Workshop 38: Celebrating geography with the SGQM.

Presented by Catherine Owen (Cgeog) – Head of Geography at The King Alfred School, Somerset

Session objectives:

• Celebrate the successes we have had in our geography teaching.

• Explore how the Quality Mark process can support us in developing our teaching and preparing for inspections.

• Evaluate own practice and plan for improvement

Time to celebrate?

What have you, your department and your students

done that deserves

celebration?

Maddy Francis won our year 9 competition to produce a guided tour in the local area.

Our students get the opportunity to take part in fieldwork at least once a year.

We work closely with the local community – an example is the Pool Project

We encourage students to assess their own work

Share your reasons to celebrate with people sat near you.

• What have you accomplished that has been a big success?

• What has your department done which has made you proud?

• What have your students achieved that has given you cause to celebrate?

How do you celebrate your successes?

• School rewards system?

• Break time celebrations of excellence?

• Items in newsletter?• Secondary

Geography Quality Mark?

What does the SGQM involve?Currently, the seven sections of the Quality Mark SEF are:

• What are the distinctive characteristics of Geography in your school?• How does the Department gather the ‘pupils’ voices’ and use the views of

learners to inform the continuous improvement of Geography teaching and learning?

• What are the learners’ achievements and standards in Geography? • How does Geography support the personal development and well being

of learners?a. What level of quality has been achieved in the teaching and learning of Geography?b. How successfully does the Geography curriculum meet the

range of needs and interests of learners?c. How well are the learners guided and supported in Geography?

• What is the overall effectiveness and efficiency of leadership and

management in the Geography department?• How effective are links outside your department in enriching the

Geography provision?

What are we already doing well and what ‘tweaks’ can we make to do even better?

• The quality mark process invites schools to consider what they are doing well (providing evidence to support these statements) and which areas they need to develop

How can the SGQM help you to prepare for inspections?

• The current SGQM SEF includes many aspects which are also valued by OFSTED.

• Crucially, the SGQM promotes quality geography.

• An example of an aspect with a high profile in both the SGQM SEF and in OFSTED inspections is literacy.

Focus on literacy…

• OFSTED will look at whether students:• ‘develop a range of skills, including reading,

writing, communication and mathematical skills, and how well they apply these across the curriculum’

• They will consider the extent to which:• ‘reading, writing, communication and

mathematics are well taught’

How does this link to the Quality Mark SEF?

Evidence for the Quality Mark - Literacy

• Having reflected upon 30 years of China’s one child policy using de Bono hats, year 9 students were asked to produce their own response to the policy.

• They were offered choices of painting, poetry or prose.

• This response was used as a piece of evidence for my SGQM submission.

• We live in times of rapid change in education and high levels of accountability for teachers – this can lead to an atmosphere of pressure. We need to manage our time carefully to ensure that we are keeping pace with the changes needed without wearing ourselves out.

• There are probably many changes that we would like to make to improve our own practice, but it is important to prioritise and to think carefully about whether a major change is needed, or if well thought out ‘tweaks’ would do the job.

• The next slide includes the revised areas for the SGQM. It invites you to consider WWW (what went well) and EBI (even better if) for your own geography department.

SGQM Criteria WWW EBI

Attainment

Teaching

Curriculum

Leadership and ManagementCPD

Choose one or two of these criteria. What does your school do well? What could

you do to improve?

Do you want to know more about the quality mark?

• Visit http://www.geography.org.uk/11-19/secondaryqualitymark/ for more information.

• You must register your intention to complete the SGQM by December, then complete your application by June.

• Cost varies according to the size of the school.