By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.
Print
Return to Showcase
Visit website

Secondary

St Bernard's Catholic High School

This content was written by
St Bernard's Catholic High School
Context
We are an 11-16 Catholic school in Rotherham and we became involved with Skills Builder following an opportunity shared in our local careers meetings. We already had a focus on skills development across school, as we have been working with the Unifrog competencies for a few years. We are passionate about the development of skills-based learning, so the Skills Builder programme has only strengthened this.
Overall impact
Using the Skills Builder programme has further raised the profile of skills development across school. Students and staff are regularly reflecting on the development of skills across the curriculum. Students are now looking more specifically at the levels for each of the skills and assessing themselves against the standards.
Keep it simple
All students are involved in our skills development programme. All classrooms and curriculum areas have a career display board, which have each of the Skills Builder logos displayed. Each half term, we have had a different skill focus and an assembly has been delivered to all year groups promoting the focussed skills. Teachers have been encouraged to reward students for demonstrating skills via our rewards point system and, at the end of the school year, teachers have nominated students for each skill and these have been presented in rewards assemblies. Over the year, staff and students are using consistent language for describing the skills.
Start early, keep going
Each half term, students complete Unifrog activities, which all link to the essential skills. Students are asked, during these sessions, to reflect on the skills they are developing, by using the competencies tool in Unifrog. Staff have had training on the levelling of skills, which has encouraged students to be more focussed when reflecting upon their skill development.
Measure it
The Skill Builder Hub has been used to assess smaller groups of students. In addition to the whole school approach, we have carried out small group work to help our SEND, low ability and Pupil Premium students further develop these valuable skills. The Hub tool has enabled these sessions to be tailored to the group's needs. Next year, we are going to develop this further by using the Skills Builder Hub assessment tool with all Y7 and Y8 form groups. They will have at least 8 designated Skills Builder sessions throughout the year covering all skills.
Focus tightly
Designated time is planned through our rolling form time hour for all students. Staff support students in reflecting on their skills throughout the year. Designated time in the curriculum also allows our smaller group sessions to take place, so that students have a more tailored approach to developing the essential skills.
Keep practising
We are planning on using the Skills Builder Hub resources with all Y7 and Y8 form groups next year. This will enable form time activities to be differentiated to ensure students are developing skills at the correct level. We are going to continue our work with smaller groups of students and also introduce the Skills Builder Hub sessions into our pastoral restorative work. Students have also reflected on the skills they have developed during our enrichment programme, as well as in lesson time.
Bring it to life
This year all students attended our Careers Fair. We had over 50 different employers and Post-16 providers in attendance. Every student had a skills passport, which encouraged them to complete a variety of activities, in order to develop the essential skills. In each of our skill assemblies, careers have been linked to the particular skills focus for that half term. In our evaluation of careers activities, students have reflected specifically on the skills they have developed. Finally, all Y10 students completed two weeks of work experience and, as part of their reflection, students were encouraged to assess themselves against the skills.
What's next
We are going to follow the Accelerator Plus programme to hopefully achieve the Gold Award next year. Our plans to use the Hub resources within KS3 form time are exciting, as we have designated more curriculum time to skills development. We are also looking to develop teacher externships, to help to develop careers and skill development in the curriculum.
Yorkshire and the Humber
United Kingdom