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Fulbourn Primary School sits at the heart of South Cambridgeshire - a vibrant, dynamic area with a growing economy and high levels of employment. But with growth comes responsibility. For progress to be truly meaningful, it must be inclusive. Our pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds, each with different experiences and opportunities, and we want every child,whatever their starting point,to develop the essential skills to succeed. Not just for themselves, but to help shape a community where everyone can thrive.
At Fulbourn, we believe education is about more than knowledge. It’s about equipping every child with the confidence, resilience, and adaptability they need to feel valued, and succeed in a changing world.
Our journey began when we were lucky enough to take part in The Careers and Enterprise Company’s Start Small: Dream Big Primary Careers Pilot Programme. This opened our children’s eyes to a wide range of jobs and careers, broadening their horizons and raising aspirations. More importantly, it sparked a question for us: how can we best prepare our children with the skills they need to flourish, no matter what path they choose?
That’s when we decided to take part in the Skills Builder Accelerator Program.
Overall impact
Since joining the Skills Builder Accelerator Program, we’ve seen a real buzz around school as children develop the essential skills that will serve them well in life, learning, and work.
By far the biggest highlight for our pupils has been the Challenge Days. Activities like Moon Landing and the Chocolate Challenge have captured imaginations, built teamwork, and created a powerful sense of belonging. These days now form an integral part of our Tribe Days, bringing the whole school together in fun, meaningful learning experiences.
In a recent feedback survey, 98% of KS2 pupils agreed or strongly agreed that they found the Challenge Days exciting and engaging. Our pupils told us:
· “You learn to stay positive when you get something wrong.”
· “We get to do things that will impact us in the future.”
· “There’s something everyone is good at.”
· “We do more, we learn and we have fun.”
Keep it simple
At Fulbourn, we’ve made the language of the eight essential skills clear, consistent, and accessible for everyone. It began with a central hall display and regular assembly references, focusing first on listening and then on speaking. Challenge Days and a steady drip-feed across the curriculum have built a shared language now used by pupils and staff alike. Skills are part of lesson planning, explicitly taught in PSHE, and celebrated in clubs and wider school life.
Children now confidently use this language themselves: when applying to be ambassadors, joining the talent show committee, or stepping up in other roles where their efforts are recognised. Skills icons feature in planners, while parents see our work through home learning, newsletters, our website, and our home communication app. Teachers and TAs have had training, governors have been engaged, and the approach is firmly embedded. Most importantly, children are not only learning the skills, they’re making the connection to life and work through careers opportunities and real-world examples of how these skills are used every day.
Start early, keep going
We started our Skills Builder journey with listening - the skill we felt would benefit our children most. Challenge Days, held as part of our Tribe Days each term, gave us the perfect launchpad. Since then, skills have been built into every child’s journey, with regular opportunities to practise and grow. Teachers use the Skills Builder Hub, skills are explicitly taught through dedicated timetable time, and our PSHE curriculum has been rewritten to embed them at the heart of school life.
Measure it
Teachers have received training and dedicated time to use the Skills Builder Hub for baseline and re-assessments, helping us track progress effectively. We aim to build on this by ensuring all new staff are trained too.
Just as important has been listening to our pupils. A KS2 survey showed how highly they value skills learning. Alongside positive feedback about Challenge Days, 96% agreed or strongly agreed that they learn about a wide range of jobs and careers. They also told us they want to explore even more - suggesting roles such as inventors, poets, charity workers, and marine biologists. The survey also highlighted an area for development: helping children better understand which skill step they are working on, and what they need to do to improve.
Focus tightly
Skills are explicitly taught and practised. Teachers plan opportunities for pupils to work on specific skills, and these are reinforced through Challenge Days, assemblies, PSHE lessons, and everyday classroom learning. Focused teaching during Circle Time has been written in to the PSHE curriculum.
Keep practising
Children revisit and apply the skills across all areas of school life. Challenge Days provide exciting opportunities to put skills into action, while assemblies, PSHE lessons, and class projects keep them fresh and relevant. Skills are also reinforced through extracurricular clubs, leadership roles, and even in the application process for positions such as school ambassadors or committee members.
Bring it to life
Through the Dream Big programme, we discovered excellent resources which have been shared in staff training and used to enrich our curriculum. We’ve held Citizenship Careers Days, welcoming a wide range of visitors, from architects and construction workers to authors and athletes, who have inspired our pupils with their stories. We held a Citizenship Volunteering Day, focusing on how learning skills can impact positively on both your own and others wellbeing.
We also took part in the Skills Builder Insight Weeks, giving children even greater access and exposure to the world of work. Teachers are now encouraged to build a careers link into school trips, and our aim is to make this a consistent feature across all visits. Challenge and project days, such as Trash to Treasure, have given pupils further opportunities to apply their skills to real-world contexts.
We are fortunate to be based in an area so well supported by employers, and we are committed to making the most of these partnerships to bring skills learning to life for all our children.
We are looking forward to our three new challenge days in the next academic year!
What's next
Next, we plan to further embed Skills Builder into other areas of the curriculum and ensure that opportunities to discover lots of different careers continue for years to come.
