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St Paul's CofE Primary School is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Our vision is to be an excellent school, rooted in Christian values that develop children into confident, happy citizens and provide a firm foundation to enable them to flourish in the local, global and Christian communities, both now and in the future. We became involved with the Skills Builder Accelerator Programme to ensure that our pupils develop the core skills required to thrive in a world that has endless possibilities.
Overall impact
The overall impact of the programme has been most beneficial for our pupils. Our older pupils now see career prospects in two ways; the pupils do not only need to have core, explicit knowledge of the disciplines they wish to explore when they are older, but also the 8 essential skills to accompany this knowledge. For our younger pupils, it allows them to flourish and be successful at school. In non-Covid times, we hope to utilise many more opportunities that are outside of the classroom.
Keep it simple
Essential skills are referenced within medium-term planning. We celebrate the skills during assemblies where parents are invited (in person in non-Covid times but virtually in Covid times) and award the pupils with housepoints framed by the skills. A minimum of one discrete 'skills lesson' is taught each week. There is a Skills Builder Focus for each lesson, and pupils reflect on the skills at the end of each lesson: for example, 'I know I have listened well in this lesson because...' Classroom displays show the skills posters.
Start early, keep going
Essential skills are taught throughout the school in each academic year, so students can become familiar with the common language surrounding the skills at an early age. The curriculum features essential skills development in a range of subject areas, including a dedicated 'Skills Lesson' once a week.
Measure it
We use the discrete weekly lessons to assess the skills and log these on the Skills Builder Hub. We tailor the discrete weekly lessons to cater for individual needs of our pupils.
Focus tightly
Each lesson has a Skills Builder focus that the pupils reflect on at the end of each lesson. A weekly discrete lesson is delivered to the pupils based on the needs of the class. They can then have one-to-one time with their teacher to reflect on their learning.
Keep practising
We have built essential skills into our curriculum and this is evidenced on planning documents. We have engaged in Skills Builder Challenge Days and Skills Summits during the Covid Pandemic. We have also framed our 'extra curricular offer' through the essential skills - for example, "to improve on your teamwork, why not try the following clubs..."
Bring it to life
We took part in UK Parliament Week, where we asked our local MP about a variety of issues - some questions related to the essential skills. We also took part in a Skills Summit with Thames Water. As part of our commitment to the church, we allow our pupils to explore different 'Courageous Advocacy' projects which would allow the pupils to practise and build on the essential skills.
What's next
We are looking to incorporate Children's University into our offer. We also want to utilise the opportunities outside of the classroom in non-Covid times, to further embed the essential skills into our offer.
