Shaftesbury Park Primary School in Battersea is a Skills Builder Flagship school, where essential skills are embedded throughout the learning environment and wider school life. From Reception to Year 6, learners develop these skills through the school’s dedicated ‘Enterprise Stream’.

To bring this learning to life, the school ran an Imaginative Inventors week during the summer term. Learners took on the challenge of designing, planning, and pitching innovative ideas to make their school more environmentally friendly, presenting their ideas to volunteers from across our business partnerships.

“The children took part in a creative and thought-provoking challenge, where they were tasked with designing inventions that aimed to improve the world. They explored real-life problems and applied the eight essential skills to think of ways to change the world for the better.”
Alastair Anderson, Deputy Head Teacher, Shaftesbury Park Primary School

For this session volunteers from Kyndryl and UK Power Networks (UKPN) attended the school to join a Year 3 class, where learners pitched their innovative ideas for how Shaftesbury Park could improve its environmental efficiency as a school. On the day, learners shared ideas ranging from improving energy efficiency through harnessing solar technology to an app which helped learners to access green transport solutions to and from school. The showcase left a strong impression on the volunteers, who praised the learners’ creativity, teamwork, and confidence.   

“Public speaking can be daunting, especially to people you don't know.  However, the learners at Shaftesbury Park Primary met this challenge when presenting their inventions to visitors from Kyndryl and UK Power Networks.  Whether it was energy saving solutions, or AI enhanced vehicles, the students' ideas and presentations were engaging and the result of fantastic teamwork.  These skills are essential for the learners' future success and Kyndryl's volunteers valued the opportunity to support their development.” 

- Dominic Nolan, Associate Director of Social Impact, Kyndryl UK & Ireland

Across the Skills Builder education partnerships, schools and colleges work towards six principles of best practice for aligning their curriculum and learning environment to essential skills. The sessions showcased two of these principles brilliantly: Keeping Practising and Bring it to life. A critical part of this process is supporting young people to understand the real world impact of essential skills have in both professional and personal life. Professionals from partners like Kyndryl and UK Power Networks play a vital role in helping learners see the real-world relevance of essential skills.

"It was really impressive to be part of the innovative inventors session. Seeing that level of communication, presentation and creative skills from students at that age, was truly exceptional. We were also really delighted to engage in dialogue with the pupils and hear their thoughtful questions about our work. UKPN has no doubt all the students at Shaftesbury Park Primary School have bright futures ahead of them with the foundational essential skills they're learning."
Charles Whelan, Decisions Scientist, UK Power Networks

The importance of the session was really brought home by reflections from Alastair Anderson, Deputy Head at Shaftesbury Park in the weeks following the session:

"The visit from Skills Builder, Kyndryl and UKPN is both mine and the children's highlight of the year. The passion and thought that the children put into their work, knowing they were presenting to professions made an enormous difference. Thank you to the panel who listened carefully and thoughtful to give accurate and constructive feedback. The pupils came out feeling 10 feet tall, knowing the worth of the skills builder work and the value of their efforts.‍

We had an amazing and truly inspiring visit from Skills Builder and partners Kyndryl and UK Power Networks, who generously gave their time to support and empower our pupils through real-world learning experiences. The difference presenting to businesses and knowing that feedback is based on professional experience helps take our learning beyond the 4 walls of the classroom and into the real world.

We are incredibly grateful to Skills Builder, Kyndryl, and UK Power Networks for their time, enthusiasm, and support. Their visit was not only memorable but also a powerful example of the impact that meaningful employer engagement can have on young minds."