2. Session two Getting to know the PSQM criteria2

3. What does the Primary Science Quality Mark look like?
GOLD AWARD
The subject leader ensures that excellent practice is visible, sustained and evolving across the whole school. This excellent practice has a clear impact on partners beyond the school.
SILVER AWARD
The subject leader is having an increasing impact across the school, where science has a high profile. Many excellent practices are developed and implemented. Some links with partners outside the school are being established.
BRONZE AWARD
The subject leader is beginning to have an impact beyond his/her own class and the profile of science is growing across the school. Some excellent practices are being developed and implemented.
PSQM SILVER
PSQM GOLD
PSQM Bronze
Broader not necessarily better, as Gold is about broadening the reach of science to other schools and the wider community, not about doing more ‘stuff’! 3 3

4. PSQM Core documents 1. PSQM action plan
2. Principles of teaching science in your school- “We know that good science occurs in our school when…”
3. Log of science subject leader
4. List of CPD activities of subject leader & other members of staff and their impact
5. School Development Plan: sections that have relevance to science
6. Portfolio to illustrate science in your school to support reflections of impact:
Bronze Award - from your own class
Silver Award - from several other school
Gold Award - from your school and the wider community
7. Calendar of science events in school (assemblies, outings, science days and weeks, visits, visiting speakers, activity days)
Important that the evidence is referred to within the commentary when writing a reflection.
If necessary any annotation on documents helps reader be directed to relevant points.
No need for 1500 science week photos, be selective and choose carefully. There is a limit of about 8 images per class! You won’t get the award on the size of your file!

5. Criteria Activities
An example of an activity and the criteria it links to, that it could provide evidence for. There are 17 of these on the website to download.

6. PSQM Tasks Principles Links/ creativity/ cross curricular Pupil voice
12. Community
Transition
13. T/L strategies
Staff vision
14. Biomedical sciences/ethics in curriculum/argument
Albums
Learning walk
15. Display board observation capture
Monitoring
Resources
16. Pupil tracking
Assessment/ portfolio/ APP
17. Principles applied to teaching and learning
Visits, visitors
These activities are available on the website with instructions if you haven’t carried it out before, links to the criteria and examples of next steps.

7. Two models to support effective action planning
SMART targets
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time related
Effective CPD model (Adey et al)
Relevant to need
Sustained
Collaborative
Embedded in culture of school
Career linked
Offer two models for giving feedback on action plans. One managerial, definitely necessary for PSQM success; one which leads to a type of reflective leadership which is necessary for silver and gold, subject leaders can’t do this on their own!
SMART targets-
A taxonomy which is often used for identifying vital elements to effective CPD that supports individual primary teachers’ needs and improves professional practice in science teaching in primary schools should be:
Highly relevant need – is the action that has been identified relevant to the needs of the whole school, teachers or teacher, children or classes?
How identifed? My self or others? Ofsted, SDP, talking to children, curriculum or teaching monitoring, new leader
What might need be?
Raising profile, keeping profile high in a new curriculum, introducing APP, strengthening TA, speaking and listening, practical work, outdoors?
Sustained – how will it become embedded?
A quick fix is rarely an effective one. It takes time to embed a new skill or piece of scientific understanding into pedagogical practice. For CPD to be effective it needs to offer teachers a framework for embedding freshly gained enthusiasm, confidence, new ideas, skills and understanding into their own long-term classroom practice. It is a truism amongst CPD providers, but a useful one, that simply passing on a trick to do in class tomorrow is not the mark of good CPD.
These may include implementing new teaching and learning strategies, acquiring and using resources, reading deeper into the subject, or instituting organizational change. This action plan has several functions.
Collaborative
Does it include others?
Embedded in the culture of the school- is it supported by the school? Does the school viewing its teachers as learners and support experimentation and change
It is very difficult for a primary teacher to initiate change in his or her professional practice if it is not supported by the school. Stenhouse (1975) defined three critical characteristics of what he called the ‘extended professionalism’ which is essential for curriculum research and teacher development:
the commitment to systematic questioning of one’s own teaching as a basis for development
the commitment and skills to study one’s own teaching
the concern to question and to test theory in practice .    
Career path appropriate – what professional benefit for them as well as colleagues and children? 7

8. SMART Targets A SMART Action or Target is one that is: Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time related
Target
SMART Action e.g.
Increase pupils progress in year 6
60% of pupils in green band make progress of more 1 level by end of 2010
Improve Teacher assessment in Science
Improve Teaching
Can you write SMART actions for the two examples here? 8

9. SMART Targets A SMART Action or Target is one that is: Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time related
Target
SMART Action e.g.
Increase pupils progress in year 6
60% of pupils in green band make progress of more 1 level by end of 2010
Improve Teacher assessment in Science
Each member of staff in KS2 will be able to use APP criteria to assign a ‘level’ to each groups of pupils in their class by July 2010
Improve Teaching
By the end of Autumn term 2011, at least 1 science lesson per week will use pupils own ideas to drive the learning forwards
These are just suggestions. 9

10. Effective Action Planning
Examples:
Improve Teacher assessment in Science
Relevant to need
e.g. How identified, what might the need be?
Sustained
e.g. How to indicate that change will be come embedded?
Collaborative
e.g. Who else might be included?
Embedded in culture of school
E.g. How will the school supporting change?
Career linked
e.g. How is personal development for subject leader identified?
Task- can you complete this one?

11. Completing an Action Plan
CRITERIA
KEY QUESTIONS
BRONZE
INDICATORS
ACTIONS NEEDED 
What do I need to do to achieve the indicator?
PERSONNEL
Who is involved? 
TARGET DATE
IMPACT
What changes will I see?
EVIDENCE 
How will I use the core documents to show this?
SECTION A: SUBJECT MANAGEMENT A1
There is an effective subject leader for science
There is an identified member of staff who oversees the subject, may have a background in the subject and can demonstrate their enthusiasm for leading it.
In this box you should consider ‘SMART’ actions. Not writing SMART targets, but considering the processes involved, e.g. if you are having a staff meeting, you need to include:
S = what is the focus/why are you doing it;
M = what are you expecting staff to do afterwards (will provide the evidence of impact);
A = have you considered what else is going on in school at the time i.e. have you put your PSQM events and actions into the ‘calendar’ that I showed you?
R = Will this really move the school forwards? How will you embed it in school culture?
T =  
Try to be ‘collaborative’ and involve more than just yourself pushing everyone forwards – ‘lead from the front’ not ‘push from behind!’
T = See ‘A’, but think about the time needed to implement it
Questions that might help include:
What do you think will be different?
What will it look like when successful?
(Think about what teachers do, what children do and say).
How relevant is it to ‘need’; how was the ‘need’ identified?
Can it be sustained and how will it become embedded?
Could it be linked to a career move?
What evidence will you use to illustrate the impact on the school, mentioned to the left?
Try to link as much as possible to the ‘Core Documents’. Think about items that might appear in the Portfolio.
Your action plan needs to be clear and concise, but also pinpointing where the evidence can be found. It’s like a lesson plan.. You need to know what you want at the end to be different and then look for ways to show this. Don’t just do an activity because it fills the space. Think carefully about how it will make a difference.

12. Complete your action plan before the next session.
Gap Task!
Complete your action plan before the next session.
Start to compile your CORE documents ready for next session. 12 12