We are HELP International School, located in Selangor, Malaysia. Our mission is ‘To ignite a passion for lifelong learning, so that we can nurture resilient, compassionate, critical thinkers in a constantly changing world.’ Our Super Curriculum offers opportunities for 6th form students to develop learning beyond what the regular curriculum provides and is implemented using strategies to build essential skills that are linked directly to the Ten Masteries - Intellectual, Moral, Physical, Technology, International Mindedness, Emotional, Social, Career, Leadership and Creative.
The aim of the 6th form Super Curriculum is to develop a strong student competencies portfolio. We encourage students to build effective deep learning skills including Listening, Speaking, Problem solving, Creativity, Staying positive, Aiming high, Leadership and Teamwork. Utilising Skills Builder has allowed us to identify and measure skills development and given students deeper insights into their subjects of interest. It has also developed work readiness through our apprenticeship programmes. It has never been more important to build a set of essential skills to succeed in life: the ability to creatively solve problems, to self-manage, to communicate effectively, and to work well with others. These are skills that are needed to do almost anything well. The need for these skills is clear, but there is still a gap – too young people do not build these skills to the level they need, and so miss out on opportunities to thrive in other parts of their lives. Too often this is an area where terminology is confused and confusing. The work of all the schools, colleges and organisations in through skill builder is to cut through this: to refine a consistent, universal approach to these essential skills: Listening, Speaking, Problem Solving, Creativity, Staying Positive, Aiming High, Leadership and Teamwork.
Student Reflective ‘Super Curriculum Portfolios’ are currently used by the Sixth Form students. The 8 essential skills and icons are included in this portfolio. Awards are given at the end of year for students who presented an excellent reflection on their essential skill development. We use Linkedin profiles for student leavers that include endorsements from the school. These reference essential skills and are shared with parents. Teacher training sessions have been completed by all teachers. This has helped teachers to use specific skill steps and common language in their classrooms. They have also been supported in embedding essential skills into their lessons. This year we included a parent workshop, which included support on creating a conducive environment that supports reflective inquiry, empowering students with the vocabulary and confidence to express their thoughts and feelings, scaffolding the process to encourage metacognitive reflection. We know that reflection is crucial in educational assessment for "assessment as learning" because it shifts the focus from simply judging a product to fostering deep, self-aware learning through critical thinking, metacognition, and self-regulation.
At the start of the programme students self-assess their essential skills using Skills Builder - Benchmark to discover their strengths and areas for improvement, the results are included in their portfolios. Backward mapping this against their potential career options, students are able to make an informed data-driven decision to select the appropriate Super Curriculum components offered by the program. During the programme we use student portfolios that require students to complete baseline assessment using Benchmark at the start of a 20 week project. They are required to complete 4 reflections during this period and a final assessment at the end. Students are able to provide evidence of the essential skills that they have developed on their personal statements / university application and during interviews. This evidence allows the school to write meaningful and comprehensive references using the journal entries. Teachers use this data to monitor engagement, next steps and progress for each student. The emphasis for teachers to focus on formative feedback on the skills they want students to develop. This is assessed through discussions and observations where teachers discuss with students ‘what went well’ and how they can improve further, so they can reflect on, and improve, their performance. At the end of the programme students repeat the self-assessment of their essential skills using Skills Builder - Benchmark and conclude their digital journal by submitting a Reflective Video journal which will be assessed by teachers using a predetermined rubric.
We hope to continue with our programme next year and increase the impact of essential skills for our students with implementation outside of the sixth form. We will formalize the use of Skills Builder Hub and Benchmark across all XTEND components. Further opportunities for cross-department collaboration and industry collaboration will be explored. We will also be organising more community events including MUN Conference / TED event / E-sports @ HELP International School
