Employability Skills… Life Skills… Learning Skills
All too often curriculum leaders will neglect these vital elements as teachers and school leaders respond and react to the anticipated performance measures of the day. There is sometimes a day of “revision skills” run early in Key Stage 4; or an assumption these skills might be “covered” within PSHE; or sessions programmed that are targeted only at the lower ability bands within a cohort.
If schools and colleges really were addressing these employability skills issues, they would not appear time and again as issues in CBI Employer Surveys. From shop floor to boardroom, new recruits are found wanting.
The education system cannot assume that young people pick up these competences by some sort of magic osmotic process; nor can one phase (primary – secondary – tertiary) pass the buck to another.
There are rich rewards, short term as well as long term, if schools design a curriculum experience that builds skills and competences in a progressive way, and as a complement and supplement to academic and vocational diets.
If teachers learners parents and the wider community embrace the power of metacognition (making skills and competencies that underpin independent, self-powered learning clearly visible within a learning community) learning will be accelerated!
SCiP5 Consultancy can highlight the very best of practice nationally and internationally, and work with your school community to address this critical learning imperative.
SCiP5 Consultancy can not only help you design your curriculum, but work with you to put in place an effective and high-impact INSET and delivery plan.
Contact us for ideas, creative thinking and help.