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We are a voluntary controlled primary school for children aged 4–11. We have brought Skills Builder into our school as we are passionate about developing learners essential skills. We hoped that the Skills Builder programme would explicitly teach, measure, and track the eight essential life skills, like listening, problem-solving, and teamwork that our pupils need to thrive. The aim was that teachers a shared language to boost classroom focus, build emotional resilience, and close the disadvantage gap. Ultimately, this programme would elevate our personal development curriculum, giving every child the foundational communication and collaborative tools they need for lifelong academic and personal success.
Overall impact
The Accelerator programme has shown real measurable impact on the students confidence and development of essential skills. We have observed this directly from the Hub data and from being able to see development across all stages in school. Teachers and HLTAs are empowered with clear structure and professional autonomy in delivering the skills builder lessons and embedding the principles across the curriculum. Through weekly celebration assemblies, peer nominations, and real-world links with local visitors and fundraising projects, students learn to articulate their strengths, work collaboratively, and see the direct connection between classroom learning and their future lives.
Keep it simple
At St Mary’s, we have made the Universal Framework an integral part of our daily school culture. We reinstated our Friday celebration assemblies, where pupils are proudly awarded updated Skills Builder certificates alongside peer nominations to reward essential skill champions. Visual cues are everywhere: hall displays showcase our school values with skill icons, while dedicated communal areas and outside classrooms highlight our project weeks.
To ensure consistency, teachers embed essential skill points directly into Class Dojo points and offer real-time verbal feedback referencing framework steps. Staff meetings regularly dedicate time to Skills Builder updates, and our governors monitor our progress through targeted school visits. Beyond our staff, we actively engage our wider community: parents complete skill challenge sheets at home, while local visitors including the police, road safety officers, and faith leaders use our visitor resources to speak with pupils using our shared essential skills language.
Start early, keep going
The programme is fully implemented from Reception right through to Key Stage 2, ensuring that essential skill development is age-appropriate, sequential, and uninterrupted.
All year groups participate in scheduled Skills Builder sessions, assemblies, and reward schemes. In Reception, young learners begin identifying and practising basic skills through hands-on activities, such as our "Brilliant Bakes" challenge day, which acts as an early hook for both children and parents. By embedding these habits early, our older pupils demonstrate genuine confidence when articulating their skill progression across all areas of school life, as reflected in our regular pupil voice evaluations. We ensure every single pupil at St Mary’s builds their essential skills continuously from the moment they join us.
Measure it
We use the Skills Builder Hub to set a baseline at the start of each half-term, this allows us a clear understanding and balanced picture. Assessment is an ongoing, formative process: staff re-evaluate students on the Hub every two weeks based on the specific skill focus, ensuring our data remains up to date.
We structure our curriculum around two primary skill focus areas each half-term, guaranteeing full coverage of all eight essential skills across the academic year. Crucially, we grant teachers autonomy to personalise which skills they focus on for their specific class based on Hub baseline insights. This precise data allows staff to pitch direct instruction at the correct step level and tailor support for individual learners effectively.
Focus tightly
Dedicated timetabled slots are allocated every week for explicit Skills Builder instruction using Hub lessons. We maintain flexibility in how this is delivered; teachers adapt the scheduling around wider school events, sometimes splitting delivery across a two-week block or into short, targeted sessions depending on class needs.
Teaching staff capture learning and student reflections using class floor books once per term, which serve as a rich portfolio of direct instruction and progress. Because teachers have the independence to tailor Hub resources, lessons are pitched accurately to match the step level identified during formative assessments. This explicit focus gives students the explicit vocabulary and foundational steps they need before applying them elsewhere.
Keep practising
We provide frequent opportunities for pupils to put their essential skills into practice across the broader curriculum and extra-curricular life. Right after the winter break, the entire school engages in a dedicated Project Week using official Skills Builder resources. Skills builder icons are explicitly displayed in classrooms and linked directly to learning objectives in short- and long-term curriculum plans.
Extracurricular activities offer another rich venue for practice. Our after-school sports clubs are led by Skills Builder-trained staff who actively reinforce the language of teamwork, leadership, and staying positive. Similarly, our upcoming Choir club incorporates visitor resources to highlight communication skills. From Reception's "Brilliant Bakes" day to cross-curricular subject tasks, students consistently encounter and practise essential skills in varied contexts.
Bring it to life
St Mary's brings essential skills to life by connecting classroom learning with real-world applications, employer encounters, and community projects. A standout example is our whole-school tree planting activity, where pupils actively identified and reflected on problem solving and teamwork while working outdoors. Pupils also apply their skills to social causes, such as making explicit skill connections during our "Superkind" fundraising initiatives.
We actively involve parents and local figures to broaden pupils' horizons. In Reception, the "Brilliant Bakes" day boosts parental engagement by bringing families into the skill-building process, while home challenge sheets encourage students to log skill use outside school. Through career challenge activities, career card games, and visits from external partners, we ensure our pupils clearly see how essential skills apply to future employment and wider life.
What's next
We aim to continue the practice of building essential skills across all 6 principles. The pupils and staff are confident with the language of essential skills and familiar with key concepts and how they apply to various experiences in life and school.
