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Queen Mary School is situated in Mexico City. The school’s ethos is to foster creativity and innovative thinking in our students, so that they are able not only to understand, but also to propose new ideas. We prepare young people to face life's challenges by applying critical thinking, controlling their emotions and gaining the confidence to thrive in any environment. For eight years, one of our priorities in our school has been the development of emotional and soft skills in our students. We were keen to join the Global Accelerator to provide structure to skill development, and to show the students and their parents how to achieve and use the skills in a more efficient way.
Overall impact
We focused on teaching the essential skills with two sixth grade classes. 6A worked on staying positive, as they were struggling with resilience and their ability to handle failure. 6B focused on teamwork as they lacked co-operation skills and struggled to meet goals when working as a team. We saw some great progress in the students as they worked on different skills at different times. To keep a positive attitude, they first had to recognize it in themselves, then in others, and decide what to do when things weren't going their way. They learned to look at the situation from different angles and find alternative solutions. The students learned that teamwork isn’t just about getting results or hitting goals. They learned how to think about the process, how everyone gets along, solving conflicts, handling responsibilities, and meeting deadlines to be successful.
Keep it simple
The skills were visible and consistent for grade 6 teachers and students. Assemblies were held one to two times a week, with each group focusing on their particular skill. Skills Builder posters were displayed in the grade 6 so students were always reminded of the skills. We rewarded students with Skills Builder certificates at the end of the year. This was an excellent opportunity to reward students who may not have the top academic grades, but have shown great attitude and progress towards building the skills. Teachers attended two training session with Skills Builder so they became familiar with the language of the Universal Framework and platforms.
Start early, keep going
We defined Grade 6 as the group of students to study essential skills as there was a need here, particularly regarding staying positive and teamwork. The language is pitched at an accessible level for these students to work on the skills using English as an additional language.
Measure it
We used the Skills Builder Hub to conduct an initial assessment of all skills and identify which skills to focus on for the year. The grade 6 teacher regularly updated the hub and used this to track progress and pitch skills teaching at the right level. Following the entrepreneurship project, students used skill passports to reflect on how they used each step of teamwork to be successful in that project.
Focus tightly
We had a skills teaching period every week where students followed lessons from the Skills Builder Hub. These lessons gave a structured approach to teaching skills and the activities provided a good basis to check understanding.
Keep practising
Skill icons were added to subject lessons to show students the links between essential skills and subject teaching and help them to see the transferability of the skills.
Bring it to life
We held an entrepreneurship project where students had the opportunity to create a marketable product. One team had the creative idea to develop an idea for an app which catalogues your wardrobe and helps you to decide what to wear! Students used their staying positive and teamwork skills to work collaboratively on their ideas. Following the project they used skill passports to reflect on times when they had used each step.
What's next
We are excited to be expanding the programme next year, and we are working on a plan for structured skills teaching amongst several grades of the elementary and Junior High school. Teachers will receive training on the Skills Builder Hub and Homezone platforms. We feel that all students will benefit from teaching and practice of these skills.
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