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Cromwell Community College is a caring and ambitious school for pupils aged 4 to 18 based in a rural area in Cambridgeshire. As one of the few all-through schools in the country, we offer families a unique opportunity for children to grow, learn and succeed within one supportive environment – a safe place where they are known, valued and encouraged to achieve their very best. We strive for all students to succeed and do this through our core values of Respect, Confidence and Success; three values that align perfectly with the essential skills of Skills Builder. We wanted to get involved with Skills Builder as we felt there was a piece missing in terms of the holistic growth of students in our school. We wanted to give them the opportunities to develop the skills needed for life, something that is so important and something they may not have access to otherwise.
Overall impact
The overall impact seems to be positive as the programme has slotted into the life of Cromwell effortlessly. The Accelerator programme has helped to give essential skills a much clearer and more consistent place within school life. For teachers, it has provided a shared framework, language and range of resources that can be used during tutor time and increasingly across pastoral, enrichment and careers work. Staff feedback shows that the practical activities have been particularly successful in helping students communicate, work together and engage with one another.
For students, the biggest impact has been growing familiarity with the eight essential skills and a better understanding of how they can use them in different situations. Students have particularly responded well to the practical and collaborative activities, and some have recognised links to communication, responsibility, revision, relationships and future life.
Across the wider school community, Skills Builder has started to create a common language that links together tutor time, behaviour and rewards, interventions, enrichment, work experience, transition and wider personal development. It has also become increasingly visible through assemblies, displays, screens, social media and the school website.
A particular highlight has been seeing students enjoy and engage with the practical sessions, especially when working with classmates they might not normally interact with. Another has been the potential for Skills Builder to bring together different areas of school life under one shared approach. The next step is to build on this consistency so that the essential skills become even more embedded across the curriculum, careers, pastoral support and the wider school community.
Principle 1: Align
We have built awareness of the essential skills by making Skills Builder a visible and regular part of school life. Students in Years 7–10 have dedicated Skills Builder sessions during tutor time twice a week, supported by assemblies when a new skill is introduced. The eight essential skills are also promoted through displays, tutor slides, screens around school, transition activities, enrichment, work experience and reflective activities. We also promote achievements and information through our social media and communication home.
To support consistent use of the Universal Framework language, tutors use the Skills Builder Hub and follow a structured schedule linked to the appropriate steps for each year group. The same language and icons are also being used across pastoral work, rewards, interventions and wider school activities so that students become familiar with applying the skills in different contexts.
We have shown that we value the skills by linking them to our school values, recognising them through positive and negative behaviour points, celebrating them through assemblies and displays, and using them as part of targeted support such as Skills Builder bingo cards. This has helped make the skills part of our wider school culture rather than something that only happens during individual lessons.
Principle 2: Plan
We have aimed to make Skills Builder part of a student’s journey through school rather than a short-term intervention. In secondary, students in Years 7–10 have regular Skills Builder sessions during tutor time, with the level of the Universal Framework adapted to the age and stage of each year group. Skills Builder has also been introduced through transition activities, enrichment, work experience and reflective activities following wider opportunities such as residential trips.
The next stage is to strengthen this further by creating a whole-school approach, including stronger links with primary, careers, pastoral interventions and the use of Benchmark to support individual students. This will help ensure that essential skills are developed progressively over time.
Parental awareness has begun through information shared on the school website and social media. We have aimed to showcase achievements and information as well as guide parents and students of further work they can do to develop their skills at home as well as school.
Principle 3: Measure
We use a combination of Skills Builder tools and school data to understand how students are developing their essential skills. Tutors use the Skills Builder Hub to identify the appropriate level for their groups and to reflect on progress through the different steps of the Universal Framework. We have also begun comparing behaviour and rewards data against the essential skills to identify strengths and areas that may need further development.
This information has helped us see where particular form groups and year groups are progressing well and where additional support may be needed. It has also helped inform pastoral and intervention work, including the use of targeted Skills Builder bingo cards for some students.
Moving forward, we plan to use Skills Builder Benchmark more consistently with individual students and intervention groups. This will give us a clearer picture of individual progress and allow us to create more personalised support around specific essential skills.
Principle 4: Teach
Students are given regular opportunities to build their essential skills through two dedicated tutor-time sessions each week. One session focuses on direct teaching of the skill, while the second gives students a practical opportunity to apply what they have learned through discussion, problem-solving and group activities.
Tutors use resources from the Skills Builder Hub, including videos, presentations and activities linked directly to the Universal Framework. A structured schedule identifies which skill and step each year group should focus on, helping to ensure that teaching is progressive and appropriate for students’ age and stage.
Students are then given further opportunities in enrichment activities and pastoral sessions to really apply the skills they have learn and build them directly.
Principle 5: Practise
Students are given regular opportunities to practise their essential skills through practical tutor-time activities, where they work in groups to apply skills such as teamwork, leadership, speaking, listening and problem solving. These activities help students move beyond simply learning about the skills and instead use them in realistic situations.
We have also started to build the essential skills into wider school experiences, including enrichment activities, work experience reflection, transition activities and residential trip follow-up work. Skills Builder language is also used within pastoral and intervention work, helping students recognise where they are using these skills outside of dedicated sessions.
Moving forward, we want to strengthen this further through challenge days, workshops, curriculum mapping and closer links with extra-curricular activities and careers. This will help students practise the essential skills across a much wider range of contexts and see how they connect to learning, employment and life beyond school.
Principle 6: Apply
We help students understand how essential skills connect to wider life by linking Skills Builder to experiences beyond tutor time. This has included work experience reflection, enrichment activities, transition events and residential trip follow-up work, where students are encouraged to recognise which essential skills they have used and why they matter. Everything that arises in discussion or directed teaching will always use language that creates the links and connections to the wider and future life.
The skills are also linked to careers and employability, helping students see how areas such as teamwork, leadership, speaking, planning and problem solving will be useful beyond school. Staff feedback has also recognised the strong link between Skills Builder and students’ future career development.
Moving forward, we plan to strengthen this further through Skills Builder challenge days, workshops and closer work with our careers provision and employers. This will give students more opportunities to apply the skills to realistic challenges and understand how they are used in education, employment and everyday life.
What's next
More more more! Our next step is to build on the strong foundations already established and make Skills Builder even more consistent across the whole school. A key priority is supporting tutors to feel confident delivering high-quality, personalised sessions and using the Hub and dashboard more independently to reflect on student progress.
We also want to make greater use of Benchmark for individual students and intervention groups, particularly through pastoral support and BRIDGE. This will help us target specific skills more effectively and measure progress more clearly over time.
Another important focus is increasing opportunities for students to apply the skills beyond tutor time. This will include challenge days, workshops, stronger links with enrichment, careers and work experience, and clearer curriculum mapping across different subjects and activities. We also want to increase the visibility of Skills Builder through classroom displays, lesson resources, social media and the sc
