
Start early, keep going
Skills Builder information has been provided to parents using our Piota app with plans to incorporate Skills Builder in forthcoming open days/evenings.
Measure it
The Skills Builder Hub and associated resources have proven invaluable in helping us measure and track the progress of our pupils. The software is simple, very visual and easy to administer from a teacher's perspective. Pupils have quickly grasped both the importance of the skills themselves and of their "next steps" in making progress.
Focus tightly
By using Skills Builder regularly as part of the school's morning routine - and then beginning to embed this in the practice of the school day, pupils have had the opportunity to see how the skills covered are not just abstract concepts but meaningful tools that can apply in range of subjects and contexts.
Keep practising
From Year 7 we use the key phrases and principles covered in discrete Skills Builder lessons to reinforce our practice across the curriculum, For example, in Creative Design lesson plans (including lesson objectives) make reference to Skills Builder.
Bring it to life
Skills Builder information is sent to visitors who come to the school on industry-related projects and events: providers are encouraged to use Skills Builder or at least to make reference to Skills Builder in delivering to our pupils: recently this has focused on the idea of "Staying Positive" and we will switch to a different focus on subsequent visits.
What's next
Next steps for us are to broaden the number of year groups involved in Skills Builder, to strengthen its application and use across the curriculum and to make Skills Builder part of the fabric of our school in delivering our vison of "Aspire Together; Achieve Together."
