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Hexham Middle School is a coeducational, deemed secondary school, located in Hexham, a historic market town in Northumberland, England. The school serves pupils typically between the ages of 9 and 13, covering Key Stages 2 and 3 of the National Curriculum. As part of the Hadrian Learning Multi-academy Trust, Hexham Middle School benefits from close collaboration with Queen Elizabeth High School, providing a seamless transition for pupils progressing to higher education levels. The catchment of the school draws upon the local population of Hexham as well as the wider-spread towns and villages in the Tynedale area of West Northumberland.
Overall impact
Accelerator programmes provide the technical and operational support needed to navigate the implementation and sustain phases of the Skills Builder project. As Skills Leader I have enjoyed networking with like minded individuals across the partnership, as well as see teachers/other staff and the wider school community engage with the opportunities Skills Builder provides.
Keep it simple
We have been on an exciting journey for the past 3 years. This year, we have managed to maintain momentum and sustain buy-in from different stakeholders. Embedding Skills Builder into CPD and wider inset has helped to give staff the opportunity to reflect on their own understanding and knowledge of Skills Builder. We have a programme of 'greatness'. Our original ethos is 'an outstanding eagerness to learn'. The Accelerator programme aligns with our desire for great ambition, great learning and great experiences. Skills Builder is now very visible in our school. Our website is signposting more about Skills Builder. Our school environment also has visual reminders for pupils and staff. You can ask pupils now about Skills Builder and the overwhelming majority of them talk with increasing confidence about the 8 essential skills. Pupil panels are now showing that pupils are able to reflect on how they are developing, applying and in some cases mastering essential skills in their school life as well as opportunities further afield. Being part of the accelerator programme encourages us to 'keep getting better'. We are not complacent - our Skills Leader actively engages with strategy meetings and knows what we are doing well at and where we need to go next. Having an Education Associate with Skills Builder provides that crucial relationship and connection to drive change and sustain positive impacts. Recognition for skill development is now a more prominent feature of our school et
Start early, keep going
We have mapped our Aspire icons against specific Skills Builder skills, and this now features as part of our visual displays throughout the school. Skill Champions in each form group support with Challenge Days, offering these pupils opportunities to develop their leadership skills. Skills Builder Skills are now rewarded through Bromcom, although staff familiarity is still developing, so consistency remains a focus area. As a next step, we plan to introduce a dedicated focus skill for each half term to guide rewards. We have formed links with other feeder schools to introduce the skills. Pupils showing significant progress in essential skills now qualify for the Headteacher Award, which includes a celebratory breakfast. We are making steady progress in integrating Skills Builder language into school reporting and dialogue to align communication with parents. Our core values—Respect, Engage, Aspire—have now been mapped against the eight essential skills.
Measure it
All pupils at Hexham Middle School are learning about Skills Builder essential skills. Our Key Stage 3 cohort currently have more guided learning hours, given the dedicated time in PSHE lessons (once a half term). This however will change next year for our Key Stage 2 cohort in PSHE. We promote the use of HomeZone resources with parents/carers, but agree that more could be done to sustain this. The Personal Development section of the school website highlights the importance of Skills Builder. We have mapped out how skills are taught explicity across the year. The Skills Builder half-termly focus is shared with pupils in our assembly programme carefully aligns themes to link with Skills Builder skills. We have a document on SharePoint that outlines how Skills Builder is woven across form-time sessions and assemblies. A narrative is provided to give all staff a clear explanation of our intentions and sequencing of explicit instruction. Skills Builder Hub resources are used during form time personal development sessions too.
Focus tightly
Essential skills are clearly embedded in subjects such as DT, with skill-linked questions now included in pupil booklets. While engaging other subject areas remains a challenge due to competing demands, we continue to highlight the value of skills across the curriculum. Pupils are now using their skills in new ways, including delivering assemblies. The idea of transferability is reinforced through the use of personal development journals, which pupils carry with them to track and reflect on skill development across varied contexts.This term, we also participated in a Year 3–4 transition project that incorporates Skills Builder into the early stages of the pupil journey.
Keep practising
In October and July this year, we delivered the Crime Scene Challenge Day and Greetings Cards Challenge Days, which will allowed pupils to apply and demonstrate the skills .We have trialed using 'Skills in the News' resources into KS2 PSHE and form time. We feel this is something we can embed further next year in KS2. By consistently running two Challenge Days annually, we ensure that students have ample opportunity to practise essential skills and link them to real-world experiences.We have hosted an employer Q&A event, where students heard directly from professionals about how they use essential skills in the workplace and had the opportunity to ask thoughtful, well-informed questions. Skills Builder was the key focus in careers interviews for year 8 pupils as part of their transition programme to high school.
Bring it to life
There is further work to oversee the introduction Benchmark at KS3 to establish the solid foundations and provide a legacy for pupils once they leave school. We would also like to engage more with Career Insights. We know that the time pupils have outside of school is important for their own personal development, including their social and mental wellbeing. We do however acknowledge two of our ethos values of Engage and Aspire. Our goal is to embed habits for learning that will support pupils' self regulation and metacognitive abilities. We have plans to embed Skills Builder Career Challenge resources next year (especially in Key Stage 2) to support our careers programme. These resources support Gatsby Benchmark 2 - Labour Market Information. We have also mapped Aspire Icons against different skills.
What's next
Sustain networks in the local area and build strong foundations for feeder schools to support the transition process - on the back of engaging with the transition project this year, I hope to ensure key feeder first schools are given the opportunity to explore or align with our middle school as a hub to then support the high school in our trust.
