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St Bart's is a one-and-a-half to two form entry Church of England primary school in Penn, Wolverhampton. We were judged Outstanding at our last inspection in 2014. We have been involved in Skills Builder Accelerator for 4 years. This came about from a desire we had to find something to underpin but also enrich the curriculum provision in school. We wanted to develop the characters of the pupils as much as we wanted to challenge them academically. Skills Builder has proved invaluable in this and we are committed to becoming a Flagship school at the next opportunity.
Overall impact
In binding the curriculum together, and in underpinning all that we do in school in terms or academic rigour and character development, the Accelerator programme has been a great, tangible success since we engaged with it a few years ago. The pupils have been very excited every time we have received an award from Skills Builder and they and the whole staff have worked particular hard last year in order to strive for the Gold Award which we successfully achieved. This year, we have continued in the same vein and have done everything we can to enrich the curriculum further in order to maintain our Gold status. Because the pupils have made progress in each skills, and because the skills themselves have become embedded in the whole-school provision, they have become more confident, more reflective, more resilient, more ambitious and more focused on their learning and their conduct. One of the our highlights this year came with the announcement of the July 4th election. We tweaked and adapted the Day in Politics and went to ballot boxes once more in our school General Election. I selected some Year 6 pupils to stand in for the party leaders and they researched their particular party manifesto before delivering speeches to the whole school encouraging the pupils to vote for them. The skill of Listening was required from the audience before they retired to their classes and discussed and debated (Speaking) their choices before everyone had the chance to vote at lunch time. They showed Teamwork during these discussions and each group had a leader (Leadership) to chair their group debate. Also showing (Teamwork) were the Year 6 pupils who opened the ballot boxes and counted the votes, before delivering the result to the whole school. Another has been how Skills Builder has helped with a new behaviour provision in school. We have introduced a behaviour report card system for those pupils who have made a few too many bad decisions during lesson and free time in order to focus them on their positive behaviour and to celebrate each session in which they behave well. The Skills Builder icons are displayed on the report card and they are mentioned during the daily review and in the teachers comments. Finally, representatives from the school Eco-Council took part in an international video live YouTube-streamed video conference on climate change. This was organised and hosted by our Skills Builder Partner School in India. Despite being a little nervous to begin with, the St Bart's pupils contributed with a pre-prepared answer and then with some insightful, off-the-cuff comments during the debate. A story about the discussion made it into one of India's leading newspapers.
Keep it simple
St Bart's CofE Primary is a predominantly two-form-entry school in Penn, Wolverhampton. We were last inspected by OFSTED in 2014 and were given an Outstanding rating. A few years ago, we as a staff wanted to create and implement a whole-school concept as part of our Enrichment provision which would develop the character of the pupils both academically and personally. We believe passionately in preparing the pupils to be lifelong learners and well-rounded individuals. Someone recommended the Skills Builder Partnership and, since then, we have not looked back! Implemented now across school from Years 1 to 6, Skills Builder resources, rewards, displays and teaching resources have made a huge difference to the character development of the pupils and to their academic progress. It binds our entire curriculum together.
Start early, keep going
Years 1 to 6 engage fully with the Skills Builder Partnership, whereas Reception (and this was validated by Sophie Deaville, our Skills Builder liaison) follow the skills but with the same language but Mr Men figures represent the different skills. Reception have engaged fully with both of the Challenge Days we have done. The Skills Builder certificates mentioned above are awarded in both Key Stage 1 and 2 Celebration Worships, and, having led many of these assemblies myself, I know that the pupils and parents really value these and are able to recognise, for example, which certificate is about to be rewarded from the description the awarding teacher gives. All classrooms throughout school display the skills permanently and have the relevant icons for each skill on their whiteboard presentations and on the prompt sheets which are daily stuck in their books. Each month we have a Skills Builder Superstar (one scientist, one sportsperson and one musician) and an assembly about each.
Measure it
The self-assessment the pupils do on their topic front covers and at the end of Core lesson have been useful for showing strengths and spotting gaps. Each term, we encourage the teachers to assess their class using the Skills Builder Hub and this again has been really useful in flagging up strengths and weaknesses. We have noticed, for example a weakness in speaking concisely and clearly, and a Skills Builder focus on this has really helped our oracy campaign this year. The Day in Politics Challenge Day really helped with this as I have outlined above. The whole-school performance poetry competition at the start of the year also helped develop this speaking skill. Furthermore, the self-assessment and Hub assessment have highlighted a weakness in terms of resilience, so a subsequent focus across the school (particularly in maths) on Staying Positive has helped to address this. This is ongoing.
Focus tightly
The icons displayed on the interactive whiteboards for each lesson contain a brief step description of the step the class are working on. This is explored by the class teacher at the start of the lesson and, if relevant and helpful, the brief videos from the Skills Builder website are shared with the class. This focus skill is then emphasised throughout the lesson by the class teacher and support staff with good practice being shared and anything below the expectation being challenged and the pupils' supported. This also happens in our after-school clubs. Our SLT-led Skills Builder Superstar worships each week explicitly teach the skills that those significant figures represent and use. As these worships are accessed by all years from 1 to 6, this has a real impact and the we have observed the pupils being inspired by the sportspeople, musicians and scientists explored. We have a centrally placed display that is updated each month to accompany the worships as is our entrance hall TV.
Keep practising
As I have mentioned, the skills are practised in every lesson, during free time, in assemblies, during before-school-clubs and after-school-clubs and even on school trips and residentials. There is no differentiation between lessons as the same skills-led approach is used across the entire curriculum. Through our school clubs, the skills of teamwork, aiming high and staying positive are emphasised and rewarded during sports clubs, creativity is celebrated during Craft Club, Musical Theatre Club and Coding Club and speaking and listening form a core part of our Drama Club and Musical Theatre Club again. We have engaged in two separate Challenge Days (A Day in Politics and Start-Up Success) which proved to be real successes. I have already mentioned A Day in Politics above and Start-Up Success was undertaken across a whole week resulting in thousands of pounds being raised for local charities.
Bring it to life
As mentioned above, our Skills Builder Superstars focus (one musician, one scientist, one sportsperson) which changes each month exposes the pupils to a wide range of different individuals from different backgrounds, with different skillsets and careers being highlighted. Across the course of the year, as you can imagine, every pupil will have found at least someone who they feel represents and inspires them who has used the Essential Skills to shape and benefit their life. We have welcomed in teachers, representatives from local water-management companies, members of the emergency services, scientists, historians and other local employers to share their expertise with a Skills Builder focus. The staff and pupils alike have really benefitted from these.
What's next
We cannot wait for the next Challenge Day and are liaising with Sophie Deaville about which one that should be. She has been a great support to us over the years and her help and guidance are invaluable. We want to involved the wider community even more, with our recent visit to a care home under the banner of teamwork, listening and speaking being a really touching example of engagement with the wider community. Parents are very aware of the Skills Builder awards, prompts and resources, and have engaged with the half-term and holiday Skills Builder challenges shared on Class Dojo but we would like more engagement with this. A focus during term-time rather than during holidays (when pupils want to switch off from school understandably!) on such activities might be more beneficial. We would love to invite our Skills Builder liaison Sophie to school to see and experience all that we do. That would be great. The skills of Aiming High, Speaking and Staying Positive will be a priority.
