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Priory Primary School, Dudley, is one of seven primary schools that make up Hales Valley Trust. The school is a large, three-form entry primary school situated a short distance from Dudley town centre. We educate over 600 pupils, ranging from our youngest pupils in our provision for two-year-olds (Time for Twos) all the way through to our 11-year-olds in year 6.
The school serves a local community which faces many challenges. 85 percent of our pupils live in the top 20% of deprivation and approximately 50% of our pupils are entitled to free school meals.
Despite these challenges, we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and friendly school where staff create a positive ethos for our pupils and their families. Together, we are committed to securing improved personal and academic outcomes across the school through a well-planned and sequenced curriculum; high quality teaching; a range of enrichment activities and ensuring children have the foundations for learning through a strong safeguarding culture. Our children embody our school principles of ‘Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe’
Overall impact
Every learner in every classroom has felt the impact of the Skills Builder program.
The universal framework has enabled learners’ attention towards their skill development at every stage of their education and through every facet of school life. From pupils discussing their Staying Positive skills as they develop and employ their resilience, to teachers evoking the skills of Teamwork and Aiming High when dealing with conflict resolution; the skills play an important role in the day-to-day experience of all at Priory Primary School.
The essential skills can be seen in action in every classroom and every interaction across the school. Pupils understand that, to the best that they can be, they need to utilise the essential skills to both; develop their academic prowess and to showcase their learning.
I am particularly proud of our engagement with a local Higher Education establishment, specifically their race team. This partnership has developed a trust wide curriculum that will link the essential skills to STEM activities culminating in the design and manufacture of a series of vehicle prototypes that aim to meet the future travel needs of our ever changing planet.
Keep it simple
At Priory the essential skills are embedded in all areas of our curriculum, and work with the wider community. Each classroom displays the skill icons alongside a detailed description of the applicable skill step for that class at that time. The displays also showcase the current skill focus for the month. Additionally, many lessons incorporate specific slides or resources that focus learners on the most relevant skill that they will be developing or employing during that lesson. Further, assemblies include the skills icons alongside the topical material is being shared to form tangible links between the wider curriculum and skills development. These assemblies are in addition to our monthly awards assemblies where our Skills Champions are recognised for their approach to developing the monthly focus skill. The golden threads of essential skill development are also woven into CPD sessions and staff meetings, ensuring that all adults are aware of their own skills journey.
Start early, keep going
Our curriculum offer extends from Nursery to Year 6 and this is the same for Skills Builder and essential skills development. There are fortnightly, timetabled sessions that focus explicitly developing the learners' understanding of each skill step and their application of the skill. Additionally, each year, all learners are involved in a “Challenge Day” where they can showcase their skill development and celebrate successful learning. Earlier in our learners’ journey, where the curriculum is more experience led, visitors provide opportunities to highlight the essential skills in practice.
All these opportunities are linked back to our school’s character development plan, a detailed and comprehensive plan to ensure that all children are ready for the next stage in their education.
Measure it
As with all areas of the curriculum, the importance of proper and rigorous assessment cannot be overstated. The children are assessed by their class teachers in a range of different ways. These assessments can include summative discussions at the end of a focus month, formative assessment following a short session or assessment of the application of skills during other curricular areas. However, the teachers gather their assessment information, the data is collected using The Skills Builder Hub. Teachers formally input the data at the end of each term, as specified in our assessment calendar but can keep the data live by inputting in-term updates should they wish. The assessments are then used, in coordination with discussions with teachers and phase leaders, to identify children who may need additional support on their skills journey as well as to highlight cohort wide areas of need. In both cases, interventions, whether they be small group sessions or additional planned opportunities
Focus tightly
Time is often the biggest challenge in the development of any worthwhile initiative, the embedding of the essential skills at Priory is no different. To combat this, each class is given protected and timetables sessions, fortnightly, to deliver the discrete skill sessions to their classes. These sessions have been delivered in each and every class across the school as has been monitored by our designated Skills Leader using The Skills Builder Hub.
As part of our ambition to deliver essential skills learning to all of the children within our school and across our trust, a forum of Skills Leaders meets each term to share best practice and discuss any developments that can be made. As part of this process, the forum attended the Skills Builder ‘Partnership Day’ in London. This event allowed our leaders to make important links with local and national businesses as well informing future development based on best practice across the country.
Keep practising
Ensuring that there is consistency for our learners, whilst allowing practitioners the freedom to adapt their teaching to their current context is an important pedagogical principle at Priory. As such, we have developed a range of curriculum documents and policy handbooks that share common expectations and highlight best practice for essential skills development. These include a comprehensive character development plan, incorporation into the Behaviour Policy as well as explicit sections within core curriculum documents such as our Reading and Writing Handbooks. Moreover, there is a drive to include explicit reference to the essential skills in wider curriculum lessons. This is monitored by subject leaders, and the Skills Builder Leader. In addition to the opportunities presented during normal school day activities, there are opportunities for children to practise their essential skills at one of our various after school clubs or during the many playground activities that are on offer.
Bring it to life
Making the theoretical real is an important part of any learning journey. In order to make the academic tangible for our learners we have engaged in a range of additional learning opportunities for the children at Priory. This included our involvement with the ever-fascinating Careers Day, where our KS2 children met with employers from a range of different sectors. Additionally, the end of the year saw our first trust wide Challenge Day “Crash Landing” and all the exciting opportunities that it afforded out learners whilst answering the question of how we can ensure new people are welcomed and included to our communities.Excitingly, we have teamed up with Amey to run a “Challenge Cup” for our Year 6 children. This day of activities pit teams of our children against each other to showcase their skills acquisition over their time at Priory.
What's next
Over the coming year, we are aiming to develop our cross curricular offer by engaging with educators in the HE and FE sector as well as local employers. With the support of these partners, we will be creating a range of exciting curricular opportunities that give the opportunity for children to develop and practise their essential skills and meet and exceed National Curriculum expectations whilst making links that make education “real” for our learners.
Additionally, as part of the Hales Valley Trust, we will continue to support the team’s ambition of being an agent of change in the skills sector that makes a real impact in Dudley and beyond.
