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Adelaide School is a therapeutic special school that provides education for pupils with social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. We currently have 95 pupils on roll, aged between 9 and 18. Our aim is to enable pupils to have a positive experience of education and to equip them for their future.
We work hard to ensure that all pupils feel valued and respected. Each pupil has very different needs, and we are committed to providing the support they require to learn and prepare to become active British citizens who contribute to society. Many of our parents describe Adelaide as a family, as the school has a strong sense of community.
Our school's mission statement is "to help young people help themselves." We are dedicated to meeting the individual needs of each pupil to help them fulfil their potential and become active members of the community. We aim to provide the best possible education in a caring, happy environment where everyone feels safe and valued.
Our vision is to ensure that all pupils are engaged in learning and enjoy coming to school. We believe that the relationships between staff and pupils are key to their success at Adelaide. At the heart of our school is the holistic development of pupils, including their social, moral, spiritual, and cultural experiences.
The values of the school are care, commitment, and collaboration. We are committed to meeting the needs of the pupils in our care and collaborate with others to do so. We go above and beyond to ensure pupils feel respected and valued.
We introduced the 8 Skills as part of our Careers Strategy in 2021 and quickly realised that these skills are not only essential but also truly prepare our pupils for life beyond Adelaide School. In 2023, we were fortunate to join the Accelerator Programme and began our journey to further embed those skills across the curriculum.
Overall impact
The implementation of Skills Builder is a whole-school initiative here. These core skills have now been embedded at Adelaide School for a significant period, meaning they are part of the fabric of everything we do. The Skills Builder framework is integrated into every curriculum area, with teachers planning lessons that explicitly develop essential skills alongside academic content.
Furthermore, the language of the eight essential skills is used consistently across the school. This helps pupils recognise and value their holistic progress.
The Accelerator Programme was a huge support, giving us a clear, focused plan to move forward. The training days and strategy meetings were fantastic opportunities to network with other Skills Leaders, share and discover new resources, and explore innovative ways to embed the skills.
It has been brilliant to hear from visiting employers that they are thrilled to see the focus on skills. They have shared with us that they place a much greater emphasis on essential skills than on exam attainment when looking to employ young people.
Keep it simple
We ensure that the skills are displayed in every classroom across the school. We’ve added them to the computer screen wallpapers for all staff and pupils, and we use icon stickers on wall displays throughout the building. A shared folder is available for staff, containing skill graphics and simple resources that can be used by everyone.
Staff incorporate the icons into their teaching materials and assembly presentations. We also include the icons and references to the skills being developed in our social media posts. Additionally, we have a dedicated page on our website for Skills Builder, which features simple activities and summer challenges that parents and carers can try at home.
Start early, keep going
Subject curriculums for all pupils from Year 5 to Year 14 have the skills embedded within them. At the end of lessons, modules, and units, staff and pupils reflect on their use and development of these skills. It has been fantastic to enable subject areas to do this in a way that suits their subject, while still building those essential skills.
Visiting speakers and workshops have also been asked to reference the skills, and pupils have used the Skills Builder Question Cards at the end of those sessions to ask meaningful questions. The skills have been introduced in both school and careers newsletters, which are sent to all parents and carers, and the feedback has been very positive.
The skills have also been used during national Careers and Apprenticeships Weeks and to scaffold STEM days. We have developed a range of resources and visuals that are used throughout the school and continue to look for new and innovative ways to help pupils make progress.
Pupils and staff regularly take part in whole-school, year group, and small group challenges, workshops, and events focused on developing specific skills.
Measure it
At Adelaide, due to the wide and varying needs of our pupils, we adopt a very bespoke approach to everything we do—including skills development. We are mindful of the number of different programmes and methods we use to track progress for both pupils and staff. As a result, we have embedded the skills at the heart of all our practices and use them to inform and shape many of the processes we use in school to assess attainment, progress, and achievement.
All activities in school—whether careers, wellbeing, enrichment, trips, workshops, or extracurricular—are rigorously tracked. This tracking includes the Skills Builder essential skills, giving us a clear, school-wide view of where skills are being delivered and developed. It has enabled us to identify areas that need further development.
This data is reviewed alongside SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual, Cultural), British Values, Curriculum Intent, and the results of the Future Skills Questionnaire. Together, these provide a comprehensive view of how both we and our pupils feel they are progressing. We have then been able to use this information to create targeted opportunities to develop the skills that need more attention at any given time.
Focus tightly
Different subject areas in school have explored a range of available resources. This has included virtual insight events and the McDonald’s Taste for Work module, which focused on the communication skills of Speaking and Listening. In PSHE, Careers, Life Skills, and Personal Development lessons, activities are designed to focus on specific skills.
In STEM subjects such as Maths, we have used special events like VE Day to practise skills—for example, developing problem-solving abilities through codebreaker activities. The visual presence of the essential skill icons throughout the school keeps them at the forefront of learning and serves as a constant reminder to pupils.
Keep practising
Each subject curriculum includes intentional planning for careers and skill development within every topic or unit. End-of-topic/unit reflection sheets feature skill icons to support both self and teacher assessment. Additionally, our termly Curriculum Evidence Book highlights the skills being developed across subjects.
In Year 11, we place a strong emphasis on skill development to support pupils in their transition beyond school. These skills are embedded in our STAR interview preparation resources and CV-building activities. They are also a key focus in practical sessions such as travel training and life skills.
We are continually exploring new ways to embed these skills across the curriculum. Ideas and opportunities are regularly shared with staff through multiple platforms, which are also used to spotlight and celebrate examples of good practice.
Bring it to life
We work closely with our local hub, The Cheshire and Warrington Pledge, who are strong advocates for essential skills. The resources and activities they organise consistently emphasise skill development.
We continue to expand our use of essential skills by involving employers in the process. Before their visits, we share Skills Builder resources with them, including an explanation of the skills. During the visit, pupils use question cards to ask meaningful, skills-focused questions. We also take these cards with us when visiting businesses to support purposeful engagement.
Skills are recognised and developed through our Work Placement Programme, where pupils apply them in real-world settings. Further opportunities to build these skills are provided through volunteering, charity work, internal work placements, Pupil Voice groups, and community projects.
What's next
We have recently developed a tracking system to record the conduct, emotional, learning, and social (CELS) progress of pupils, and reflecting on the Skills Builder framework was key in its development.
We are keen to continue growing, and an essential element of this going forward will be to include Skills Builder as part of new staff inductions. This ensures that, from the start of their time at the school, staff understand the significance of this element in our daily practice.
We are also planning to develop our own internal Skills Training Modules for staff to encourage continued professional development and innovative use of the skills within their curriculum areas.
