Skills Week 2025

This September, Y12 experienced the first of three Skills Weeks of the new academic year, with the second and third due to take place in February and June. Skills Week is at an early point within the calendar because we want our students to have an immediate understanding of the importance of skills development. We want to set the bar high and remind our students that they have recently begun a journey towards university degrees, apprenticeships and employment. After much research in recent years, it is understood that many employers feel the younger generation of employees are lacking core skills which are essential in any occupation but this is not the case with DSFC students.

We integrate Skills Builder skills into our lessons promoting those of Speaking, Listening, Problem Solving, Creativity, Leadership, Adapting, Teamwork, Planning and Digital Literacy. We shine the spotlight on skills at three points in the year to give students the opportunity to reflect and to understand how to improve. We intend to equip our young adults with both qualifications and the skills/toolset for a successful future. Below is a snapshot of what they did in September.

Our Performing Arts students used their planning and teamwork skills to create a joint performance piece as part of their coursework; this required a significant amount of communication, compromise and direction. Meanwhile our Sports students used their planning and problem solving skills to create a lesson plan for a primary school PE lesson, practice, reflect and amend in order to then visit a local primary school and teach a group of Year 4 pupils.

Our Creative Arts and Fine Art students learned a new skill of Monoprinting whilst others within the department had the opportunity to design an outdoor nature trail and to pitch it to the National Trust thereby enhancing the creativity and communication skills. The Maths and Accounting departments promoted the use of language within their subject to empower students with the ability to explain their thought process and logic in order to problem solve; a much needed skill in the context of advising clients of their financial situation.

The Science department has dedicated the first few weeks of term to training their students on the professional etiquette of working within laboratories and strategising their experimental plans whilst delegating responsibilities. Geography worked on their communication and analytical skills in providing feedback to one another on the quality of information in their written task, learning how to be tactful in presenting constructive criticism.

Our Politics, Psychology and Sociology students all focused on their speaking skills with their teachers understanding the challenge in speaking to a new group of people and having the confidence to articulate opinions and engage in group discussions at such an early point; it is vital that they feel comfortable sooner rather than later. In a similar vein, Criminology provided the opportunity for students to manage a professional meeting with some taking on the role of Chair thereby enhancing their leadership skills.

Skills Week has been a fantastic opportunity for our Y12 students to reflect on the major adaptations they have made to their lives in studying at DSFC. They have adapted to new routines, digital systems, a new set of peers, new subjects and new staff. They have risen to the challenge and all understand the value of self reflection and self development. We look forward to seeing our students flourish across the next two years.