Skills Builder Global

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Al-Bashaer Secondary School

Context

Al Bashaer High school, part of Al Mabarrat Association and located in Ain-Bourdaye-Baalbeck, is home to 2000 students and 140 educators. Deeply rooted in a mission to support orphaned and underprivileged children, the school provides high-quality, values-based education while promoting holistic development. In 2023-2024, the school implemented the Skills Builder Framework to strengthen learners’ essential skills and better prepare them for future challenges, the program was integrated across grade levels, with teachers receiving training and guidance to align classroom instruction with the framework’s methodology. Within one year, Al Bashaer achieved the Gold Award, highlighting the success of its structured approach to building skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. Encouraged by this progress, the school is now planning to expand its impact. For the next year, Al Bashaer aims to play a leading role within the area supporting other schools in their journey with the Accelerator Program, sharing experiences, tools, and best practices to help raise the standard of skills education across the community.

Overall impact

The Skills Builder program has had a transformative effect on our school community. Educators engaged fully with the training and worked collaboratively to integrate the language of essential skills across all subjects. The result was a more unified teaching approach that allowed students to develop a clearer understanding of life and career skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, and speaking. The program also led to noticeable improvements in classroom engagement, confidence, and social interaction among students. We were proud to receive the Gold Award in our first year and to become a Flagship School this year. This progress has helped us create a culture where essential skills are not just taught but lived daily by both staff and students.

Keep it simple

At Al-Bashaer School, we ensured that both teachers and students embraced a common, simple language for discussing essential skills. We began by displaying the Skills Builder icons prominently across the school-in classrooms, hallways, and bulletin boards-using colourful and engaging designs to help with recognition and retention. Coordinators received focused training, and in turn, trained their teams to consistently use essential skills terminology during instruction. To involve parents, we hosted an orientation session to introduce the framework and shared Arabic materials explaining how essential skills support student growth. We also sent regular updates, including photos of students participating in activities, to help parents visualize the learning process. New teachers were provided with previous year’s lesson plans showing how skills were integrated into teaching. This helped them build confidence and ensured alignment across all classrooms. In lessons, students were introduced to each skill through hands-on activities and gradually began using the terminology themselves. This whole-school approach created a consistent and engaging learning environment, where essential skills became part of the daily language and culture, not only for students and teachers-but also for families.

Start early, keep going

This year, we expanded the Skills Builder programme to include learners from KGs up to Secondary (ages 5 to 17), ensuring that all age groups benefit. a long-term progression plan was developed based on the three-year cycle, each focusing on two essential skills. This allowed students to explore each skill in depth before moving to new ones in the following cycle. To ensure effective planning, we created a detailed annual timetable from the start of the year (though it was modified because of the events and war that stopped school for 2 months), outlining when and how skills would be introduced and reinforced. This helped maintain consistency across all classes. Students in every cycle received a digital booklet featuring the two focus skills. These booklets explained the skills in simple terms, with examples and reflection activities to involve both students and parents. For new students who joined our school , the support mechanism provided orientation and guidance to help them integrate smoothly. This structured approach ensured that students developed their essential skills progressively, with clear continuity from early years through secondary education.

Measure it

To track student growth in essential skills, Al Bashaer school adopted a comprehensive, multi-step assessment approach. We began the year with a paper-based pre-assessment, conducted collaboratively in class council meetings where all subjects’ teachers for each grade level discussed and evaluated students’ baseline performance in essential skills. This ensured a shared understanding of each student’s starting point. Throughout the year, essential skills were consistently integrated into classroom lessons. Tasks, and extracurricular activities. Teachers applied peer assessment techniques, enabling students to reflect on each other’s strengths and growth areas. We also promoted self-reflection to have students take ownership of their progress, and encouraged teachers to reflect on their own instructional strategies. At the end of the year, teachers re-assessed their students using the Skills Builder Bub. To involve families, we introduced a simple Home School Skills journal, where students took home a small card once a month. Parents were encouraged to write a brief comment describing how their child used a skill at home-such as listening, teamwork, or problem-solving.

Focus tightly

Essential skills were delivered using clear, differentiated strategies tailored to each class. We took into account individual differences and used inclusive teaching methods that supported all learners. Lesson plans explicitly included differentiation by level-below, on, and above- and were adapted for essential skills as well as academic content. Teachers created multi-level worksheets so that each student could work on the same skill at a level appropriate to their needs and abilities. This ensured that all students were fully engaged and challenged within their zone of development. In addition, teachers regularly monitored progress through formative assessments and classroom observations, and adjusting instruction accordingly. This continuous feedback loop allowed educators to provide targeted support and celebrate individual growth, fostering a positive learning environment where every student felt seen, valued, and capable of success.

Keep practising

Essential skills were consistently reinforced across all subjects- not only in English or life skills lessons, but also in Arabic, Math, Science and others. Teachers adopted the UBD framework to intentionally embed essential skills into learning objectives, activities and assessments. Cross- departmental collaboration played a key role as teachers met regularly to share strategies, co-plan lessons, and align their approaches. Students gradually developed the ability to identify, articulate, and reflect on the skills they were applying in various academic tasks. To support this, we used a range of tools, including the skills builder hub, customized worksheets, classroom displays, and teacher-created materials. The classroom environment was also adapted to make skills visible and valued, through visual cues and student-led projects. In addition, simple tracking tools helped monitor student progress and guide differentiated instruction. Through repletion, reflection, and real-life application, essential skills became a natural part of students’ daily learning journey.

Bring it to life

We provided meaningful opportunities to apply essential skills in real-life contexts. During the spring festival every project showcased a skill, such as problem-solving in environment issues and leadership in public speaking. In our summer club, which welcomed students from across the Baalbeck region, essential skills were built through games, teamwork, and project-based tasks. Our school organized a celebration and gave certificates for the winners and all participants. Inspired by our work, a private academy in Baalbeck outside Al Mabarrat network, adopted problem-solving steps in its own programs, reflecting the growing impact of our approach. Within the school, we held a community workshop involving parents, teachers, and students, focusing on communication and collaboration. We are also partners with a local women’s organization to deliver a session on speaking and listening skills, helping mothers support their daughters’ development-especially relevant in a region facing domestic violence and social challenges. Through these initiatives, essential skills moved beyond the classroom, becoming a shared language of growth and connection across the school and wider community.

What's next

Looking to the future, Al Bashaer School is preparing for an ambitious new initiative called “The Future School”, which we plan to present in a national educational competition. Essential skills will be a central component of this project. As part of this initiative, we will also introduce a cumulative portfolio for each student to document their development in essential skills. This portfolio will surf as a tool for reflection, personalized surprise goal-setting, and long-term tracking of progress in academic years. Through this initiative we aim to scale our success, promote personalized learning, and deepen our culture of lifelong skills development.

Lebanon