As Darryl suggests, FOSIL has helped us to better support the EPQ at Oakham.  In particular, engaging with FOSIL has:

• enabled us to understand the EPQ process in terms of stages in an inquiry cycle,
• made it easier to develop and adapt resources that help pupils through the difficult stages of the inquiry process, and
• think about the EPQ assessment criteria and how we can better provide evidence that shows how the pupils have engaged with the process of carrying out a project.

I’ve attached an EPQ assessment framework to this post.  I produced it to help me think about what resources might support the pupils and how we can use them as evidence for their engagement in the inquiry process.  The framework lists the resources we use, and links the assessment statements to the FOSIL stage they fall into.  The FOSIL resources are marked with an ‘F’ in the framework.

I’ve based the framework on the AQA assessment criteria, but I hope that it might be useful for those of you who are supporting pupils through EPQs with other exam boards.  The Investigative Journal and CRAAP Testing Rubric have really helped pupils think about how they select and use information.

I’ll add more resources as I produce them.  At the moment, I’m working on a reflection aid to help with the summary and reflection pages of the production log.

I’d be very interested in hearing what other forum members use to support the EPQ in their schools.