Secondary Geography Quality Mark - some thoughts from a moderator and having worked in a school which held the SGQM and CoE as a teacher.

1. Secondary Geography Quality
Mark
10 thoughts from a moderator
since the beginning
Alan Parkinson
@GeoBlogs

2. ...and an awardee in 2013-16 :)
https://www.kingsely.org/37993-2/

3. SGQM is a process of change and
review
Departmental
involvement (whole
staff development)
Identifying areas for
development and
potentially leveraging
funding for those as
part of the process

4. 1. Why do the Quality Mark ?
Think through your reasons for
applying – what do you want
to get out of it…
•Individually / personally
•For the department
•For the school ?

5. 2. Departmental Self Evaluation
This may be in addition to the requirementsfrom
SLT, or could replace some aspects of departmental
monitoringand quality assurance with negotiation,
as well as Personal Developmenttargets
A process which staff should go through over a
period of up to a year – not a quick thing

6. 3. Using pupils as evidence
Pupil voice part of the process –
an essential part…
Let them know they are part of
raising the Quality of geography
teaching and learning within the
department, and raising the
profile of the department within
(and beyond) the school.

7. 4. Asking (and answering) questions
Each section of the framework includes a
question to frame the discussions that you will
have as a team over the coming months.
Add it as a regular item to each departmental
meeting.

8. 5. Audit - honesty
Targeting areas for improvement – the fact that
you’ve opted to go for SGQM shows you are
serious about this…
“Every teacher needs to improve, not
because they are not good enough, but
because they can be even better.”
Dylan Wiliam

9. 6. Support
• Julie Beattie at the end of an e-mail to GA
• VLE – additional ideas of materials from
previous applicants – examples of previous
applications
• Pebblepad now used – ePortfolio, rather than
bulging lever arch files we had at the start of
the process

10. 7. Evidence
The quality and quantity of evidencemay not be a problem, but the choice of
evidencecan sometimes let schools down
We are particularly interested in student work – don’t includepages and
pages of data
We’re not looking for perfection… but certain things set our alarm bells
ringing e.g. downloaded documents/ resourcesused without accreditation
to creator (we generally know who makes and shares stuff online)
Take LOTS of photos of decent work through the year

11. ePortfolio
Is Quality Geography‘embedded’?
Involve everyone – try not to make it look like one person is leading
everything (even if they are)… if they move on, what will happen ?
Tell the story of the department

12. Key Indicators: Geography Teaching
This sectionasks you to show how you communicate
enthusiasmand passion about geographyto your pupils.
Your evidencewill show that the departmenthas high
expectationsand a high levelof confidenceand geographical
expertise,both in termsof your specialistcontent knowledge
but also your understandingof effectivelearningin
geography.
Evidencemight be in the form of a mixtureof long, mid and
short term planningdocuments(schemesof work or selected
extracts), lesson plansidentifyingthe effectiveuse of
geographicaldata and ideas which are locatedand placed
withina wider contextualknowledgeof place, plus examples
of the range of effectiveassessment methodsyou use and
how you ensureprogressionin geography.

13. Outcomes demonstrating good
geographical knowledge
Remember what Margaret Roberts would think – what makes a geography
lesson good? And don't leave us asking "where's the Geography?"
It would be valuable to show how you take account of pupils’ views
(formally and informally) and examples of your assessment methods with
some ideally showing pupil involvement in a change of some kind.
We would like examples of pupil work which exemplify that the key
indicators have been met. This can be in a variety of forms such as
photographs, scans, video, blogs.

14. Behaviour, attitudes and values
Evidence might include pupil testimony and pupils’ peer-feedback,
photographs of students working with teacher annotations to
illustrate the context, comments from outside speakers, field
centres and parents etc.
You may also provide evidence about how your pupils take an
active part in understanding and managing risk such as those
associated with fieldwork and out of classroom learning.
BlackLivesMatter amongst external contexts you may want to
reflect in your curriculum.

15. Leadership and management in Geography
This section asks for evidence showing
the impact of good leadership on the
geography in your school. A good
leader has the ability to:
develop a clear vision
and strong sense of
purpose for geography,
which leads to
improvements in
outcomes for learners
and is based on shared
values and evaluation of
evidence of current
practice and outcomes.
mobilise, enable and
support others to share
the vision and develop
and follow through on
strategies to raise
standards in geography
Liaise with other
curriculum areas and
local primary schools.

16. 8. Summer moderation process
• Quality of applications getting better all the
time, so a weaker one stands out
• Important to see what is planned next as well
as what has come before (3 year accreditation)
and for resubmissions that targets have been
met and feedback acted on

17. 9. Departmental ‘extras’
• Publicity – internal and external
• Newsletters - internal and external
• CPD – led and attended
• Awards – Eco / Ashden etc. Led by
geographers or student essay / photo
competitions e.g. YGOTY
• FIELDWORK – vital part, and not just the big
trips abroad, but opportunities for all in all age
groups.

18. 10. Good luck if you
choose to apply, or are
already involved in the
process.
Further questions? Get in touch.