“Science Mark is a quality standard designed to recognise and celebrate inspiring practice in secondary and FE science departments “. Originally aimed at the UK there are now schools in other countries putting themselves forward to be assessed for the standard.
There are three levels of the award- Silver, Gold and Platinum.
All Science Departments can start the journey to Platinum using the frameworks; from Silver which develops to Gold then to Platinum. Schools are asked to write evaluative statements to show how they meet the 16 Science Mark criteria. These are grouped under three headings, 'Teaching and Learning', 'Leadership and Management', and 'Curriculum'. Key questions would be: What do the school do that meets the criteria?
What impact does this have within their school? They are also asked to bring together an evidence pack to support their case, which is submitted along with the evaluative statements. Experienced assessors carry out an interim assessment of only three criteria in the first instance, to offer the school any advice which may support them towards making their full application with all 16 statements.
In this first article, which covers teaching and learning, our analysis examines the strategies which schools put in place and more importantly the systems used to implement them; to produce a ‘Cycle of Improvement’ (COI). The systems are complex and difficult for a school leader and an assessor to unpick but are the most important aspect of a successful school. The strategies and systems are not a checklist but a tool to help schools along the route to continuous improvement. Schools can find one or two ideas or refinements to their current practice and use them. Once embedded and reviewed others can be attempted.