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Manor Academy is an 11-19 provision for children who have a range of learning difficulties and additional needs. We offer a welcoming and supportive environment to parents, carers and their families. Our highly skilled staff look to celebrate all the achievements of our pupils. We got involved with the Skills Builder Accelerator programme because we wanted to equip our pupils with the best chance of gaining employment post education.
Overall impact
Students and staff are beginning to embrace the embedding of Skills Builder within their day to day curriculum and wider afield. The staff and students particularly enjoy the Challenge Days and I know that the engagement with the projects is really good by both students and staff. This year we also enjoyed hosting visitors from UBS to show the impact of essential skills for our students.
Keep it simple
We have embedded the language of essential skills across our school - we refer to skills in assemblies and in our policies. We recognise student effort and achievement through praise and skills certificates. We are now starting to embed the essential skills into our curriculum and all classrooms have a Skills Builder display. We also crash the timetable termly for Skills Builder Challenge Days.
Start early, keep going
Aside from all age groups being involved in the Skills Builder Challenge Days, KS3 are taught the essential skills in Skills Builder lessons, KS4 and KS5 are involved in the Skills Builder projects as well as having the essential skills embedded throughout the curriculum.
Measure it
We use the Framework to see how our pupils are progressing and we use Skills Builder feedback sheets to see how the pupils have progressed during lessons, projects and the Skills Builder Challenge Days. KS3 students use the skills passports from the Hub. This has provided us with an insight into how each pupil is progressing. Students can reflect on their skills through curriculum booklets, and we’re starting to explore using skill steps to support EHCP outcomes.
Focus tightly
Skills Builder is a timetabled lesson on KS3 timetable. We use the projects across each half term. KS4 are explicitly taught essential skills through challenge days and more project work, as well as in EHCP and form time. KS5 develop their essential skills through work experience, and wider college activities. Each pupil is also given regular opportunities to build their essential skills through lessons and the curriculum. There are displays in each classroom and teachers / teaching assistants have completed relevant training to understand careers and Skills Builder.
Keep practising
Over the past couple of years, we have been focusing on developing stronger links to essential skills throughout the curriculum, supported by our education associate. We’ve added skills steps to work booklets in music, had bespoke Maths and Creativity activities, and built essential skills into our Duke of Edinburgh booklet and sessions and created a Work Experience Skills Builder log.
Students are given extra chances to practise their essential skills through projects, Challenge Days and extra curricular opportunities like trips / residentials. Students take part in a variety of vocational subjects and have the chance to take part in projects like the Duke of Edinburgh scheme and School Production.
Bring it to life
We always emphasise to students that these are the essential skills that employers are after in the real world. We try to use real life challenges and projects to bring the essential skills to life and we are in the process of working with employers. We invite professionals in from the world of work to talk to the students about their jobs. If they can't attend in person, they will often video call the pupils instead. For those who are old enough and capable of accessing, we arrange work experience placements in roles that may suit and interest them. KS3 students take part in ‘skills weeks’, whilst older students develop skills through work experience opportunities.
What's next
Next year we will carry on with Accelerator+, focussing on further embedding of Skills Builder into the curriculum of all subjects and further staff training for even further engagement. In the future we would love to get Flagship status!
