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Sacred Heart Primary is a two form Catholic Primary located on the edge of Luton close to the airport. At Sacred Heart Primary we celebrate the uniqueness of each individual, encouraging and enabling them to reach their full potential and their own unique excellence.
We strive to ensure that our children feel valued and that they are supported in developing a wide range of skills including the ability to learn independently and think for themselves. Creating a culture where children are confident to learn from their mistakes, developing resilience and aiming high.
Our involvement with Skills Builder began in 2018, our aim was to provide more opportunities for our pupils to make choices and be inventive in creative, problem solving and investigative activities. We have definitely achieved this.
Sacred Heart Primary has fully embraced the Skills Builder programme and it is embedded across the whole school. Working with Skills Builder has supported us in explicitly teaching essential life skills so that our pupils achieve academically, socially and personally. We have also had a lot of fun!
Overall impact
The main impact of the Accelerator Programme has been an increased understanding of the essential skills and the steps to achieve these skills, in particular our use of the Skills Builder Expanded Framework. We have used the Expanded Framework resources to support individual targets for children with Individual Learning Plans. The resources are also shared with parents. Using the Skills Framework has also enriched our extra curricular activities and theme days. They have given pupils and staff an added focus for the days and helped them to think explicitly about the skills they are developing and the skills they still need to develop. The Challenge Days have been a highlight as it has been great to see all of the school working on the same project and concentrating on the same skills. The staff and children have enjoyed sharing their work and ideas.
Keep it simple
At Sacred Heart Primary School we identify specific focus skills for each term. These are identified on the School Plan, Curriculum Overview, Termly Diary . We also include Skills Builder in our Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement. There is a Skills Builder Staff meeting each term to unpick the skills and for teachers to use the Skills Builder Assessment tools and resources. This year we have focused mainly on Staying Positive and Aiming High. The skill posters are displayed in every classroom. The expanded universal skills posters are shared with parents. we feel that they really unpick the skills for parents . Assemblies link directly to the skill we are working on and the Skills Builder videos are often used . Star of the Week certificates are awarded and these will include references to how children have achieved or worked towards improving the essential skills. Children are also rewarded Class Dojo points when they demonstrate the skills.
Start early, keep going
Challenge Days and Enrichment Afternoons are timetabled to give specific and exciting activities for the children from Foundations stage to Year 6 to build and demonstrate their skills. Teachers also reference the skills in their teaching and use the Skills Builder resources to support the essential skills during PSHE lessons and are referred to across the curriculum.
As a Catholic School our assemblies are based on the Gospel teachings and values, the essential skills can be linked very well to these. At the end of each assembly we have a reflection on how the message of the assembly can be carried forward into the rest of the day/week. Suggestions are given by pupils and teachers as to how they can demonstrate the skill we have looked at in the assembly.
Measure it
The teachers use the Skills Builder Assessment tool and are familiar with the eight skills and the steps in the framework. Posters of the skills and steps are displayed as a visual reminder for staff and pupils. We are also using the expanded framework to highlight the small steps within each step. The teachers use group level assessment to give an overview of the class but also discuss with each pupil their progress on the termly focus skill in their Assertive Mentoring Meeting. The expanded framework is used for SEN pupils who are on Individual Learning Plans and for looked after children where appropriate. Children are also asked to self assess and reflect. These assessments have helped to focus teaching, targets and success criteria for all. For example when a teacher comments on a report that a child needs to improve their listening skills the expanded framework provides really clear and small steps to achieve this.
Focus tightly
The school Intent, Implementation and Impact Statement includes a specific reference to the Skills Builder Programme and our commitment to developing life skills, emotional skills, social skills, personal skills and independent skills. Our Teaching and Learning Policy states - The children at Sacred Heart Primary School will be engaged in learning that develops and challenges them and excites their imagination- providing opportunities to practise and consolidate skills. So staff, pupils and parents are aware of our commitment to developing skills and providing regular opportunities to build them. A whole school skill is identified each term from the Skills Builder programme and a staff meeting provides time for staff to assess pupils, look at resources and identify ideas on how these can be taught. Enrichment days are timetabled termly and also termly Challenge Days.
Keep practising
Extra curricular activities, Enrichment Days and Challenge Days are timetabled into our year overview and also termly diary dates. These planned activities are also supplemented with opportunities that arise during the year. This year we have had two Skills Builder Challenge Days- 'Operation Moonbase' and 'Level Up'. We have also done Crime Scene Challenge. We have also held two Enrichment Days with the themes - Animals, Inventions. Children also worked in their year group on Take One Picture to create a whole school Art Gallery. The children are reminded of the essential skills during these days. We have also had outdoor activity days where children had to erect tents and make fires again using the essential skills. Our Anti Bullying Ambassadors and Play Leaders use their knowledge of the essential skills to identify children to be awarded with Tea and Cakes with the Headteacher (Key Stage 2) or Story and Sweets (Key Stage 1).
Bring it to life
We will continue to use the Challenge Days next year and also the Project Packs. Prior to the COVID restrictions Vauxhalls ran an annual workshop in school for Year 6 pupils. We also worked with Asda who led cookery sessions for each year group and Stempoint East/University of Bedfordshire/Careers Hub Luton attending their Inspiration Days. These Primary Futures and Careers Hub Luton STEM days were held virtually this year and students in Year 5 and Year 6 enjoyed an exciting 3 day programme of activities including sessions run by employers. Children in all year groups also used their skills in their recent Outdoor Activity Day and in working together to produce the art display for their year group as part of their Take One Picture project.
What's next
To continue with our present procedures so that the focus remains on developing the essential skills. We want to reconnect with our previous local partnerships to resume face to face activities once the restrictions to allow. Our focus themes for next year are Listening, Speaking, Leadership and Team Work.
We are also going to use the project packs for longer projects as we have not used these previously.
