Auditing SMSC provision in a special school

Special schools can use a tool like the GridMaker to capture evidence of SMSC across all areas. This becomes an audit tool allowing them to identify and fill gaps in provision.

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) provision is woven through the curriculum in most special schools - but this can make it more challenging to audit. With the new Ofsted personal development judgement increasing the focus on SMSC, it's even more important that senior leaders can evidence their school's SMSC activity - as well as PSHE and British values.

Using an audit tool to map provision is a good place to start. A robust personal development audit tool will include SMSC, PSHE, British values, and careers education if relevant. It will cover:

The subject area or type of activity

Title of the activity

Pupil/s involved

Short description of the activity

Link to supporting evidence

Date of the activity

Ideally the audit tool will have the functionality to create charts and filter views by subject, pupil cohort or type of activity. Even better is the option to output this into a PDF which can be printed and shared with Ofsted inspectors and others.

Special schools can develop their own audit tool using an off-the-shelf spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel, or they can use GridMaker.

GridMaker is a web-based tool that allows multiple users in a school to map activities in a visual and interactive grid, which can be easily analysed and shared with others. It comes preloaded with SMSC criteria, and schools can add additional criteria to suit their needs.

A tool like the GridMaker makes it easy for teachers to record brief details about an activity or lesson and map it to relevant SMSC criteria - thus minimising the impact on workload. School leaders can use the information to analyse evidence and impact, and identify gaps in provision.

Joanne Houghton from Wennington Hall School in Lancaster explains:

"We use GridMaker to evidence everything we do as a residential school for our pupils, be it educationally or from a care and social aspect. It highlights areas we are covering really well and those we are covering less. We then can address and monitor these areas."

To find out more about how GridMaker can help your special school audit its SMSC provision more efficiently, book a free 15 minute online session.