Cinnamon Brow C E Primary School Feedback and Marking Policy Written: October 2014 Review date: October 2016 1
Rationale Marking is an integral part of assessment and will provide feedback to every pupil. We aim to provide a system of marking that is consistent and continuous across Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 within our school. Marking will inform planning, be diagnostic and enhance children s learning by ultimately offering guidance on how work can be improved. It will focus on success and improvement needs against learning intensions and success criteria, enabling pupils to become reflective learners and helping them to close the gap between current and desired performance. Marking allows for self-assessment where the child can recognise their difficulties and mistakes and encourage them to accept help/guidance from others. We aim to mark positively whenever possible to enhance self-esteem and confidence. Marking will also be used to inform parents, inspectors and other interested parties. Effective marking and feedback should:- Inform children of their achievements and the next steps in their learning Show work is valued Demonstrate appreciation of children s effort Inform future planning and learning Evaluate and assess children s learning Help parents to understand the strengths and areas to develop in their children s work Be made throughout the lesson to reflect on learning Be manageable for teachers Relate to LO and SC Give clear strategies for improvement in small steps Allow specific time for pupils to read, reflect and respond to feedback and make improvements. Be accessible to all pupils Be used consistently in each class. Marking Procedures A green pen should be used as it is in contrast to the pupil s writing implement. A GREEN highlighters will be used to identify whether the child has understood the success criteria and MET their targets for the lesson or personal target. A PINK highlighter should be to identify how to make work even better / work highlighted in this way must be edited and responded to (see appendix). THINK PINK GOOD TO BE GREEN. In written pieces the school marking code will be used by staff and pupils to allow for redrafting and progress being made. As far as possible, marking will be done daily or when a piece of work is completed, but will often be verbally marked (VF). If distanced marked, the child will be given time to read and respond to comments. Marked in relation to shared learning questions and the child s attainments As far as possible, time will be spent with the child to ensure they understand the comments and the targets set Teachers writing to be neat and legible. TAs can mark the work of children they worked with, following the guidelines in this policy. Stamps will be provided (eg TA supported ). Children will respond to marking ~ Encouraged to evaluate their own work before marking, taking into consideration the shared learning objectives and any previously individually set targets in their books. Encouraged to reflect after marking and take the opportunity to correct, practise or investigate a problem. Next step marking time will be timetabled within each lesson to enable children to have the opportunity to evaluate their work. 2
Children will be expected to peer assess themselves against LQ and SC. The school marking code will be used by staff and pupils Pupils should use a colour of pen/pencil to contrast with their written work Quality Marking in Literacy In Quality Feedback~ Marking will focus on what the children are learning and trying to improve Marking focuses on specific taught items: concepts, skills and knowledge, so that the feedback encourages development of the learning, rather than on application learning. Objectives, such as writing a whole story or designing an experiment, where summary feedback is more appropriate. Marking is only of value if comments are read and/or responded to/ regarded. Ideally marking should become a part of the developing dialogue resulting in pupil progress for examples, a pupil writes, the writing is marked away from the pupils and in his/her subsequent work, the pupil incorporates suggestions. This is best done during a unit of work e.g. formative rather than summative. Time will be allocated for children to respond to comments We believe that correcting has its place in marking but only when it contributes to an improvement in a pupil s work. Errors need to be pointed out if a pupil is to improve his/her work, which errors and how many will depend on many factors. Comments can be made verbally or in written form to communicate their message. In the case of foundation stage pupils, feedback needs to be as immediate as possible. We constantly assess the children s work, establishing their achievements Showing success in Literacy two stars The teacher or reader of the piece of work, finds two best places in the child s work at pertinent points in the unit of work, fewer places for younger children, which link with the learning questions and then highlight these in green. These successes should be in the context of the full ability range, so those different children