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St Cuthbert and The First Martyrs' Catholic Primary School
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St Cuthbert and The First Martyrs' Catholic Primary School
Context
Our school is a single form entry Catholic primary school in Bradford. 80% of our pupils live in areas considered to be the 30% most deprived in the UK. As a result, many of our pupils have relatively low aspirations, simply because they do not see people around them in higher paid professions or a route out of poverty. When we first became involved with Skills Builder, several years ago, a key aim for us was to have the opportunity to develop pupils' future employability through the promotion of transferable skills, as well as to broaden children's horizons with regards to what jobs were available to them in the future. This aim has not changed throughout the time we have worked with Skills Builder.
Overall impact
We continue to be impressed with Skills Builder: the principles, the resources and the impact. The true testament to the success of the programme is seeing how confident, articulate and respectful our pupils are when they leave our school. They apply these skills and abilities to all aspects of their lives. For example, this year a group of pupils who were preparing for their Confirmation in an evening class demonstrated exceptional Teamwork skills and Speaking skills to gather and share their ideas. Pupils lead assemblies confidently, they help out in school by taking on responsibilities, they complete charity work through such groups as the Mini Vinnies and lead on particular areas such as our Digital Leaders. All of these groups and roles are underpinned by the 8 core skills that pupils have developed as they have moved through the school.
Keep it simple
Our skills are embedded within the whole school curriculum; our curriculum is designed around three pillars - character education (our Catholic virtues), essential skills (the Skills Builder skills) and knowledge (the content of the curriculum subjects). This is displayed prominently on our school website and explained within our whole school curriculum intent, which is shared with parents, staff, governors, pupils and the wider community. Teachers have had regular training over the last few years on the Skills Builder principles and are now secure in their understanding of how the skills fit in with the whole curriculum. Skills posters are displayed in classrooms, the skills referenced throughout the school day and weekly certificates are awarded in our Celebration Assembly for pupils who have shown the skills that week. Finally, each year group has been allocated one lesson-time project and time has been made available in the curriculum to teach that project.
Start early, keep going
Each year group has one lesson-time project timetabled into their curriculum to ensure they have direct, specific opportunities to develop their Skills Builder skills in context. Our 'Topic' lessons for each year group include two half terms of History, three half terms of Geography and one half term of a Skills Builder project. In addition to this, the skills are taught and referenced throughout other areas of the curriculum.
Measure it
This year, we have become more familiar with the Skills Builder Hub assessment tool. Staff have enjoyed using this more this year, as it provides a simple snapshot of where pupils are working at various stages throughout the year. The assessment tool is not onerous and therefore staff have been more inclined to use it, and the fact it then links to resources that can be used to promote and develop a specific skill has been extremely useful. At the end of the year, teachers are able to look at the progress pupils have made and this can then be used to set targets for the following year.
Focus tightly
The resources on the Skills Builder Hub provide staff with great tools for developing the skills across the curriculum. In staff meetings and staff workshops this year, we have discussed areas of need for particular classes and how the activities on the Hub can support the direct teaching of these skills. For example, many classes reported issues with pupils' Listening skills after returning from the lockdowns. We discussed and shared examples of the activities we had tried from the Hub with pupils and this encouraged other classes to also try these activities.
Keep practising
As mentioned previously, each class in the school takes part in a lesson-time project per year to help them to focus in on developing essential skills. However, in addition to this, pupils use and develop the skills through other areas of the curriculum and in specific events. One example of the use of the essential skills outside the lesson-time projects is that in December, Year 5 took part in a project linked with Virgin Money called 'Make 5 Grow', where each child had access to a £5 loan and had to develop a product or business to make a profit. We tied this in with the Skills Builder essential skills and pupils launched successful businesses in groups, making a great profit across the class and developing skills such as Teamwork, Leadership and Creativity.
Bring it to life
Another example of linking the skills with wider life was when we held a whole school Olympic Challenge Day. As well as pupils focusing on what the Olympics are and the sports involved, they also had the opportunity to develop up to three of the essential skills in each class, depending on the needs of their specific class. Through completing a series of challenges independently, in groups and as a class, the children focused on developing specific skills and considered how these linked to the Olympic values.
What's next
We are pleased with the impact Skills Builder has had so far on our pupils and therefore the skills and lesson-time projects will remain embedded in our curriculum. We will also look to complete more off-timetable challenge days, such as our successful Olympic challenge day, as well as continuing to award our weekly certificates related to the skills. We previously enjoyed taking part in the Skills Builder employer visits, which really broadened our pupils' horizons. We hope to be able to do these again when we are able, and are also hope to work with Primary Futures to build in links with businesses and employers, particularly in STEM.
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