A complete framework to help students develop the essential skills, experiences and aspirations they will need to succeed…
What would you consider are the ‘essential’ 21st-century skills that young people need to thrive?
Well, it turns out that a consensus has built that there are eight skills we can see as enablers of learning and future success, each with its own rich backdrop, and they line up as follows: Listening and Presenting; Problem Solving and Creativity; Staying Positive and Aiming High; and Leadership and Teamwork.
In fact, research by the Sutton Trust found an astonishing 97% of teachers think these essential skills are as or more important than academic qualifications – but are they teachable?
You bet they are, and especially now, as the Skills Builder Partnership has the resources to help it happen. The Skills Builder Framework breaks down each of the eight skills into 15 tangible, buildable and measurable chunks, accessed via a central hub. It’s quite something.
Within each area there are pithy and brilliantly planned 10-minute videos for systematic skills building, with clear instructions for teachers, who can easily add a group of learners and then focus on finding the best resources to help them master and progress through the skills step by step.
There are also comprehensive handbooks to guide teaching sequences. The activities are well thought through and often framed within a meaty ‘big’ question based on a real-life scenario.
Engaging project-based learning and superb challenge days are built into the programme, so students can apply their skills and show what they can do.
There are skills passports provided for students to keep a record of their progress; resources to support learners with additional needs; self-assessment tools; reward certificates and tokens; and posters for each skill showing a range of steps. Pretty much everything you need is there in one place, in fact.
To keep things manageable, the resources are all carefully linked to a fabulous framework, so it’s easy to filter by the skill and steps on which you want to focus.
There are resources for students with little or no experience right up to those who are highly skilled, and you can vary these by length and activity type.
Group level formative assessment is plaited throughout the hub so progress can be measured, and there is a handy group overview which shows the areas mastered, so you can confidently focus on what students need next.
Making essential skills a core pillar of learning has to be the priority for every school; the Skills Builder Hub is a truly magnificent way to promote, develop and track eight essential skills that will serve students well for a lifetime.