could have anything from one word to a couple of sentences highlighted. Indicating improvement- a wish Highlighted work in pink indicates precisely where improvement could be made. The improvement is then made at the end or above the pupil s work. Giving an improvement suggestion: Peer and self assessment An improvement suggestion is written/asked for/by the teacher/self/another child to help the child know how to make the specific improvement. There are three main types of improvement prompts: The reminder prompt ~Simply reiterates the learning objective. The scaffold prompt ~Involves the teacher/child making a suggestion on what could be written and giving it back to the child. The example prompt ~Models a choice of possible improvements, but asks if the child has an idea of his or her own. We will ensure that time is allocated within the teaching day for pupils to respond to their written / oral comments by the class teachers in order they can act upon the development points. Verbal Feedback It is important for all children to have oral feedback from a teacher depending on the task. This dialogue should focus upon successes and VF will be put in the margin of the pupil s book. 3
Acknowledgement marking There maybe times when a pupil marks their own work, such as after a timetables test of spelling test. A tick in the margin will be used to acknowledge the marking done by the pupil. Children s response to the comments Peer and self-assessment For peer assessment, the same concept of identifying areas of strength and those to develop will be used. Much of this will be done orally and children will use the following two simple phrases: This is good because.. STAR It would be even better if. WISH Self assessment ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING - AfL The children will use a RAG (Red, Amber, and Green) system so to inform the teacher how well they believe they achieved the learning objectives Red-I have not attained many of the success criteria and would like support Amber-I have attained enough of the success criteria to build on my understanding- child to say what it is they would like to look at Green-I have attained most, if not all the success criteria This can be by teachers providing trays for completed work, or via pupils writing the colour or letter R A G at the end of a piece of work A RAG rating system will also be used in the plenary sessions such as thumbs up and down and in between, as above. See Appendix for updated marking code. Literacy T in a circle Target for next steps Next steps footprint stamp SP word Spelling error underlined with a Wiggly line? This doesn t make sense O (letter Incorrect use of upper or lower case letters, punctuation or circled) calculation. ^ Missing words // New paragraph R A G DUMTUMS VF Red Amber Green to be used by pupils in AfL Date, underline, miss a line, title, underline, miss a line, start. Verbal feedback given You have made a really good effort. Collect a smiley face card. 4
Smiley Face? Arrow denotes move no to the next learning challenge Tick denotes have understood but may need a recap? denotes do not understand, need more work Numeracy tick.. tick c Correct Incorrect, try again A completed correction Correction Procedures Corrections will be completed underneath or nearby to work Errors will be neatly crossed out with a pencil and ruler Incorrect spellings may be placed in the child s spelling log (Yr 1 upwards eg at the back of their book or a separate word book) Marking may be done by: Teacher alone Teacher alongside child Child alone (self marking with initial) Other children (peer marking with initial) Teaching Assistants (stamps supplied) Supply teachers This policy was written in consultation with all staff. It was decided that not every piece of work needs to be marked in detail, but regular detailed feedback must be given. As a minimum, the following must be adhered to: Teachers to show the work has been read with a short comment Indication of whether the LQ has been achieved or not (can be highlighted not every piece of work needs a written comment). Checklist 1. Has the teacher identified what was good? 2. Do they relate to the planned LQ and SC? 3. Can they be clearly understood? 4. Do they indicate a next step in learning? 5
Date to be reviewed October 2016 Appendix Marking Think Pink You need to edit and improve to meet the SC and LQ. Green for growth You have shown that you have understood and used the Success Criteria Focus Points 6
Code Explanation you have made a good effort awarded with a Sp word underlined ~~~ (wiggly line) O (circle) ^ you have met the Success Criteria spelling mistake incorrect use of upper or lowercase letters, punctuation or calculation missing words // new paragraph needed? DUMTUMS LQ (T) Footstep stamper VF sentence doesn t make sense Date, underline, miss a line. Title, underline and miss a line Start work Learning Question Targets KS2 Next steps KS1 Verbal Feedback - we have talked about this 7
TA or G Stamper for TA Assisted? AfL Teacher Assisted or Guided Group Target met I feel I can move on I have completed my work just need a recap? I don t understand 8