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Our school is located in Litomysl, the east of Bohemia, the Czech Republic. We are a public primary school with 400 pupils, made up of 18 forms. The pupils start school at the age of 6 and finish it at the age of 15 or 16. We have focused on developing essential skills for a number of years before the Global Accelerator programme.
Overall impact
Teachers and pupils find the framework and resources simple to deliver, interesting for learners and useful in building essential skills. Our pupils are more familiar with essential skills and their importance and teachers also feel much more confident teaching the skills.
Keep it simple
We have posters and displays in all classrooms, so everyone can see them - teachers and students. This makes it easier for pupils to recognise what skill is being practised and to reflect. The posters help teachers and pupils be aware of skills during the lessons, as well as at break times, so they can discuss and reflect on them. Teachers are familiar with the Universal Framework and the language of the skills. This is used to verbally praise students for the progress they make. Our teachers have completed teacher training and can access refresher training at any point to build their understanding of essential skills. Our teachers can access resources from Schola Empirica to contextualise the essential skills for our learners.
Start early, keep going
The principles are implemented from first form (pupils of age 6) to ninth form (pupils of age 15/16). In our school, the pupils of first form and eighth form co-operate on a project during the first year, giving an opportunity for them to collaborate and mentor each other.
Measure it
Some classes complete a skills assessment and teachers track and monitor progress of their class. This informs their teaching practice and supports impact. Skills Builder notebooks have been introduced to allow pupils to reflect on their progress, teachers can also comment and include stickers.
Focus tightly
Teachers take ownership of their essential skills teaching and decide what would be best for their students. We focus on skills regularly every week in a special time – each class teacher with their class prior to the main lessons. Our younger classes embed skills in all areas whereas our older classes embed skills into subject curriculums. This is an area we would like to build upon.
Keep practising
Alongside our curriculum subject, this year we have also embedded essential skills into the school psychologist's programme that works with groups, individuals and parents.
Bring it to life
We ensure that students are able to practise their skills in a range of real-world settings. For example, essential skills are used in school parliament and all students take part in an open day celebration that utilises all 8 skills. Careers work in October also incorporates essential skills. We also incorporated using skills in our special project about local Czech writers in May.
What's next
We will aim to keep the principles alive and motivate new colleagues to use skills within their lessons and monitor the progress of their students.
