Adopting the principle of ‘start early, keep going’ as part of the Skills Builder programme inspired us to adopt this principle among other areas of the curriculum. Each activity conducted for the Primary and Secondary was extended to the Kindergartners too, by downscaling the difficulty level making the format and topic age appropriate. We invited teachers from other schools to participate in skill based workshops by our school’s mentoring team where we focused on the practicality of this principle. The potential success of our approach inspired them, and it's always gratifying to see them implement these ideas in their own schools.

Teachers measured students’ progress by observing and evaluating skill based activities in class. We also continued our previous practice of creating assessment worksheets for students, adapted from the Skills Builder Skills Workbooks, which helped them in understanding the essence of the skill and accomplish the given task. Just like last year this data proved to be very helpful for student profiling, for planning interventions and support. It was also a support when the student is promoted to the next class - as it allows the new class teacher to have an overview of the skill based progress of the student at a glance.

We have a daily 30 minute period dedicated to teaching essential skills in the timetable. This period focused on initiating a dialogue with the students and teacher about a chosen skill and why it is important, what can be done to master it and how they will be going about it. Along with other aspects of our ‘lesson plan template’, like objectives, learning outcomes, resources etc, skills & skill steps acquired were also expected to be planned. Every activity, lesson or event executed is associated with skill enhancement and this over a period of time has become standard practice throughout the school.

For us to achieve this principle, consistency had to be the key. We held a variety of different events to give students opportunities to apply their essential skills. Weekly JAM (Just a Minute) sessions became a regular feature across all classes every Saturday, where the students were given a set of new topics every week to choose from and share their thoughts. Another example was a weekly holistic session we ran where a speaker was invited to the classes to share different topics. In these, students listened, engaged in a conversation and asked questions. Assemblies also remained a point of focus for essential skills, where it was ensured that each day, a different set of students conducted it and got a fair chance to share. The day for each class ended with a quiet time that allowed them to reflect on the day’s happenings and for the teachers it ended with circle time where every day one teacher got a chance to share her positive highlights of the day. This year we have also undertaken activities as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals programme. All of these opportunities gave students a great chance to apply their essential skills.

Our students have many opportunities to bring the skills to life. In addition to classroom learning, they have actively participated in interschool and intra-school competitions, showcasing their skills. They have undertaken impactful community projects, focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being. Their 'Out of Order' project addressed the problem of food wastage. Students used Aiming High skills to conduct research, Speaking and Listening skills to engage the community and Creativity skills to think of innovative solutions to this problem. Through surveys, collaborations, and awareness campaigns, the students secured a national award. Undeterred, they expanded their project, forming a school meal club and organizing community workshops. Recognizing the need for additional resources, they deployed speaking skills to successfully pitch their project, securing a substantial grant to further their initiatives. This comprehensive project required the application of various skills, from communication and teamwork to leadership and problem-solving. What we continue to invest our energy and time in is student leadership. Our annual fest saw a footfall of 1250 students from 18 schools from in and around the city. These creatively ideated competitions were co-created by students along with the core creative team of the school. Right from volunteering to organise the competition venue rooms, to coordinating with the judges, to emceeing events and preparing the final winner list, the students were heavily involved in all stages. We owe the success of this event to the involvement of our students who deployed their essential skills and continued to aim high.