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Progress Arc is a specialist, independent day school dedicated to providing personalised, holistic support for learners from KS2 - KS5.
Progress Arc partnered with Skills Builder to establish a structured, universal approach to personal development and to raise the aspirations of our learners. We know that essential skills are foundational for our learners, so we sought to embed a shared language and progressive framework across our entire provision in order to best prepare our learners for their futures. The Universal Framework equips our learners with the practical tools and self-belief needed to thrive within their wider communities.
Overall impact
The Accelerator programme has been transformative for Progress Arc. For teachers, it has built their confidence, offering a shared language that they can integrate in daily classroom practice. For our learners, they now have a tangible vocabulary to articulate their strengths, manage transitions, and navigate real-world challenges and experiences with newfound self-belief.
Significantly, this shared language has bridged the gap between school and home, allowing parents to actively reinforce skill development in the wider community.
Keep it simple
At Progress Arc, the language of essential skills is embedded across all planning documents, staff inductions, and leadership Learning Walks. Comprehensive training for all teaching staff ensures the eight essential skills are taught and reinforced with consistency.
School-wide displays and structured, half-termly skill focuses mean the skills are visible to learners throughout.
Teachers celebrate learner progress in a range of ways, including using skill-icon stickers in workbooks, awarding skill certificates, and highlighting student achievements in the weekly newsletter.
Parents are regularly involved through newsletters and dedicated progress updates during parents' evenings.
In Sixth Form, the essential skills are incorporated in the new pathways and students are empowered to confidently articulate their development.
Start early, keep going
At Progress Arc, we believe that essential skill development must begin from a student's very first day and continue throughout their entire educational journey. To achieve this, every learner, from Key Stage 2 through to Key Stage 5, receives a weekly timetabled Skills Builder lesson. This ensures that all students benefit from a structured, progressive skill curriculum that evolves alongside them.
The framework is also used to support transitions and it is fully integrated into Sixth Form vocational pathways, so that learners are supported and prepared for independent adulthood and employment.
Measure it
Teachers currently use formative assessment techniques, including visual skill-icon stickers in workbooks and student reflection discussions, to evaluate how students are applying their essential skills across their learning.
These ongoing insights mean we can tailor classroom support, celebrate small wins, and frame progress meaningfully during 1:1 tutorial discussions.
As well as this, initial baseline assessments on the Skills Builder Hub have helped staff identify specific skill gaps across different class cohorts, directly shaping termly curriculum planning.
Focus tightly
Every learner receives a dedicated, weekly timetabled Skills Builder lesson. Teachers use resources directly from the Skills Builder Hub (such as short lessons) and they also create adapted activities for their learners to reinforce the skill steps further.
To establish a cohesive focus across the entire school, all eight essential skills are mapped across the academic year. For example, the Summer Term deliberately prioritises self-management skills to support pupils in navigating key transitions and preparing for the summer break.
Keep practising
Teachers embed the framework directly into long-term plans and daily lesson delivery. Clear skill outcomes and visual skill icons on planning materials empower staff to confidently take ownership of skill development within their subjects. During activities, staff use targeted questioning, asking prompts like "What skill are we using here?", to encourage metacognition and reinforce skill-specific language.
Pastoral mentors also revisit these steps during 1:1 support sessions and the skills are woven into wider educational experiences, such as PE and PSHE lessons.
To deepen this practice, the school is exploring how to connect the skills more fully to its ASDAN and Careers provision.
Bring it to life
We make sure that our students recognise the real-world value of their essential skills by connecting classroom learning directly to future careers and adult life.
Learners actively apply their essential skills during dedicated Careers Fairs, Apprenticeship events and employer insight sessions.
We access Skills Challenge Days and Extended Projects through the Hub (and have mapped these across our curriculum) to give our learners hands-on experiences to apply their skills.
The framework is also used to support future planning and transition into adulthood. Students reference their skill steps during 1:1 sessions with Careers Advisors and in their CVs. They use tailored work experience booklets to reflect on their personal growth while in the workplace.
What's next
Our focus next academic year will be on fully embedding Principle 3. We plan to refine our tracking model to ensure every teacher and support assistant consistently captures assessments and celebrates progress for all learners.
To further deepen skill practice across school life, we are also planning to upgrade our lunchtime extracurricular clubs, aligning every activity directly with essential skills based on student voice.
