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Quality in Study Support

Quality in Study Support (QiSS)
The QiSS recognition scheme promotes quality in study support and provides a structure and a process for the quality assurance of study support delivered through schools, Playing for Success centres, summer and children’s universities and voluntary and community organisations.

QiSS has been built into the support and challenge mechanisms for PfS as the national award for quality in study support and, to date, 82 PfS centres have successfully submitted for recognition at Emerged level. Thirty eight centres have progressed to Established level and ten have now achieved Advanced status. A number of centres have revalidated status after three years, indicating that they have sustained good practice at that level.

QiSS is a self-evaluating process based on the Study Support Code of Practice (DfES 2004). This sets out principles of good practice for the co-ordination of study support and provides key indicators and case studies which demonstrate the principles applied in practice. The process of QiSS recognition requires centres to assess their practice against the quality criteria at each of three levels. Evidence is compiled to support this self-assessment and a presentation is made to peers in order to gain status. PfS encourages centres to use the Study Support Code of Practice together with QiSS recognition as a way of progressing from one quality level to the next.

EMERGED

Good practice in this category will illustrate aspects of well-run study support in which a visitor would expect to find clarity of purpose and coherent planning and provision. A clear link is demonstrated between needs and purposes.

ESTABLISHED

Good practice in this category will demonstrate a commitment to continuing improvement and increasing ownership by young people. The ability to be self-critical, to address weaknesses and to build on strengths. Provision will include links with the community.

ADVANCED

Good practice in this category will represent the leading-edge of study support practice, involving young people and the wider community in goal setting, planning and tutoring. There will be conviction, confidence and expertise to train and to lead others and to become national centres of excellence.

Emerged centres: new centres are well-placed to work towards Emerged level as they are set up with very clear purposes and quickly establish links with schools to identify the young people who would benefit most from participation. The ethos of PfS centres is also a clear advantage, both in terms of the location and facilities that lend the important ‘wow’ factor, and in terms of the relationships and teaching and learning environments that the centres can offer.

Established centres: as centres progress towards Established level they broaden an increasingly sophisticated partnership base that moves towards common goal setting, joint planning and review. Partnerships with local authorities (LAs) also evolve and PfS becomes well-placed as a key strategy contributing to quality assurance through QiSS and Quality in Extended Schools (QES). The sense of young people’s ownership develops with many centres initiating peer mentor schemes and tailoring programmes for more personalised learning. The range of staff and volunteers increases and professional development structures are built in at different levels.

Advanced centres: as centres progress towards Advanced level they become increasingly innovative in their approach to resourcing, programming, partnerships and learning, and move towards a collaborative model whereby partners become stakeholders and a learning culture is firmly embedded. Young people, volunteers and staff are all aware of their own learning and the centre seeks ways of recognising and accrediting this. Advanced centres play a key role within LAs and lead and train other centres and schools, in addition they concentrate on using data to inform practice and to measure the longer-term impacts of PfS.

QiSS has been used very successfully in PfS as part of its continuing professional development and in helping centre managers and staff to become reflective practitioners. Practice focused workshops are used regularly as part of the process, supporting participants in the development of these skills. Staff from centres with QiSS status act as peer scrutineers for other centres and increasingly for schools. Several centre managers have undergone training in Critical Friendship and support the QiSS process both as Critical Friends and as chairs at recognition meetings. In some cases PfS centres are now taking the lead within those LAs that are strategically introducing QiSS as part of their study support plans and policies. There is a growing cross-fertilisation between PfS centres and schools and other organisations that are submitting for QiSS. Schools have presented at PfS recognitions and schools and centres regularly provide scrutineers for each other. In addition, schools and PfS centres meet together as regional clusters working towards Advanced level. This enables them to learn from each other and strengthens their relationship. These longer-term partnerships share professional expertise and track the impact of study support and its outcomes for young people. A number of schools have achieved Established status in QiSS using PfS as a major part of their evidence base.