ARCHBISHOP BLANCH SCHOOL MARKING AND FEEDBACK POLICY Consistently high quality marking and constructive feedback from teachers ensure that pupils make rapid gains POLICY WRITTEN BY: Ms V Ellis DATE POLICY PREPARED: November 2014 DATE FIRST RATIFIED BY GOVERNING BODY: February 2015 DATE POLICY REVIEWED: i
MARKING AND FEEDBACK POLICY This policy should be taken and used as part of Archbishop Blanch Church of England School s overall strategy and implemented within the context of our Mission Statement and Instrument of Government aims. As a Church of England School, we accept and respect all members of our community as unique children of God, precious in His sight and of infinite worth. OVERVIEW At Archbishop Blanch School we will ensure that learners get the maximum benefit from their education through an entitlement to regular feedback from staff. This will enable them to understand their progress and achievement and apprise them of what they need to do next to improve. The methods of marking work will be applied consistently throughout the school. OBJECTIVES 1. To monitor, evaluate and review learners current stages of progress, identify appropriately challenging targets for progress and improvement, and inform planning for subsequent lessons. 2. To give learners accurate feedback on their next steps for progress and achievement. 3. To enable learners to self-evaluate their work and take responsibility for responding to feedback in a way that benefits their learning. 4. To promote a positive self-image and growth mind-set for learners, in accordance with school aims, and, through this, encourage them to value and take pride in their work. 5. To celebrate and reward learners achievement and progress and increase motivation for future learning. 6. To standardise the marking procedures throughout the school so students receive high quality feedback across the curriculum. 7. To provide evidence for assessment, recording and reporting. PRINCIPLES OF MARKING AND FEEDBACK 1. Marking will be against the learning intention and individual targets 2. Any learning points / misconceptions will be addressed. 3. Learners will have the opportunity to reflect on their feedback and question comments. 4. There will, whenever possible, be an opportunity for the learner to participate in the process so that there is a shared perspective on feedback, marking and target setting. 5. The following pens will be used as follows: Stationery used: Black pen Green pen Purple pen Task undertaken: Learners work Teacher feedback Response to teacher feedback / peer assessment/ selfassessment 6. Other pens may be used to highlight key words etc for revision purposes.
THE FIVE MAIN TYPES OF FORMATIVE MARKING AND FEEDBACK 1. In-Depth Teacher Marking 2. Peer/Self-Assessment 3. Verbal Feedback 4. Marking for Literacy Using Whole-School Codes 5. Light Touch/Acknowledgement Marking 1 Depth Teacher Marking This should result in good quality written feedback and should use the at least one strengths and a target framework. The target should provide the opportunity for the student to respond by either answering an extension question, adding to an existing answer or researching a topic. This should be written at the end of the piece of work in green pen as follows: Strength - positive comment which relates to the learning objectives; Target - One area where the success criteria was not met / or a suggestion /question to allow opportunity for further progress. Double tick for corrections and re-drafts to stand out from the initial marking An appropriate amount of time should be built into subsequent lessons to allow learners to review their strengths and targets and respond to the feedback they have been given. This should be acknowledged by the teacher through a double tick, a comment target achieved or a sticker etc. 2 Peer and Self-Assessment This can be a useful activity if done sparingly and in an environment where learners have been taught to do it effectively. This should be done in purple pen to highlight it as learner marking and not teacher marking. All peer and self-assessment should be verified by staff whilst acknowledgement/light touch marking is being undertaken. Professional feedback from the teacher is vital. Although peer marking can be appropriate, this should not replace regular adult guidance. 3 Verbal Feedback Verbal feedback is a valuable form of formative feedback. Some subjects may use this type of feedback more frequently because of the nature of their subject. For example in design and technology, art, music and physical education the most effective feedback is often verbal. The department need to find an appropriate way of recording this feedback. It could be a post-it note on a draft product or an initial ideas sheet or the pupil could record it in their planner or on a verbal feedback sheet. Departments may find different ways of recording verbal feedback through progress trackers, verbal feedback sheets, log books etc VF In written subjects such as English, Humanities, Maths etc. verbal feedback may be identified as having taken place using the VF Code (see above). The importance of individual and whole class oral feedback is recognised but learners themselves should record what feedback they have been given. This can be achieved by training learners to write next to the code in their books / folders. Again, this should be recorded with purple pen. 4 Marking for Literacy Using Whole School Codes It is not necessarily expected that staff correct every punctuation and grammatical error in every piece of writing. Neither will every spelling mistake need to be corrected. For less able learners or those with communication difficulties such as dyslexia it will be necessary to write the correct version for the learner. As learners gain confidence and knowledge, they should be able to identify and correct their own mistakes.
