Secondary

The Secondary Quality Mark was first developed in 1996, with the help of local education authorities and secondary schools in England and Wales, to provide a framework that would promote, support and celebrate the improvement of literacy and mathematics in schools. It was revised in 2007 folowing consultation with a significant number of local authorities in the Secondary Quality Mark Partnership.

The 10 Secondary Quality Mark elements are as relevant today for school improvement as they were originally. The fundamental principles of the Secondary Quality Mark process, such as the involvement of the whole wchool community, self review and targeted intervention, have now become central to any school's improvement agenda, regardless of its context.

The Secondary Quality Mark provides a framework for self evaluation and continuous improvement of the basic skills of all pupils in a school. This includes both those who underachive and those whose attainment is lower than would be expected of someone of their age.

The Secondary Quality Mark 10 elements are:

1. A whole school strategy and planning to improve performance in basic skills

2. An analysis of the assessment of pupil performance in basic skills

3. Target setting for the improvement of the school's performance in basic skills

4. Basic skills improvement planning for pupils underattaining and/or underachieving

5. Regular review of the progress made by pupils underattaining and/or underachieving in basic skills

6. Provision to enable all pupils to gain appropriate national accreditation in basic skills

7. A commitment to improving the skills of staff to teach and extend basic skills

8. The use of a range of teaching and learning approaches, styles and materials to improve basic skills

9. The involvement of parents and carers in developing their child's basic skills

10. An effective procedure for monitoring planning and assessing improvement in performance in basic skills