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In 2022, we amalgamated Greenfylde First School and Swanmead Middle School to create a brand new school - Herne View Church of England Primary School. As a split-site school, we were keen to ensure that children felt connected and part of one community. Introducing the Skills Builder Programme felt like the perfect opportunity to do this, and a way of supporting children to live our new school vision in their learning.
Overall impact
During our collapsed curriculum afternoons, the children are always enthusiastic to start a new essential skill and work through each step. It is a chance for everybody to come together and collaborate their ideas and experiences. To add to this, the students loved Careers Week, where they were inspired by a wide variety of professionals and could see the real impact having these essential skills will have on their futures.
Keep it simple
We have embedded the essential skills among students by having a collapsed curriculum afternoon, every half term, to focus on one of the essential skills. All staff are consistently using the key skills terminology, around the entire school, and rewarding the positive behaviour with Dojo points. Parents have had termly updates of Skills Builder via termly newsletter and our celebration assembly, where one child from each class receives a certificate for demonstrating great success in the focus skill of that term.
Start early, keep going
We have ensured all learners of all ages have had a chance to build their essential skills by having a whole school collapsed curriculum afternoon, where class from Reception to Year 6 partake in the essential skill. Before every session, the class teacher goes through the quiz for their class to ensure they start on the appropriate step.
Measure it
After each session, every class teacher reflects on their classes progress by going back through the steps. Then every term the hub report is sent to all teachers to see the progression throughout the school.
Focus tightly
In each class, we have all the icons for the essential skills displayed around the room, so during inputs teachers can refer to them.
Keep practising
Across the whole school we give our students chances to practice their essential skills by building them into the curriculum and referring to them in our daily practice.
Bring it to life
When delivering the essential skills session we discuss how these skills link in wider life and are vital things we must keep working on to develop. To add to this, during Careers Week every professional that came in to do a talk referred back to the essential skills, giving real life examples of how they help them in their day to day job.
What's next
We would like to appoint Skills Builder Representatives, who after every session, can come together and discuss ways and new initiatives to keep working and building the essential skills as a school. To add to this, we would like to give Learning Support Assistants a workshop to improve their understanding of this program, so they use the terminology more (at breaktimes and lunchtimes), as well as implement interventions, where and if needed.