From Key Stage 2 onwards, when marking for Literacy, all staff should use the whole-school marking code. The code forms an integral part of the Literacy Policy and should be displayed in every classroom and in the books of every learner. The Marking Code is displayed here: Code: Explanation Sp Try this spelling again P Punctuation error // Begin a new paragraph G Grammar mistake WO Show your working out C Capital letter mistake (circle the letter) v Wrong vocabulary or word? Meaning is unclear ^ Word missing/insert word or letter 5 Light Touch/Acknowledgement Marking Teachers will acknowledge work variously through the use of ticks, teacher initials, simple literacy corrections and/or brief attainment based comments. Level of support indicators It is important to note the level of support a learner has had with a piece of work. The following codes will be used to identify this. Code: Explanation G Guided group work teacher led 1:1 One to one work S Supported work by teaching assistant / classroom assistant I Independent work POLICY SUMMARY AND FREQUENCY GUIDELINES TYPE OF MARKING 1 In-depth teacher marking METHOD OF IDENTIFICATION (not all subject areas will utilise all stamps) Strength Target FREQUENCY: (guideline may depend on the subject area) Staff are to use green pen. Regularly. 2 Peer/self-assessment This should be written in purple pen. 3 Verbal Feedback 4 Marking for Literacy Whole-codes to be used. Teachers mark in green pen. 5 Recognising learner response to feedback / reaching a target VF Double tick / Stickers / stamps / drawings to celebrate and encourage achievement & progress. At teachers discretion: subject dependent As appropriate on a lesson-by-lesson basis. Learners to record verbal feedback in purple pen. Regularly When a learner has acted on their feedback / met a specific target 5 Light Touch/ Acknowledgement marking Ticks, teacher initials, simple Literacy corrections and/or brief attainment based comments All work to be marked. Teachers mark in green pen.
REGULAR MARKING AND FEEDBACK The frequency of in-depth marking will be dependent upon the number of hours taught, the subject context and the formal assessments built in to the Unit of Work. It is expected that marking and feedback must be regular enough to enable teachers to diagnose gaps in student learning, to inform planning for subsequent lessons, to enable students to respond to that feedback in a way that benefits their learning, and to inform our half termly progress reviews with accuracy. SCRUTINY Every half term, The Head of Department will report to their Senior Line Manager on the standard and quality of marking and feedback in their department and this will in turn be reported to the Headteacher. Feedback will be provided as to the quality of marking in each department and areas of strength/development. Departments will be asked for examples of good practice to share with all staff. Further book scrutiny will occur during lesson observations and any quality assurance reviews. FORMAL ASSESSMENTS It should be noted that formal assessments should be separate to book-based work and identifiable as such. Where pupils are working on formal assessments this should be recorded in their book and the formal assessment provided as part of the scrutiny as evidence. This will also be the case with practical subjects where the final piece or formal assessment is a product or a physical piece of work. MONITORING AND TRACKING PROGRESS Learners will be able to identify their progress towards their targets after each assessment. All learners will track their progress over a series of assessments, these will be summarised on learners books and folders, through the use of labels on their books or folders. Learners should be involved in tracking and monitoring their progress.