Geography Quality Mark: Driving Quality Learning

1. The leading subject association for all teachers of geography Geography Quality Mark

2. An overview

3. Why the Quality Mark matters. “A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. ” DfE (2013) The national curriculum in England. London DfE The Quality Mark is a powerful process which aims to engage, stimulate and support as we improve standards in geographical learning across our school.

4. GQM: driving quality learning The QM will provide our school with the opportunity to: • gain a prestigious award, highly valued by school leaders nationally and internationally, allowing the dissemination and celebration of standards and geographical learning.

5. GQM: driving quality learning The QM will provide our school with the opportunity to: • engage in a process of powerful self-evaluation and reflection asking: ‘What geography is like in our school?’, ‘How do we know? and ‘What can we do to improve standards?’ ‘The PGQM action plan was never far out of sight. It became a working document which fed into the SDP and helped me, as a leader, to drive my vision for the subject forward.’ Jessica Hill, Geography leader and Assistant Head Teacher, Alwoodley Primary School, Leeds. Gold award winners in 2017

6. GQM: driving quality learning The QM will provide our school with the opportunity to: • raise the profile of geography across the whole school community, with parents, teachers, governors and students. Quarry Hill Primary School

7. “Having E as Year Group Leader has really helped with our Geography subject knowledge. (NQT Teacher) “Yes I do feel supported. The planning process for earthquakes and volcanos went really well. We spoke to Emma and she condensed the relevant information and told us what we needed to focus on ” (LKS2 Teacher) “Children are so engaged in the subject that they have taken on their own geographical projects at home.” (KS2 Teacher) “We have covered the impact of natural disasters and the children found this really interesting as it gives them an insight into events that maybe do not happen in our country. (KS2 Teacher) “Yes I feel Geography is important to children because it gives the children a sense of belonging in the world.” (KS2 Teacher) “Yes I do feel supported. Whenever I have had a question it has always been answered with great detail, passion and depth.” (KS2 Teacher) “AR loves going out and exploring the local environment. It makes Geography real for him.” (1:1 SEND support) “Kids are really engaged and got into the Fieldwork topic. They are always eager to explore and are fascinated by Google Earth and maps.” (LKS2 Teacher) “The children are definitely engaged in Geography. Our assessments show great progress which shows that the children enjoy learning.” (KS1 Teacher) “It is really important to learn about Geography. It’s a learning curve for both students and teachers.” (LKS2 Teacher) “Geography is very important for the children because we have a school where the children are from many different countries and cultures. It’s essential for them to learn about each other and explore different places in their classroom setting. Learning basic skills for younger children is also really important and Geography covers a lot of these such as directions, instructions and tolerance.” (KS1 Teacher) “Geography is important as most of our kids don’t get out of the area so it’s important for them to learn and visit other places through Geography Fieldwork. It also helps the world.” (NQT Teacher) “History and Geography are the children’s favourite subjects. They look forward to the new topic and engage with work and displays.” (NQT Teacher) GQM: driving quality learning The QM will provide our school with the opportunity to: • engage in collaborative critical reflection of teaching, learning and subject leadership. Staff voice regarding planning support and the Geography curriculum Curwen Primary School

8. GQM: driving quality learning The QM will provide our school with the opportunity to: • undertake impactful and rigorous CPD meeting the 2016 standard for teacher’s professional development. South Farnham School

9. GQM: driving quality learning The QM will provide our school with the opportunity to: • join over 1000 successful Geography Quality Mark schools forming an international network supported by the GA.

10. The process The Quality Mark is a collaborative and professional process that will enable us to assess whether we have reached a recognised standard in the teaching and learning of geography and to identify areas where this can be improved. There are four main steps for us to go through as a school:

11. Registration and Reflection Upon registration we received a copy of the GA framework and action plan to aid us as we reflect on what constitutes high quality geographical learning, our school’s vision for this is and how to realise it. What do we want geography to look like in our school? What do we want geographers to be like in our school? Begin with the End in Mind. Envision what you want in the future so you can work and plan towards it. From ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R. Covey.

12. Auditing and Action planning using the GA framework

13. Developing action points and Gathering evidence We will now be in a position to implement our action plan, raising standards of geography provision and gather a cross-section of evidence in support of our Quality Mark submission. Evidence can include: • Cross-curricular learning • School wide initiatives • Lesson observations • Ofsted reports • Data • Photos and videos of learning • Pupil and staff comments • Instances of CPD; including hosting and leading sessions • Examples of pupil work • Schemes of work • Teaching resources • Policy documents • Websites and social media • Photos of displays • Published resources • Evidence of collaboration with other schools or organisations

14. Submit application Once we have gathered in all of the supporting evidence and curated it into a portfolio we will submit it to the GA. Each application will be carefully assessed and moderated by the GA’s team of experts who will both celebrate the successes and offer advise to stimulate further improvement. Lyndhurst primary school with their Gold Award 2016 We will be awarded our certificate at the start of the next academic year enabling us to celebrate our achievements with the school community and give geography a further boost as we look to build on the successes of your application.