Marking and feedback policy

Blandford St. Mary Primary School

Marking & Feedback Policy

Philosophy At Blandford St. Mary Primary School we believe that all “work” in school deserves feedback. Whether it be a piece of written work, a piece of mathematical calculation, a piece of art, a dance performance, a sporting performance or even the baking of a cake – the children need feedback on what they have done and how they can improve.

It is up to us to create a culture – through the implementation of this policy and that of the Teaching and Learning policy – that fosters the notion of continuous improvement.

We are always seeking to improve on what we have achieved. To this end we must make sure that we plan time for good quality feedback as teachers and for the children to respond to our feedback before they move on with other work and the opportunity for improvement has been lost.

For “marking” we should read “feedback”. How work is received and marked and the nature of any feedback given to them should have a direct effect on learning attitudes and future achievements.

Feedback can be given in many guises – each with their own strengths. The following can be applied to written and oral feedback.

Why Give Feedback?

Emotional Literacy • • •

To recognise, encourage and reward children’s effort and achievement and celebrate success.

To improve a child’s confidence in their own work.

To acknowledge that you – as a teacher - have seen and valued a piece of work.

Dialogue • •

To provide a dialogue between the learner and the teacher In the case of homework: to involve the parents in the learning process

Improvement • • •

To provide a dialogue between the teacher and child to give clear feedback about next steps in learning.

To improve a child’s capability and confidence in improving their own work.

To help pupils understand the standards they need to reach particular levels of the National Curriculum.

How Do We Feedback?

Feedback: • • • •

Should refer to the learning intention of the task.

Could open up a dialogue between teacher and pupil.

Could be oral or written.

Could be given to groups or individuals.

Oral feedback Oral feedback has maximum impact when pointing out successes and improvement needs against the learning intentions. Written reflections can pull down the quality of articulation of learning. The quality of the thinking can be higher if it is oral. Also, oral feedback is immediate and to a child: relevant. It allows the person feeding back to put comments in context instantly.

Written Feedback: • • • •

Should be legible, clear in meaning and where possible be written in the school’s handwriting style (in order to model to the children our expectations of their presentation).

Should endeavour to be developmental i.e. the children will find out how they are getting on and what the next learning step will be.

Where possible will be completed alongside the children (especially in the Early Years of learning) probably in guided sessions where the teacher is working with small groups or individuals.

Will be initialled by the member of staff giving the feedback – including teaching assistants.

Time is precious in school and we need to ensure that any time spent marking and feeding back is spent wisely and effectively. What follows are some guidelines and then some specific guidance for particular subjects when feeding back.

Things to consider: • • •

Can children read your comments?

Can they understand your comments?

You must allow time for the children to: o Read your comments o Respond to your comments. o Improve previous work in response to your comments.

Written Feedback Techniques Used At Blandford St. Mary Primary School Pinks and Greens An incredibly effective method of feedback is the using “pinks and greens”.

This technique involves the use of highlighter pens in the colours mentioned. Generally, feedback is given based on the learning intention. Successes are highlighted in pink (as the person feeding back is ‘tickled pink’) areas for development will be highlighted or noted in green (‘green for growth’). The ratio should be 3 successes for every area for development. This technique is also known as “3 stars and a wish”.

Generally, the teacher completes this technique, but children should be encouraged to use the technique when feeding back to themselves or their peers. The technique can pervade all areas of the curriculum (e.g. maths) but is particularly effective when applied to written work.

Use of Symbols In written work, where appropriate, the following symbols will be used to help guide the children in their understanding of feedback:

Symbol

Use Used to indicate the need for more finger spaces.

©

Used to indicate the need for the use of capital letters.

Used to indicate the need for the use of full stops.

^

Used to show that there is an opportunity to insert a good word, phrase or clause. This will be done with the green highlighter pen.



Children can use these symbols to indicate how confident they feel in relation to the learning intention.

splelling

A circle around a word indicates it has been spelled incorrectly.

Used to show there is an opportunity to insert an extra section. Again, this will be done with the green highlighter.

General Feedback Guidance • • • • • •

Use pencil to write on children’s work.

Use the school’s handwriting style when appropriate.

Don’t use a (x) when indicating an incorrect response (especially in maths) use a dot instead – it has less of a negative effect.

Initial and date any feedback given.

Initial and date any work you have seen, even if you have not provided any written feedback. It shows that you have seen and valued the work.

Children should be notified of up to five spelling mistakes in any piece of writing (the teacher’s judgement should be used as to how many each child should be made aware of) and should then be given the opportunity to: Look and Say and Cover and Write and Check each spelling 5 times underneath the piece of work.

This type of feedback is generally separate from the learning intention of the lesson and is part of the school’s ongoing desire to raise standards in writing.