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Saxon Mount School based in East Sussex is a school that caters for children aged 11 to 16 who have a range of Special Educational Needs. We were introduced to Skills Builder by the East Sussex Careers Hub and spent a year using the free resources as part of the careers programme. The results we saw encouraged us to apply for the Accelerator Programme. We have just completed our second year on the programme and are starting to see a bigger impact. The support we have received has helped us to fully embed the essential skills across the whole school curriculum. The clear strategy and staff training provided have allowed all staff to take ownership and develop the confidence to discuss the essential skills at every opportunity with the pupils. The impact has been the development of a culture of self-reflection, celebration of strengths and support to develop further amongst the whole school community. All pupils recognise the essential skills and are developing an increasing awareness of what they mean. They are starting to identify strengths and their next steps in themselves and others. Pupils are showing that they can apply the skills across the curriculum and in enrichment activities. Staff are more skilled and confident in discussing skills with pupils and recognising where they can provide opportunities for explicit teaching.
Overall impact
The impact has been the development of a culture of self-reflection, celebration of strengths and support to develop further amongst the whole school community. All pupils recognise the essential skills and are developing an increasing awareness of what they mean. They are starting to identify strengths and their next steps in themselves and others. Pupils are showing that they can apply the skills across the curriculum and in enrichment activities. Staff are more skilled and confident in discussing skills with pupils and recognising where they can provide opportunities for explicit teaching. Pupils leaving the school are better prepared for their next steps in education, work or training.
Keep it simple
Skills Builder is an integral part of the School Development Plan. It is embedded in the school policies and forms part of the staff professional development process. Saxon Mount School is a very visual environment and Skills Builder icons are visible in all classrooms and many of the corridor display boards. Schemes of work refer to the essential skills that will be taught during each term and lesson resources use the icons and skills steps to signpost the learning to pupils. All staff use reflection questions to support learning in their own curriculum subject. They also use stickers to reward use of the skills in work. The schools reward system uses the language of the Skills Builder Framework in our weekly and termly rewards. The termly rewards are displayed outside the Headteachers office. Other displays use the icons to show where the essential skills have been used. These include photographs of pupils and their work.
Start early, keep going
All pupils in Key Stage 3 at Saxon Mount have a weekly timetabled lessons to deliver the essential skills. In Key Stage 4 pupils work on their skills across the curriculum and in intervention sessions where necessary. All subject leaders have referenced the essential skills in their schemes of work and lesson plans. All staff use resources for the Skills Builder Hub to support pupils in developing their skills. Step descriptors and icons are used with all classes and discussed regularly during the week. Weekly challenges are sent home to parents from the Home Zone for pupils to complete for homework. During the annual review of Education Health Care Plans parents are invited to comment on their child's development of the essential skills and their priorities for development.
Measure it
All teachers are involved in the formative assessment of pupils. This information is shared with all staff and used to inform the teaching of the skills to groups and individuals. Each term class tutors use the Skills Builder Hub to do a quick assessment of the group. Tutors also attend multi-agency meetings 3 times a year and the Skills Builder framework is used to set targets for the pupils personal development. These targets are incorporated in the EHCP. At the end of Term 2, 4 and 6 staff complete a learning talk with individuals and complete Benchmark together to assess each skill and progress over the year. These assessments have allowed us to see gaps in the development of particular skills across the curriculum. We have addressed this by organising some staff CPD. We are starting to see faster progression through the skill steps and higher finishing points as we are able to target learning opportunities more effectively.
Focus tightly
All teachers use skill icons and expanded step descriptors in lessons across the curriculum. They use the information from assessment to ensure the step descriptors are at the right level. Reflection questions are used during lessons to provide opportunities to see when and where their skills are being used. Teaching activities in schemes of work are mapped to the essential skills. In Key Stage 3 Careers lessons use the projects and Hub resources to explicitly teach the skills. In Key Stage 4 GCSE, work related learning and vocational subjects provides opportunities for skills to be taught explicitly in line with the curriculum content.
Keep practising
All teaching staff have identified opportunities in their curriculum that use the essential skills. All pupils in Key Stage 3 complete at least one project during the year as part of the Careers curriculum. At the end of the year there is a Skills Builder focus week that allows the whole school to complete a project. Extra curricular clubs are mapped to the development of essential skills. Some clubs use the projects as the activity. The annual residential visits in Year 7, 9 and 11 use Skills Builder resources to encourage pupils to identify the skills they are using and reflect on them. Pupils are given the opportunity to hold roles of responsibility such as prefects and behaviour champions, and are able to practice their skills as part of their role.
Bring it to life
Regular discussions with pupils in lessons and across the school encourage them to think about how the essential skills will help them in their personal development and future. Projects set in school have the task set by an employer and feedback is given to the pupils by the same employer at the end of the project. When the school engages with local employers for encounters or workplace visits, we ask them to reference the essential skills and use the same language in their activities and discussions with the pupils. This reinforces the common language used by staff and pupils in school. Pupils in Year 10 and 11 have the opportunity to do work experience and are encouraged to complete a skills passport about their experiences. Pupils working on the Duke of Edinburgh Award are also encouraged to reflect on the essential skills as part of their course.
What's next
We are excited to see the continuing development of pupils as they move through the school and will look at how best to use Benchmark to record this. We will continue to look for opportunities to embed the principles and skills in all aspects of school life. We will increase the range of rewards, awards and recognition of skills for pupils. We will continue to develop parental engagement in the programme by providing workshops and suggestions on how they can support their child. We will continue to work with employers to bring the skills to life as much as possible and share our successes with other schools in our local area.
