Essential Skills Education & Skills Builder
What are the skills that make us stand out? Great teamwork, clear communication and problem-solving abilities are a few. Ashley School is now working with the Skills Builder Partnership to teach all of our students these ‘essential skills’, the ones every employer seeks when recruiting. Academic staff are measuring and developing students’ skills using Skills Builder’s comprehensive assessment tools and effective teaching resources.
The Essential Skills Universal Framework is at the centre and is made up of 8 essential skills: Speaking, Listening, Teamwork, Leadership, Creativity, Problem Solving, Aiming High and Staying Positive. In the Framework, each of the 8 skills is broken down into 16 teachable, sequential skill steps, with each new step building on the previous one to promote progress.
Our students are given the opportunity to:
- understand what the essential skills mean - what it takes to be a good team player for example
- reflect on and measure their own skills to determine the ones they want to work on
- learn the individual steps of each core skill e.g. ‘I speak effectively using facts and examples to support my points’
- practise the skills they are learning to embed them
- talk about their abilities, using the language of essential skills
- evidence their skills, by keeping track of when and how they’ve demonstrated them, and
- ultimately, advance their employability.
You can explore the Universal Framework here: https://www.skillsbuilder.org/universal-framework/listening
Parents and carers can find out more about the skills and why young people should learn them here: https://www.skillsbuilder.org/parents-and-carers
Finally, there is a Home Learning Hub, which is suitable for younger children too and can be accessed here: https://www.skillsbuilder.org/homelearning
Please note: all of the above Skills Builder resources operate best when using Google Chrome.
If you have any questions about essential skills or how to support your child to develop them, please contact Nikki Lightfoot on nicolalightfoot@ashleyhighschool.co.uk
