Quality Mark
What is the Quality Mark
The YPF Trust Quality Mark for Supplementary Education recognises settings that provide a safe, welcoming, and engaging learning environment for children and young people. These settings serve as a second home, offering a joyful atmosphere where youth can participate actively, develop their voices, and feel a sense of belonging.
Why gain the Quality Mark
Our vision at YPF Trust is closely intertwined with our commitment to bolstering supplementary education settings and empowering marginalised youth. These grassroots community-led organisations play a pivotal role in complementing mainstream education and youth services by tailoring support and resources to individual communities.
Investing in supplementary education enables the YPF Trust and the wider YPF network to address educational and youth work inequalities, nurturing the well-being and success of all children and young people within local communities.
We aspire to create an equitable landscape where every young person can flourish, enriched by their cultural background, heritage, or faith, by ensuring they have access to well-supported supplementary education settings within the broader educational and youth ecosystem.
How to achieve the Quality Mark
Our aim is to ensure that every local area in England has the right structures and systems to provide the best opportunities and outcomes for all children and young people. We believe that strong local youth partnerships are essential for this. We’ll work closely with these partnerships in our network to introduce the Quality Mark, tailored to meet local needs.
YPF Trust Quality Mark for Supplementary Education Providers
The YPF Trust Quality Mark for Supplementary Education recognises high standards of leadership and management and provides a developmental framework to strengthen educational practice.
This guide outlines the steps towards the Quality Mark. By working towards the Quality Mark Award, supplementary education providers demonstrate their commitment to children and young people, continuous improvement in teaching and learning, and an effective and inclusive learning environment.
The Quality Mark recognises good practice across five key areas:
Learning Environment
The learning environment is inclusive, safe and appropriate for all children and young people
Teaching and Learning
Teaching includes creative approaches, a range of resources and regular and constructive feedback for children and young people.
Children's Rights and Participation
Everyone in the setting understands and respects children’s rights and encourages children and young people to have a voice and participate actively
Staffing
Staff are selected and supported safely and with respect
Leadership and Management
Leaders monitor, evaluate and plan for the future.
The Quality Mark journey is as follows:
Solid Foundations is the first step in the Quality Mark journey, ensuring strong governance, safeguarding and management are in place.
- Subscribe to YPF Trust Centre for Supplementary Education
- Provide evidence that the management and governance of your setting provides a solid foundation for learning
- Either provide Ofsted Childcare Register report OR the YPF Trust Solid Foundations certificate.
To obtain the Solid Foundations certificate settings must upload the following documents:
- core policies and procedures
- a completion certificate from the YPF Trust Good Management e-learning course
- a brief observation report from an appropriate local person (e.g. YPF capacity development worker or statutory agency/mainstream school administrator)
The submission will then be assessed by the Centre for Supplementary Education and settings that can demonstrate solid foundations will receive a certificate
- Take part in relevant YPF Trust QM professional development
- Apply learning within your setting and reflect on its impact
- Build a portfolio demonstrating development and good practice across the five Quality Mark areas
Quality Mark professional development will include:
- Creative Network of Practitioners – creative approaches to teaching and learning
- Creative workshops for teachers
- Human Rights Education – children’s participation, rights and voice
- SEND and inclusive practice
Support and observation by an educational expert with experience of high-quality educational practice.
- This will include a supportive visit to observe teaching and learning, followed by an observation report.
- The educational expert can also support the setting to select appropriate evidence for its portfolio.
- Request a recognition meeting
- Submit the portfolio of evidence
- Present best practice and participate in an exchange with educational and governance experts.
Requests for recognition meetings will be made by the local YPF / local youth network supporting the setting/s in their Quality Mark submission.
Step 4: Achievement of Quality Mark Award
- Receive a detailed report from YPF Trust highlighting good practice across the five Quality Mark areas
- Receive the Quality Mark certificate and logo
- Be presented with the Quality Mark Award at an annual awards event, which may be held locally or centrally depending on YPF Trust partners
FAQs
The registration/ revalidation fee for a quality assurance recognition meeting to achieve the Quality Mark is £130. To book and pay for your revalidation go to the online shop
Please read the above guidance to revalidation on this page.
When you are sure all documents are up to date contact us to submit your management file for scrutiny, and book a recognition meeting.
Further details on the Solid Foundations e-learning can be found Here
We help local partnerships collaborate more effectively, use evidence to drive decisions, and connect with national opportunities that strengthen the offer for young people.
Contact us for inquiries
and partnerships.
Young People Foundation Trust
- LABS Atrium. The Stables Market Chalk Farm Rd NW1 8AH, London, Greater London
- Hello@YPFT.org