At Castle View School we have a very clear mission: 'Pursue Excellence, Be the Best'. In addition we have a vision of we can achieve this. Through: 'Pupils, Parents and Staff in partnership to achieve academic excellence, through a culture of high aspirations, whilst developing every child into well rounded, caring and confident individuals who contribute positively to their community and are well equipped to contribute to our wider society. This fits in perfectly with the Skills Builder mission that: 'One day, everyone will build the essential skills to succeed'.
As a result of our accelerator programme, students are able to talk about the eight essential skills, and why they are important. The Skills Builder framework has given a focus to the employers that come into our school. Recently representatives from an accountancy firm used the eight skills to articulate the importance of employability skills. The six principles of best practice support our careers provision and the eight essential skills support our core values of ambition, determination and respect.
Students took part in the Q&A session with Skills Builder, and as a result, similar sessions have been developed so that students at Castle View have an opportunity to bring the skills to life. We also work with Changing Education, who are a Skills Builder impact partner, and we are developing our work experience programme. We are starting to embed the skills builder framework in to our work placement offer, so that students can reflect on their skills and set targets. We have also used the reflective log to support students when bringing the skills to life. Next year, flexible support with our education associate will be used to plan off time table days using the World of Work modules as part of our accelerator+ programme.
