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St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Hindley
This content was written by
St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Hindley
Context
St Peter's CE Primary School is a one-and-a-half form entry primary school in Hindley, Wigan, serving pupils from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to Year 6. As part of QUEST Trust, whose vision is "Supporting People from Early Years to Employment," we are committed to developing the whole child by providing a high-quality education that values essential life skills alongside academic achievement.
We joined the Skills Builder Accelerator programme to establish a consistent, whole-school approach to teaching, assessing and celebrating essential skills. We recognised that skills such as listening, speaking, teamwork, creativity, problem solving and leadership are fundamental to pupils' success both in school and beyond. The Skills Builder Framework has provided a clear structure and shared language, enabling staff, pupils and families to understand how these skills develop progressively over time.
Since introducing Skills Builder, essential skills have become embedded throughout school life. Weekly timetabled lessons, cross-curricular opportunities, regular assessment through the Skills Builder Hub and strong links with parents, employers and the local community ensure that pupils can develop and apply their skills in a range of meaningful contexts. Initiatives such as Dream Big Day, employer encounters, educational visits and community partnerships help pupils understand the relevance of these skills in the wider world.
Skills Builder has enabled us to create a culture where essential skills are explicitly taught, regularly practised and celebrated. This whole-school approach supports our vision of preparing every child to become a confident, resilient and reflective learner, equipped with the knowledge and transferable skills needed for lifelong learning, future employment and positive contributions to their community.
Overall impact
The Skills Builder Accelerator programme has transformed the way essential skills are taught and recognised across St Peter's. It has provided a consistent framework and shared language that has enabled staff to confidently teach, assess and celebrate essential skills alongside academic learning. Through dedicated weekly lessons, a whole-school overview, regular assessment using the Skills Builder Hub and cross-curricular links, teachers now have a clear and progressive approach to developing pupils' essential skills.
For pupils, the impact has been significant. Children confidently use Skills Builder language to discuss their learning, reflect on how they have demonstrated essential skills and recognise how these skills transfer across different subjects and real-life situations. The programme has strengthened pupils' confidence, communication, teamwork, resilience and problem-solving skills while encouraging them to take greater ownership of their learning.
The wider community has also become actively involved. Our weekly Skills Builder Newsletter keeps parents informed of the focus skill, celebrates achievements and provides practical activities to continue learning at home. Strong partnerships with employers, our local church and Wigan and Leigh Hospice have created authentic opportunities for pupils to apply their skills beyond the classroom.
A particular highlight has been our annual Dream Big Day, where professionals from sectors including the Home Office, media, higher education, catering and national businesses demonstrate how essential skills have contributed to their success. Combined with regular employer encounters, educational visits and leadership opportunities, these experiences have raised aspirations and brought our Trust's vision of "Supporting People from Early Years to Employment" to life. Skills Builder has become embedded in our school culture, ensuring every child is equipped with the essential skills needed for lifelong learning and future success.
Keep it simple
At St Peter's, we have embedded the Skills Builder Framework using clear, consistent language and visual prompts so that all pupils understand the eight essential skills.
A whole-school Skills Builder display in the assembly hall provides a shared reference point for pupils, staff and visitors. In every classroom, the relevant Skills Builder icon is displayed alongside the lesson objective, helping pupils identify the skill they are developing.
In Reception, children record examples of essential skills in floor books. Widgit symbols accompany the Skills Builder icons to support early language development and help children recognise each skill. Skills Builder posters are displayed throughout the school, ensuring the framework remains highly visible.
Staff consistently use Skills Builder language during lessons, assemblies and celebrations, enabling pupils to recognise, discuss and apply the essential skills confidently. This consistent approach creates a shared understanding across the school and demonstrates that essential skills are valued alongside academic achievement.
Start early, keep going
Skills Builder is embedded within our curriculum through a dedicated lesson every Monday afternoon. Teachers revisit the weekly focus throughout the curriculum, helping pupils understand that essential skills are relevant in all areas of learning.
To ensure consistency, I developed a whole-school Skills Builder Overview which identifies the lesson to be taught each week, cross-curricular links and a half-termly assessment week. This provides clear progression from Nursery to Year 6 while supporting staff with long-term planning.
During assessment weeks, teachers revisit learning, discuss assessment questions with pupils and update the Skills Builder Hub diagnostic tool. These assessments inform future teaching and ensure pupils continue progressing through the Universal Framework.
Beginning in the Early Years, pupils build increasingly complex skill steps as they move through school. This structured approach ensures that essential skills remain a continuous thread throughout pupils' education and supports our commitment to developing confident, resilient learners.
