Skills Builder

This content was written by

Al-Tahreer Official Language School

Context

The school is in Egypt. We work with learners aged 5-18. It is a Government mixed school.

Overall impact

We brought the skills to life for students by providing opportunities for them to practise their skills in real-life situations like trips, the cultural exchange with Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, York school in the UK, exchange visits with other schools, and working on school renovations.

Keep it simple

We started by displaying posters of the skills on walls in the school. Then we did many activities to develop students’ skills in lessons, through climate change activities, through the creation of their own projects, and during exchange visits with other schools. Our Skills Builder contact, Hannah, always supports and encourages us. The skills have changed the mindset of teachers and students - we have been able to clarify misconceptions using the steps of the framework. The framework has supported students and staff to express themselves.

Start early, keep going

We discussed the importance of the skills with students, focusing specifically on Speaking, Listening and Problem Solving. We also discussed this with staff, agreeing strategies to raise awareness of the skills within the school curriculum. Parents were informed about this in the information for the ‘return to school’ plan, following lockdown. Displays were put up in all three classrooms showing not only the focus skill, but all skills, so that they could be referred to within lessons.

Measure it

We introduced the skills to all students in the secondary stage in our school, then we taught specific skill steps, differentiated for different age groups. Teachers of Biology, Chemistry, Maths, English, and Physics were involved with the programme.