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To transform the lives of young people, Newfriars College uses partnership, collaboration, enterprise, and innovation. Providing a breadth and richness of experience enabling all our learners to achieve their full potential, and to be a part of an inclusive society is our vision, as we strive to maximise opportunities within the community. Located in North Staffordshire, Newfriars College is a Specialist Day College dedicated to providing educational support to young people with learning disabilities and a wide range of needs. Our aim is to ensure that all our students have access to the best possible education and the greatest range of opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom. We provide a supportive and nurturing environment, as well as a wide range of extra-curricular activities and work placements, to ensure that our students reach their full potential and are able to contribute to and be part of a more inclusive society.
Overall impact
Rob Millington, Head of College, 'We aim to transform the lives of our young people, build confidence, self-esteem, and resilience and provide a better long-term future which we hope will be full of opportunity and happiness.' This journey is being further supported through participation in the Skills Builder Accelerator+ Program.
Keep it simple
The development of essential skills is central to our strategic planning and policy approach. By placing deliberate emphasis on these skills, we ensure their language and application are embedded throughout college life—whether in curriculum design, classroom practice, pastoral care, or enrichment. This focus is reflected by staff, students, and leaders alike, fostering a shared culture centred on skill-building and progression.
Assemblies, celebrations, and whole-college events frequently highlight essential skills, making them a visible and valued part of our community identity. Our recognition policy is closely linked to this ethos: student effort and achievement are celebrated in ways that directly showcase skill development. All teaching staff consistently implement this policy, using praise, displays, and awards to spotlight progress and inspire ongoing growth.
Visual reminders play a significant role in keeping essential skills at the forefront. Classrooms and communal spaces are equipped with posters, signs, and displays that reinforce the vocabulary of essential skills. These cues help maintain a unified understanding and enable learners to connect their experiences to real-world outcomes.
This whole-college commitment means essential skills are not only taught—they are lived, celebrated, and woven into everything we do.
Start early, keep going
Across all year groups and classes, students benefit from regular, planned opportunities to learn and practise essential skills. These are woven into timetables, curriculum maps, and lesson plans, making skill development intentional, progressive, and accessible for everyone. Staff throughout the college deliver sessions focussed on building skills, drawing on previous learning and helping students apply their abilities in meaningful, real-world situations.
Measure it
All teachers at Newfriars College consistently use formative assessment to guide and enhance the teaching of essential skills. This ongoing approach allows staff to identify individual strengths and areas for development, ensuring that skill instruction is responsive, targeted, and embedded within everyday practice. By using tools such as reflective logs, skill passports, and classroom observations, teachers prioritise essential skills and adapt their teaching to support meaningful progress for every learner.
Focus tightly
At Newfriars College, essential skills are embedded across the wider curriculum, with most teachers providing regular opportunities for students to practise and apply these skills in a range of subject areas. This cross-curricular approach ensures that skill development is not confined to isolated sessions but is reinforced through meaningful, real-world learning experiences. Our written curriculum explicitly references essential skills across all subjects, supporting a consistent and strategic approach to embedding skill-building throughout every pathway and learning environment.
Keep practising
At Newfriars College, essential skills are actively practised across the wider curriculum and beyond. Most teachers provide regular, planned opportunities for students to apply these skills in a variety of subject areas, ensuring that skill development is reinforced through meaningful, cross-curricular learning. Our written curriculum clearly references essential skills across all pathways, supporting a consistent and strategic approach to embedding them in everyday teaching.
Beyond the classroom, most extra-curricular activities also offer opportunities to practise essential skills—whether through enrichment sessions, lunchtime clubs, employer encounters, or community events. This whole-college commitment ensures that students experience essential skills in diverse, real-world contexts, helping them build confidence, independence, and readiness for adulthood.
Bring it to life
At Newfriars College, all students are given meaningful opportunities to apply essential skills through real-world experiences. These include project-based learning, off-timetable challenge days, employer encounters, workplace visits, and enterprise activities—all designed to make skill development relevant, engaging, and purposeful. Our curriculum maps and enrichment programme ensure that these experiences are accessible across all pathways.
Many students also extend their skill-building beyond college through volunteering, supported internships, and work experience placements. These opportunities allow learners to practise essential skills in authentic contexts, deepening their confidence, independence, and readiness for adulthood. By linking classroom learning with real-world application, we bring essential skills to life and ensure they are embedded in every learner’s journey.
What's next
We want to consolidate the strong progress that our programme has made so far, and ensure that staff are supported to both explicitly teach essential skills and made links to them in curriculum learning. We are also looking to run a Challenge Day later this academic year.
