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At All Saints Academy, there is a significant commitment to the personal development of our students. Whilst qualifications are important, we continue to believe it is important that students develop morally, and in relation to the broader skills which will prepare them for the next phase of their lives. Our personal development provision is recognised as outstanding by Ofsted and this reflects our dedication to our students’ broader development. Work in relation to skill development began a number of years ago with the 8 skills from Skills Builder forming the framework for the delivery within both curriculum based lessons and within the wider curriculum, for example; collective worship, assemblies, electives and Character Education. As a result, the skill then permeates the delivery content to ensure that skill development is fully embedded into our culture rather than a bolt on addition in all aspects within All Saints Academy.
Overall impact
This embedded culture has ensured that there has been a continued focus on developing and strengthening our provision for the development of skills. Students have benefitted from seeing a much more coherent and focused approach to skill development with integral activities for each of the skills which have been consistent across different subject areas. Teachers have benefitted from a much greater insight into the process of supporting skill development and have made excellent use of the comprehensive resources available on the Skills Builder Hub. Our approach has ensured that sufficient attention has been directed at each of the six principles and the regular strategy meetings have helped to continually review and refine our provision to maximise the impact of our skills provision. The continued highlight for us is the work that we have carried out regarding the delivery of the 8 skills, we became one of the schools to achieve the Gold Award, having embedded the skills provision to the level that we have which gives us faith that this commitment to skill development would be continued to be recognised by any external stakeholder.
Keep it simple
The 8 essential skills are embedded into our curriculum for Years 7-11. Both our assembly programme and character education lessons are all aligned to the skill covered in each topic to reinforce the key language and support development. The subject content for each subject makes explicit reference to the skill, and skill level, and ensures that the skill development is seen as integral by the students. Skills are referenced in parent meetings as it is a core part of the curriculum model and are also taught within our extensive character education programme. Students access numerous careers and enterprise workshops throughout the school year, where the essential skills are explicitly covered within the workshops. Also, every classroom has an A3 laminated sheet for all 8 skills on display.
Start early, keep going
The curriculum model gives all students the opportunity to learn specific skill steps and then apply their skills across the curriculum. Teachers make regular reference to the skill step posters during lessons so that students understand how to progress in relation to each of the skills. The skill steps are broken down across all year groups to show an average expected progression route for all students. In addition to the skills being at the heart of each topic, students have dedicated Character Education sessions on skill development where Personal Development leads have mapped out the most appropriate resources for tutors to deliver them to their tutees. Students have engaged well with these sessions and are given the chance to record the reflections in relation to their skill development every Friday in their character education session.
Measure it
All students have a personal development tracker where they record evidence of where they have met the requirements of different skill steps. Students reflect on skill development at the end of each week and where good progress has been made, Personal Development leads and tutors review the evidence and award students with a badge linked to the specific skill. Teachers use assessment for learning and their own subjective assessments to pitch teaching at the appropriate level. The assessment tool is well utilised by staff to inform their choices over which step and which resources to focus on with their tutees. Baseline assessments for skills are established in this way with the expectation being that there is then a follow up data input to reflect on progress made.
Focus tightly
Students have Character Education lessons that focus explicitly on direct instruction in relation to the essential skills. This happens for all students in the school and the content progresses through the skill steps as students progress through the school. Teachers use the class assessment tool on the Skills Builder Hub to choose the most appropriate resources for students which is predicated on a general assessment of their efficacy in relation to the Skills Builder Universal Framework steps. The students all have a personal development tracker which includes all 8 skills and all of the skills steps and each Friday they are given the opportunity to reflect on the development of their skills and provide specific examples of where they believe they have met the skill step.
Keep practising
In the curriculum model, skill activities are built into subject curriculum lessons so that students are given regular opportunities to practise the skill in a range of different subjects and a range of different contexts; whilst the subject content changes, the opportunities to explore and practise the skill remain consistent. Every booklet and lesson PowerPoint has the corresponding skill logo on them as a constant reminder of which skill is the focus of the topic. All electives (extra-curricular activities) are linked to skills which are identified by the person leading the elective.
Bring it to life
An example of what is offered to our students to bring the skills to life include; Year 7 and 8 students took part in the Young Enterprise – Launch Pad Programme. This programme is a fast-paced, engaging enterprise challenge designed to introduce young people to the world of business and develop key employability skills. The essential skills were referenced explicitly. Our Year 9 students took part in a Crime Scene Investigation experience which applied the essential skills in a variety of different situations. This experience also allowed our students to see how these skills are essential in most, if not all, jobs. In particular, this experience highlighted the vast amount of careers available in the criminal justice system. Year 10s engaged with the Young Enterprise Employability Masterclass – this programme helped students understand the skills and qualities needed for the workplace and to improve their ability to present themselves effectively during the application process. Year 11s – Our Year 11 accessed the Talent Foundry KPMG Opening Doors Workshop. This workshop was delivered by an experienced Talent Foundry facilitator and supported by KPMG colleagues. Students develop essential skills during the workshop while experiencing what it’s like to work at KPMG.
What's next
To progress, there is still work to do to continue to refine our provision and ensure that each and every student sees the development of the essential skills as a core part of their education. The Character Education Skills Builder sessions have been very effective and moving forwards we will be looking at where else we can allocate some additional time for direct instruction in relation to the essential skills. In relation to Principle 3 (Measure It), there is work to be undertaken to ensure that the monitoring and tracking of all students’ essential skill progression is monitored, recorded and Quality Assured correctly.