Measure it
Assessment plays a key role in our Skills Builder provision. Teachers use the Skills Builder Hub diagnostic tool each half term to assess progress against the Universal Framework and identify pupils' next steps.
Assessment is also embedded within weekly lessons. At the end of each lesson, pupils reflect on how the learning has strengthened a particular essential skill and explain how they demonstrated it. These reflections encourage pupils to recognise their own progress and develop greater self-awareness.
Teachers gather further evidence through observation as pupils apply their skills across lessons and wider school life. In Reception, floor books provide an age-appropriate portfolio celebrating examples of essential skills in action.
Assessment information from the Hub, pupil reflections and teacher observations is used to inform future planning, ensuring teaching is responsive to pupils' needs. This combination of assessment methods provides a clear picture of progression and supports every child in developing their essential skills.
Focus tightly
Essential skills are explicitly taught through weekly timetabled Skills Builder lessons following our whole-school overview. This ensures every year group develops the appropriate skill steps through a carefully sequenced programme.
Each half term begins with a dedicated whole-school Skills Builder assembly where pupils are introduced to the focus skill, why it is important and how they will develop it throughout the coming weeks. This creates a shared understanding across the school.
Lessons provide direct instruction through discussion, modelling and practical activities before pupils apply the skill independently. Every lesson ends with a reflection activity where pupils explain how they have developed the focus skill, reinforcing understanding and supporting knowledge retention.
Essential skills are celebrated during weekly achievement assemblies through Skills Builder certificates. Teachers explain exactly why pupils have received their award using Skills Builder statements, helping staff model consistent terminology while enabling all pupils to develop a clearer understanding of what each essential skill looks like in practice.
Keep practising
Weekly Skills Builder lessons are reinforced through regular opportunities to practice essential skills across the curriculum. Teachers deliberately revisit the focus skill during lessons, using the classroom Skills Builder icons to strengthen links between subject learning and essential skills.
Our whole-school Skills Builder Overview identifies cross-curricular opportunities for each year group, ensuring pupils apply essential skills in meaningful contexts rather than isolated activities. Lesson reflections are revisited throughout the week so pupils recognise how skills transfer across different subjects.
Parents play an important role in reinforcing learning. Our weekly Skills Builder Newsletter informs families of the current focus skill, celebrates certificate winners, shares photographs of classroom activities and suggests practical activities that families can complete at home. This strengthens the partnership between home and school while encouraging pupils to continue developing their essential skills beyond the classroom.
Weekly celebration assemblies provide further opportunities to reinforce the Skills Builder Framework by recognising pupils who have demonstrated the focus skill and explaining the behaviours that led to their success.
Bring it to life
St Peter's provides pupils with regular opportunities to apply essential skills in meaningful real-world contexts.
A key feature of our careers programme is Dream Big Day, where professionals from catering, the Home Office, higher education, journalism and national companies visit school to discuss their careers and explain how communication, teamwork, creativity and problem solving contribute to their success. Visitors explicitly use Skills Builder language, helping pupils understand how essential skills relate to future employment.
Every year group completes at least three educational visits annually and two employer encounters each term. Before each experience, teachers identify the focus skills pupils will use and encourage reflection afterwards, reinforcing the transferability of essential skills.
Extracurricular clubs also have a clear skills focus. For example, Year 2's Primary Engineer Construction Club developed teamwork, creativity and problem solving while pupils designed and built a functioning tipper truck.
Leadership roles including School/Eco Council, reading ambassadors and play leaders, alongside partnerships with our local church and Wigan and Leigh Hospice, provide authentic opportunities for leadership, communication and teamwork through service to the community.
These experiences reflect our Trust's vision of "Supporting People from Early Years to Employment," preparing pupils for future education, employment and active citizenship.
What's next
Our next priority is to embed the essential skills even more explicitly across every curriculum subject. Whilst teachers already make regular cross-curricular links, we want pupils to recognise that the Skills Builder Framework underpins all learning.
We will continue to develop partnerships with employers, community organisations and our Trust to provide even more meaningful opportunities for pupils to apply their skills in authentic contexts. We also aim to increase parental engagement through our weekly Skills Builder Newsletter and enrichment opportunities.
Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that every pupil leaves St Peter's with a secure understanding of the essential skills and the confidence to apply them across the curriculum, in their community and in preparation for future education and employment, fully reflecting our Trust's vision of "Supporting People from Early Years to Employment."
