All students involved in the Skills Builder programme have been introduced the essential skills over the last academic year. This is the first time that many students have formally done Skills Builder. Once a topic has been introduced and the skills understood, students carried out tasks where the can practise the skills. For instance a Post-16 class have practised the skill of working to a list of criteria. They did this by entering a National art competition. The competition set out a criteria of what type of art could be entered. At the time many of the students were working from home. This meant many of the students worked on that project with family members and parents became involved. During Covid, students were set challenges relating to Skills Builder; again, parents became involved in completing these challenges. Weekly Skills Builder lessons were also carried out via Microsoft Teams. Students have also used Skills passport throughout each term to record when they have experienced a skill.

Each student was set up as a ‘group’ on the Hub. Where possible the online steps have been used to record the progress of each pupil. These pupils have worked on the skills and their progress has been recoded on their individual work. It has been the duty of the teacher to break the Skills Builder steps into achievable tasks for the students to achieve. Informal chats with the students have been helpful in understanding the students' understanding of the skills. Students work and practical tasks have been used to help assess the progress of the students as well as feedback from students and staff.

The essential skills are taught in all subjects so there are daily opportunities to practise each of the skills. Students are encouraged to reflect on what skills they are using in the lesson. Students reflect in the plenary part of lessons about the skills. The essential skills are displayed in the lessons and skills icons are displayed on activities carried out. Previous skills and activities are recapped upon weekly.

Projects have been encouraged. For instance, Post-16 students have been involved in Young Enterprise activities. Many of the skills from Skills Builder link directly to the lessons that are taught in Young Enterprise. Other students have carried out STEM-based lessons (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). These have looked at the topic HS2 rail project. Lessons chosen have linked directly to Skills Builder. Such projects have given students opportunities to work on the skills such as Teamwork and Problem Solving.

Student have used the skills of Speaking and Listening when engaging with career activities such as asking questions to employers and responding to questions from employers. Students have carried out the task of building a remote control car. This challenge gave the students the opportunity to work as a team and to work on problem solving. Other students have carried out writing tasks and were encouraged to talk about their writing. This led to a boost in public speaking confidence. For example, students have been encouraged to book their own medical appointments for things such as vaccinations.