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Chenderit School has been in the community for 40 years and is now seeing past student's children through their secondary education. Seeing the impact COVID 19 has had on not only the student's learning and education, but skills for everyday life and their career journey, we want to rebuild these and improve them, but also our student's confidence and readiness to use them. The aim of using the framework is to embed an all-inclusive approach within the school but with a keen focus on careers education
Overall impact
The framework has allowed students to understand how the skills link to everyday life, career pathways and their educational studies. By using the common language across the board, it ensures consistency and fluency throughout the curriculum and personal development programme.
Keep it simple
The main body of learning is completed during tutorial time with group activities being delivered. The framework has then been introduced into more lessons and career related activities. Our main aim is to help students understand the skills that employers look for when recruiting but also reminding them that these are skills needed in life generally and how their studies relate to this. Displays are up around school and posters in classrooms for consistency and reiteration
Start early, keep going
Year 8 were the first year group to be introduced to the framework followed by year 7 later in the year. After evaluating the year group, 3 skills were selected and used across year group over a term during tutorial time. Skills were also highlighted during lessons with icons being put on the board when relevant, stickers in workbooks and achievement points (school reward system) being awarded when skills were used in class. This will carry on yearly.
Measure it
Students in Year 8 were benchmarked in tutor groups before the Head of Learning used the data to consider skills to be worked on. Teamwork and Aiming High were focused on during a 6 week term. Year 10 students completed a self-evaluation using Benchmark and decided individually which skills they were to work on during their week of work experience. To follow this up, form tutors completed a series of short lesson in tutor time based on the most common skill show to need improvement. Students will be encouraged to self-evaluate yearly to ensure progress and identify their strengths and need for improvement.
Focus tightly
We decided to introduce skills builder to our KS3 students to begin with and to build on this year by year. This allowed us to focus on a smaller group of students and ensure the foundations were laid before developing each skill throughout their school journey. Students completed sessions in tutor time but also have stickers and visual cues during lesson times to highlight skills within the curriculum. Having observed this being well received, we decided to add our Year 10 students into the programme to aid in their work experience and plans post- 16.
Keep practising
Students are often reminded of the skills and framework due to weekly careers presentations and articles in the weekly newsletters. Every student has access to Unifrog, the careers platform, which allows them to marry the skills builder framework with the competencies Unifrog identify. Visual cues are placed around school, used in lessons and workbooks and are shared between staff to encourage consistency and reinforce the common language.
Bring it to life
Year 10 students used the framework to prepare for their week of work experience. By using Benchmark, students completed a self-evaluation and identified skills they may need to improve and then considered how they were to do this during the week. Students also completed a daily diary at their placement and were asked to identify a skill they feel they had used each day. Each week a PowerPoint presentation is sent to all year groups with information on a 'Career of the Week'. Skills builder icons are included within the information to help students identify and relate the skills to job roles and everyday life.
What's next
Our plan moving forward is to continue to use the framework with current year groups and introduce yearly to Year 7. Year groups will carry on building their skills during tutor time and Extended Project Days and relating this back to their career journeys, educational studies and everyday life situations.
