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Gillespie Primary School is a creative, community-focused primary school situated in Highbury, Islington. Guided by its core values-love of learning, equality, resilience, inclusion, and safety-the school strives to cultivate an inspiring learning environment where every child feels valued, confident, and empowered to reach their full potential. Gillespie Primary joined the Skills Builder Accelerator Programme through the local Islington pilot, with the aim of making essential skills an integral component of its School Improvement Plan and curriculum priorities. By embedding the Universal Framework and focussing on the Communication skills, the school aimed to strengthen its inclusive learning culture, support adaptive teaching, complement its enrichment initiatives, and enhance learner leadership and careers learning.
Overall impact
Embedding the Skills Builder Universal Framework established a clear, unified language for communication and personal development across the school. The structured focus on Speaking and Listening gives teachers tangible steps to support adaptive teaching and foster an inclusive classroom environment. Teachers have praised the framework's clear building blocks and language, noting increased engagement during role-play scenarios and oral presentations. Additionally, linking skill development to behavioural expectations and whole-school values helped boost learner resilience and active participation across the school.
Keep it simple
Whole-school displays have been installed at the front of the school, while individual classrooms featured targeted Speaking and Listening skill step displays. Essential skills are featured in assemblies through dedicated skill launches and celebrations at the end of each half term, linked to the school’s reward systems. Essential skills updates have been incorporated into newsletters and Class Dojo to engage parents, while governors have received programme updates to help ensure skill building forms part of strategic reporting. Essential skills have also started to embed into other important elements of school life, such as expectations around behaviour.
Start early, keep going
Essential skill building has been structured systematically across the school, from Reception through to Year 6. This approach helped ensure that learners progressively develop their Speaking and Listening skills as they advance through the school.
Measure it
To track learner progress effectively, teachers use the group assessment tool on the Skills Builder Hub. Teachers complete baseline assessments at the start of the skill focus period, and update this at the end. This data-driven approach enables staff to evaluate class attainment, refine lesson pitching, and ensure targeted support for specific Communication skill steps.
Focus tightly
A dedicated slot for the explicit teaching of the Communication skills is set aside each week. Staff use short lessons, assembly resources, Career Challenges and interactive role-play scenarios from the Skills Builder Hub to deliver explicit skill teaching.
Keep practising
Essential skills are reinforced through curriculum delivery in English and PSHE. Staff have attended training to support them to align skill steps with lesson learning. As a result, Speaking and Listening skill steps are used to set targets for presentations, and the skills are linked to behavioural targets. Scripts are also being used by teachers to help bring the language of the Universal Framework into curriculum teaching.
Bring it to life
Gillespie Primary school provides an exciting range of enrichment opportunities, such as trips, that help provide real-word context for understanding the importance of essential skills. Extended skills-building opportunities were also provided though running a Challenge Day in the summer term, and linking Extended Projects such as Community Cafe to the school’s summer fayre.
What's next
Looking ahead, Gillespie Primary plans to build on the successes of the year by continuing to embed essential skills across all year groups; deepening the integration of essential skills within the broader curriculum and enrichment, and refining assessment processes to ensure sustained skills-building progress for every learner.
