The Primary Geography Quality Mark is an award for primary schools who wish to achieve recognition for the quality and progress in geography leadership, curriculum development, learning and teaching in their school.
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Your school can start working towards the award straight away.
There are two periods of registration, submission of evidence and moderation each year.
Register by:
Submit evidence by:
Moderation during:
Notified of award by:
End of October
End of May
June/July
October
End of March
End of December
January - March
April
NB - registration will close when the full quota of schools for the period is filled
The PGQM in Brief
It is a school self evaluation tool founded on the principles of school self-review and development
It can be gained at one of three levels: bronze, silver or gold
It is based on the clear and simple criteria of: the characteristics of geography in your school; how well pupils enjoy & achieve; the quality of provision and subject leadership and management. These criteria are drawn directly from the Ofsted self evaluation form (SEF).
It is viewed by the DCSF and the Geographical Association as a key strategy for raising the quality of geographical education within the Action Plan for Geography
It is comparable to awards such as Arts Mark, Healthy Schools, Eco-Schools and the ICT Mark
What assessment is made?
The majority of Bronze and Silver awards will be achieved on the basis of the submitted application.This will be moderated by a GA appointed moderator without the need for a visit to the school.
The Gold award will be achieved by the submission of the application and a half-day moderation visit by a GA nominated consultant. Schools on the silver/gold borderline may also request a visit if they have ambitions to be awarded gold.
All applications are scrutinised in-house before being passed to the allocated moderator and a rigorous Quality Assurance process ensures that the award is standardised.
In order to meet some of the costs of administering and moderating the award, at the point of registration a fee is payable upon the following scale.
Small schools <250 pupils - £100
Medium schools 250-400 pupils - £150
Large schools >400 pupils - £200
Quality Assurance Moderation visits will take place during the term following submission of evidence. If your school is chosen for a Quality Assurance Moderation visit you will be notified by your allocated moderator.
The school or its subject leader must be a member of the Geographical Association.
The award was developed and piloted with support from the Frederick Soddy Trust and is part-funded by the DCSF until March 2011.
How to plan, prepare and apply for the award
Download the following documents to find out more about the award. The registration form should be returned with the appropriate registration fee to Julie Beattie at the Geographical Association (full address on form). If you wish to register your interest in the PGQM, fill in your name and email address on the form below the downloadable documents and we'll contact you shortly.
