Wider Achievement Opportunities
It is our aim to ensure that all pupils are able to properly articulate the skills for learning, life and work that they have developed not only through the curriculum, but also through their wider achievements. The Larbert High School Skills Framework 2.0 has been designed with our pupils at the centre and provides the foundations for pupils to understand what skills are, how they can be developed, and, most importantly, how to articulate these skills to support entry into a positive destination.
In recognition of this, and informed by the Scottish Employers Skills Survey, we have developed a Skills Framework that reflects the needs of our pupils, parents, staff and wider community. The framework is structured around nine core skills, under which more detailed skill sets sit. These skills are based on the Meta Skills framework outlined by Skills Development Scotland but have been adapted to reflect the context and inner workings of Larbert High School. The nine skills are: Adapting, Collaborating, Communicating, Critical Thinking, Curiosity, Focusing, Initiative and Leading.
Within the Broad General Education (BGE), pupils’ development of these skills is explicitly tracked and reported on within their Wider Achievement Opportunity (WAO), ensuring that all learners understand their progress and next steps in developing skills for learning, life and work.
A Wider Achievement Opportunity (WAO) allows pupils to focus on the development of skills from our Skills Framework 2.0. Every WAO has a clear skills focus, which forms the basis of learning throughout the academic year. Pupils assess themselves against these skills at the start of the year and learn strategies to develop them, regularly reflecting on progress and identifying opportunities to apply these skills across a range of contexts, both in and out with school. WAO’s in the Senior Phase are accredited, with further details available in the individual WAO descriptors.