SGQM - a few thoughts

I've been moderating applications for the GA's Secondary Geography Quality Mark pretty much since it was launched. It's a vital part of the GA's support for secondary teachers.
Over 1000 schools have now gone through the process, which is by no means easy to complete and requires a lot of thought and reflection and the collation of evidence.
It's been through numerous iterations and Justin Woolliscroft, Tony Cassidy and others helped shape the original format. I helped produce a series of statements for an early assessment model, and also went through every page of every application a few years ago to curate a range of examples for every statement in the assessment

When I first started moderating the SGQM, the applications were paper based. These had to be posted to the GA, which meant lots of parcels to be dealt with. Some people blew the postage costs and sent rather bulky entries, even ones with every page in a plastic wallet. I remember a particular one by a teacher who I knew well, who sent two huge lever arch files filled with examples of work. Others were not so good. We never liked seeing photocopies of Key Geography wordsearches for example. Over the years, the standard has risen.

The moderation process has also been a chance to work with people from all parts of the UK and learn from them.
I remember a memorable portfolio from a special school with documents in Makaton and videos and images of geography being done by students who had to use their mouths or feet to operate a computer. Humbling.
More recently we have moved to a system called Pebblepad to build ePotfolios which are submitted electronically.

Here are my slides, prepared for a meeting hosted by Michael Chiles earlier in the week, with the support of Kit Rackley.



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