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Horizon HEAL (Horizon Education Alternative Learning) is a specialist alternative education service where every teacher is trained in the SHINE therapeutic model. HEAL designs and delivers short-term, personalised alternative learning programmes led by teachers across England. These programmes offer a flexible and tailored learning experience for students aged 5-19, combining one-to-one teaching, two-to-one teaching, and online lessons where appropriate. With a broad and balanced curriculum across all Key Stages, this enables pupils to pursue both academic and vocational paths to help them grow and achieve.
Overall impact
For our students Skills builder has provided a focus on careers and allowed them to access relevant skills needed to access employment or for college interview skills. Some students it has help support teachers and informed planning in identifying key skills that can be fed into their EHCP targets.
Keep it simple
Tutors have had relevant training and have initially baselined their groups, chosen which sessions are suitable for their groups and delivered activities that meet the needs of the students. We have printed the logos of the 8 essential skills onto lanyard friendly size cards and staff are referring to these during sessions. As we teach our students either online or in the community we have the 8 essential skills on the lanyards to reference to when needed.
A high priority for our students is to develop effective communication and listening skills and be able to use these across settings and a range of activities. Pupils have their own Skills Builder book that they complete on a regular basis, they have completed different tasks in this book including tasks from the Skills Builder website.
Start early, keep going
Teachers across school use the vocabulary throughout the curriculum and in this way our pupils are exposed to the different skills with a more entwined route. New pupils are assessed during their first few weeks at HEAL. We only have our students for a short period of time, however as soon as students come to us they are assessed and baselined and have access to Skills Builder resources and when they move on from Heal we share the data with the new provision.
Measure it
We have used the Skills Builder Hub as our main resource for planning and delivering these Skills Builder sessions.
As a provision we use Evidence for Learning to record progress against the Skills Builder Framework combined with progress against EHCP outcomes. Students are also encouraged to reflect on their learning and progress and this is also recorded on Evidence for Learning.
Pupils are given tokens when they demonstrate using the skills well and these are stuck in their books, they can then look through their books to see how well they are achieving a particular skill. We have dedicated stickers that teachers can place in books to reference the skills the students have used in that particular lesson.
Tutors have been measuring the understanding of these skills with the assessment tool on the Skills Builder Hub and have been encouraged to do these at varying points over the year.
Focus tightly
To embed the programme, we decided to ensure Skills Builder had a regular slot within our tutor time schedule. This allowed students to have regular access and exposure to these resources and discussions around the key skills they use. The regular sessions have meant that these 8 key skills are becoming part of students' everyday vocabulary. We purchased a Skills Builder Challenge Day event and have planned this for later in Summer term. Students will be off timetable and take part in activities chosen for them by their tutors. The Challenge Day will consolidate the sessions that the students have received throughout the year and provided more definitive context for how these skills can be used, demonstrated and spoken about with confidence by the students.
Keep practising
During Tutor time this term, we have facilitated discussions where students identify lessons and activities in which they use and demonstrate these skills.
As part of our broad and balanced curriculum, tutors plan a wide range of activities such as gardening, cooking, gym visits and equine therapy.
Bring it to life
Through discussions in tutor time and from the planned Challenge Day, we aim for students to be able to identify the links between the session where they have seen these 8 skills and how they are using and developing them within their lessons and in any other activities they may do. They will subsequently be able to speak about these skills with confidence and give examples of how they have demonstrated these when moving on to life after HEAL.
Staff have discussions about jobs and careers the students want to get into and the skills needed to get into these roles.
What's next
From September we will be utilising the 4 project days from Skills Builder. Our next steps are to continue to embed this programme to ensure all students are able to recognize their development and use of these skills; and be able to articulate this when they move on to other educational provisions, jobs or any other next steps after their time with HEAL. From September we aim to have Skills Builder embedded in the wider curriculum to allow the students further opportunities to build their skills.
