The Skills Builder framework is embedded from the earliest stages of education and continues progressively throughout the school. Children in EYFS begin developing an understanding of the essential skills through story-based learning and visual supports. As pupils move through the school, opportunities to revisit and deepen their understanding of each skill are carefully planned. Teachers incorporate Skills Builder references into their long-term and medium-term planning to ensure that skills development is embedded across all curriculum areas. This approach provides pupils with regular opportunities to practise and strengthen the essential skills throughout their school journey. Staff also engage with professional development through the Skills Builder Hub enabling them to continually develop their understanding of the framework and support pupil progress.

We use the Skills Builder Hub assessment tools to monitor and track pupil progress throughout the academic year. Teachers completed baseline assessments in September to establish pupils' starting points. A mid-year assessment was then recorded in February to measure progress and identify next steps. Final assessments are completed at the end of the academic year, allowing staff to evaluate overall progress and celebrate achievements. Pupil voice activities provide opportunities for children to reflect on their growth within each skill area. These discussions encourage pupils to recognise their own strengths, identify areas for improvement and take ownership of their development. Evidence of skills progression is recorded within floor books, where staff record examples of pupil voice responses which demonstrate the essential skills across different curriculum areas and school experiences.

Each half term, the school adopts a specific focus skill which becomes the focus for assemblies, classroom discussions and wider school activities. Teachers explicitly teach and discuss the focus skill, helping pupils understand what successful application looks like and how it can be demonstrated in different contexts. Weekly celebration assemblies recognise pupils who have exemplified the focus skill, with certificates awarded to celebrate their achievements. The half-termly focus is also shared with parents and carers through newsletters, enabling families to reinforce and discuss the skill at home.

Pupils are provided with frequent opportunities to apply and develop the essential skills throughout their daily experiences. Teachers make explicit references to Skills Builder skills across the curriculum and record these opportunities within long-term plans, medium-term plans and floor books. This helps pupils understand that the skills are transferable and relevant across all areas of learning. Outside the classroom, children continue to practise the skills through OPAL play, breaktimes and enrichment opportunities. Friendship Ambassadors can award Skills Builder stickers to peers who demonstrate the focus skill during play, encouraging recognition and celebration of positive behaviours. Additional reinforcement comes through our reward systems, including Dojo points and raffle tickets, which are awarded when pupils demonstrate the essential skills around school. After-school clubs also make explicit reference to the Skills Builder skills, ensuring pupils continue to develop and apply them in a variety of contexts beyond the classroom.

We actively help pupils understand how the essential skills are used in the wider world by providing meaningful real-life experiences and encounters. Throughout the year, pupils have engaged with a range of visitors who demonstrate the importance of essential skills in their professions. These have included firefighters, police officers and an art specialist who delivered workshops and shared how skills such as teamwork, creativity and problem solving are essential within their careers. Pupils have also participated in a Skills Builder Challenge Day, providing opportunities to apply multiple essential skills in practical, collaborative and engaging activities. These experiences help children recognise how the skills they develop in school are relevant to future education, employment and everyday life. By communicating the focus skill to families each half term through newsletters, we encourage children to identify and practise the skills at home, further strengthening the connection between school and the wider world.