"The Edge: Life is about much more than just results"

We at Wallingford School are delighted to be working with The PiXL Club with the launch of PiXL Edge. This is a national scheme that was devised with a number of large employers. Our current Year 7s have the honour of taking up the challenge first.

The PiXL Edge is a framework to develop and accredit students with those personal attributes essential for employability and life.

The scheme focuses on five key life-attributes:

• Leadership (red path)
• Organisation (green path)
• Initiative (purple path)
• Resilience (blue path)
• Communication (yellow path)

Students need to complete a series of activities within the programme, for each of the key attributes, and can qualify at three levels; Apprentice (Key Stage 3), Graduate (Key Stage 4) and Master (Key Stage 5). The Masters Level ends with an interview by employers, who will determine if the student passes or not.

Our Year 7s are starting at PiXL Edge Apprentice level. Each student needs to achieve 2 credits in each of the five categories, Leadership (red path), Organisation (green path), Initiative (purple path), Resilience (blue path), and Communication (yellow path).

The examples below outline the types of activities which can be credited as part of the Apprentice Level:

Leadership (2 credits required)

Make a presentation in front of governors of the school (1 credit)
Lead a coaching session in PE (1 credit)
Obtain a position of responsibility in a school club (1 credit)
Teach an element of a lesson in school (1 credit)

Organisation (2 credits required)

Organise a small scale fundraising activity (1 credit)
Lead an activity at a uniformed organisation (1 credit)
Compose musical piece for a single instrument or voice which is performed (1 credit)
Help teach in the running of a lunchtime or after school activity (1 credit)

Initiative (2 credits required)

Create a high quality wall display independently for a subject department (1 credit)
Volunteer and lead a tutor activity (1 credit)
Enter a national design or creative competition (1 credit)
Enter a school or regional subject based competition (1 credit)

Resilience (2 credits required)

Achieve a grade 3 music qualification (1 credit)
Complete a residential outdoor activity course (1 credit)
Complete a 5K fun run (1 credit)
Attend a chosen club every week across a term (1 credit)

Communication (2 credits required)

Create an anti-litter/pro recycling campaign in school (1 credit)
Contribute towards an article for the school website, Facebook or Twitter page (1 credit)
Perform in a school production (1 credit)
Two minute formal speech on a subject of your choice (1 credit)

Every activity must be evidenced and signed off by a member of staff. To be accredited with an 'Apprentice' level, students must gain 10 credits in total (2 credits from each category).

We are very keen to use this scheme to recognise things students do that are not linked to exam success, and give credit for the sorts of things that really good citizens do, and which help them grow. We hope you agree this looks like an exciting programme. We are looking forward to following the challenges our Year 7s will be trying.