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Tema Official Language School is in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sohag governorate Tema city, Al Sahel Street. The learners are aged 6 to 17 years, from Kindergarten to secondary.
Overall impact
The school has benefited from the Global Accelerator+ programme to develop students’ essential skills, including their ability to deal with difficulties in their academic work, and to transfer this to the outside world and benefit in life. We interacted with the programme attending Skills Leader Training Day and by delivering teacher training sessions to all staff. We have spent time studying the steps from the Universal Framework and we have started to apply these steps across different areas of the curriculum. Due to the needs of our students, this year we have decided to focus on the essential skills of Listening, Speaking, Problem Solving and Staying Positive.
Keep it simple
We discussed with teachers how to teach the essential skills, guided by the training we received from our education associate at Skills Builder. We placed skill posters in all classrooms of the school and the laboratory in which students learn science, so that the essential skills are visible at all times. The school holds regular celebration events where students' progress is celebrated. Gifts were distributed to those who made exceptional progress in developing their essential skills. Teachers also received training about how to use verbal praise and skill certificates from the Skills Builder Hub to celebrate progress. Weekly meetings with colleagues are held to ensure that the language of the essential skills remains a high priority at our school. In addition, essential skills are also included in teaching and learning policies at Tema Official.
Start early, keep going
We understand the importance of providing opportunities for students to build their skills as early as possible. Most classes have regular and planned opportunities for the learning and practising of essential skills, in a range of different subjects.
Measure it
We have used the offline assessment tracking system and the pupil passport so that a record of achievement can be maintained. A platform has been provided for teachers to pass on information, including observations of the pupils in the class. This system provides teachers with an opportunity to highlight progress and inform next steps.
Focus tightly
We have weekly taught skills sessions which refer to a specific skill step from the Universal Framework. These lessons are timetabled and provide an opportunity for students to build upon previous skill learning. The Skills Builder Handbook has been shared with staff, so staff are able to access the building blocks to secure the step and also reflection questions to support assessing understanding.
Keep practising
The skills have been referred to in maths, English and science lessons (science lessons include skill-related objectives from the Universal Framework). Using and reinforcing skills as often as possible accelerates progress and embeds learning, so students are able to apply what they have learned. For example, to overcome the problem of pollution, students were trained to learn how to farm. They farmed with their own hands in the schoolyard. To do this, students applied Staying Positive steps from the Universal Framework to achieve their objectives.
Bring it to life
Students are encouraged to apply the skills learnt in class in their daily lives, including in their households and through environmental projects. This is later discussed with students. Next year, we will work with our education associate to use projects from the Skills Builder Hub to bring the essential skills to life.
What's next
We are excited to continue working with Skills Builder next year and hope to achieve the Silver Award. We will consider ways to introduce the other skills across the curriculum (Creativity, Aiming High, Leadership and Teamwork). In addition, we hope to use the translated version of the Universal Framework in Arabic to make the language of the skills accessible to our wider community. We would also like to focus on writing the skills into the curriculum policy.
