Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities at Our Lady Star of the Sea

At Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School in Seaforth, we are proud to follow a Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities Framework, which is carefully mapped from EYFS through to Year 6. This framework is an integral part of our journey to becoming a fully accredited Thinking School, and underpins our commitment to developing confident, reflective, and resilient learners.

Throughout our curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on nurturing pupils’ ability to think both critically and creatively, while also equipping them with the personal and interpersonal skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Our teachers focus on embedding the following core capabilities into all aspects of learning:

• Managing Information

• Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

• Being Creative

• Working with Others

• Self-Management

These essential skills not only support academic achievement but also help pupils grow into independent, compassionate, and aspirational individuals who embody our Star Learner values.

We believe that developing these skills and capabilities is vital because they:

• Encourage children to actively engage in their own learning;

• Promote deeper understanding rather than surface-level recall;

• Foster positive habits of mind and learning dispositions;

• Support children in planning, monitoring and evaluating their progress;

• And ultimately, help pupils learn how to learn—a foundation for lifelong success.

As a Thinking School, we design learning opportunities that allow children to think more skilfully than they might naturally do. This means encouraging high-quality thinking, collaboration, creativity and independence in a purposeful and structured way. Through this, we aim to prepare our children not only for the next stage of their education, but for life beyond the classroom—equipped with the mindset, resilience and values to make a positive difference in the world.