Whitstable Junior School
MARKING & FEEDBACK POLICY 2016 This policy has been developed and regularly reviewed with staff over time, incorporating the most powerful and effective strategies as identified by staff and pupils and taking into account the habits and responses of our most effective learners regardless of ability.
Gill Moody
Whitstable Junior School MARKING & FEEDBACK POLICY 2016
Vision: Marking and feedback are powerful tools in assessment of and for learning. It should form an essential part of teaching and learning. Introduction: Marking of children’s work is a fundamental part of the process of teaching and learning in school and is an important part of the assessment process. Marking demonstrates a respect for the work, gives it value, provides feedback and indicates ways in which the individual child can improve. Marking will also encourage children to look at errors in a positive manner, in line with the school’s positive approach to self – assessment. Ideally all work should be discussed and marked with the child present whenever possible, when distance marking has to occur it should be immediate and have impact. Aims: At Whitstable Junior School we mark in a manageable and sustainable way to:
Improve a child’s confidence and self esteem Celebrate and recognise achievement Provide constructive, accessible feedback to children about their work Encourage and involve children in the reflection of their current learning and to set targets for future learning Assess and monitor the children’s’ learning and provide information for future planning Develop children’s responsibility for their learning Model and encourage progression of children’s ability to peer and self assess honestly and accurately At Whitstable Junior School marking may take the form of:
Developmental or deep marking – includes marking for improvement comments and the expectation that: The child applies the improvement area to the next piece of work and/or The child responds and improves work the completed work Formative marking – a quick assessment of achievement in relation to the learning intention Corrective marking e.g. closed questions that right or wrong or common errors Occasional celebratory marking or feedback (verbal, stamps, stickers etc.) Verbal feedback with a developmental focus Peer assessment Self-assessment 1
Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Guidance for marking by teachers: Teacher marking is only effective if
it informs both the child and teacher of what has been achieved and what needs to happen next there is a ‘non-negotiable’ expectation that: the child has an opportunity to read / respond to the marking the child will apply improvement comments to the next piece of work & ‘prove it’ it is informing the teacher of learning needs which can be incorporated into future planning
Expectations: All pieces of work in books should be acknowledged in line with this policy either through teacher marking or feedback, peer marking or self-assessment. This includes work completed in intervention groups e.g. Read, Write, Inc / Fresh Start. All pieces of work should be acknowledged immediately- before the next lesson in that subject area – i.e. daily for literacy or maths. For literacy and maths there should be evidence of deep or formative marking when a teacher has worked with a focus group or individual. For literacy and maths there should be a fair balance of teacher and child marking. Teachers should be conscious of checking the quality of peer marking and self-assessments made by pupils. Teachers will need to model successful strategies and praise successful peer work. Across wider subject areas each child should have one piece of work marked in detail by the teacher at least once every week, one piece of self and one piece of peer assessment in their books. Cover / supply teachers need to mark and initial all work. Avoid expecting supply or cover teachers to mark long writing tasks – adjust your timetable and teach/mark this yourself. Developmental or marking for improvement comments: Personalised quality feedback comments should be used frequently in all subject areas to extend learning and should be differentiated appropriately. In Literacy and Maths developmental or deep marking should be used according to task, but every child should be expected to respond to feedback in both subject areas at least once a week. They should be expected to edit & improve work in green pen against personal targets/class ‘nonnegotiables’ before handing in so that there is an explicit focus on improvement of work at all times. Evidence of ‘Prove it’ target should be underlined in green pen before handing in. A focussed comment should help the child in ‘closing the gap’ between what they have achieved and what they could have achieved. Useful ‘closing the gap comments include: 2 Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
a reminder prompt – most suitable for high achievers. A simple reminder of what to include e.g. include a sub-heading. What else could you say here? What calculation could you have used to check your answer? A scaffolded prompt – most suitable for children who need a little more support. e.g. A question – can you describe what the dogs tail was doing? An unfinished sentence - The dog was angry so he……. A directive - Describe the expression on the dogs face. An example prompt – suitable for all abilities, especially lower ability. Give children a choice of words or phrases to use e.g. which of these words describes the taste more powerfully – mouth-watering, bitter, scrumptious. Which of these shapes can you add to the quadrilateral group – rhombus, pentagon, ovoid? Modelled example - a correct example modelled by teacher with a further one for the child to try or to apply to a correction Open question - pose an open question specifically related to the LI to think about next steps Greater depth children - avoid using scaffolded comments – they should be selfcorrecting more independently e.g. please check your punctuation / spelling.
It is essential that time is given for the child to respond to the written prompt, thus enabling them to ‘close the gap’ and improve their work further. This improvement should also be acknowledged. Marking and feedback by teachers should also :
be directly related to the learning intention / success criteria or a child’s personal target use the agreed marking code symbols – these should be shared with children and displayed in class use green highlighter pen to promote positive aspects – green for good . There should be two or three positive highlights to every area for improvement. The area for development/improvement may also be highlighted by the use of a purple ‘wish’ stamper or target stamps. Include requests to do corrections when these have not been done automatically Ask children to check their work again against the LI, success criteria or their personal learning target in green pen
Marking and feedback should always take place:
As a prompt at the beginning of a piece of work – this could include the use of reminder stickers. We know this is very powerful and children tell us this is the most positive type of feedback. Children should always have to prove that they have addressed this before handing in by underlining the evidence in green pen – PROVE IT.
Marking and feedback should also take place:
At the end of a piece of work At intervals throughout a lesson 3
Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Non- negotiables Before any child hands in any piece of work for marking they should spend an appropriate amount of time checking they have considered the ‘non-negotiables’. This time will initially need to be planned into the lesson to encourage this as a habit. Non-negotiables:
Date and LI underlined with a ruler Previous improvement points considered e.g. common spelling errors corrected or handwriting clear, paragraphs used or openers varied etc. Check against success criteria PROVE IT! – children underline with a green pen the area where they can prove they have responded to the last improvement comment – either one from the end of the last piece of work or the target written at the beginning of the current piece.
Teacher handwriting Teacher handwriting needs to be legible and model the school high expectations – fully joined, cursive script that is fluent, fluid and consistent. Teacher marking comments are to be written in purple in order to contrast with pupil work. Spellings Not every incorrect spelling should be corrected by the teacher, but persistent errors and errors in high frequency words should be commented on and the child should respond by writing out the correct spelling three times and adding the word to their personal spelling learning list. Teachers should plan to address common errors. Pupils should be expected to use dictionaries and check for common errors before handing in work – see Nonnegotiables. Marking Codes Marking codes have been developed for consistent use across the school to make feedback accessible for all children and to make marking and feedback manageable for teachers. Marking codes should be displayed in class, shared with children and used by children when peer- assessing. If there is no ‘S’ in the margin, the work has been completed independently. Alternative ways of sharing / celebrating success: o o o o o o o
Openings of lessons Mini – plenaries – e.g. why is this good? Refer to success criteria Plenaries and use of visualizer Assemblies – celebration / phase Achievement awards / certificates Class displays – Magpie Walls, Learning walls, best work etc IWB during EMW 4
Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Guidance for marking by the child: All literacy and numeracy work should be self-assessed by children before the end of the lesson / handing in books. This should be apparent through:
The correction of errors Self-assessment against Success Criteria or target sheets – sometimes called level tick sheets Self-assessment against level descriptors Occasional use of ‘smiley faces’ – to be neatly recorded at the bottom left hand side of the page: I am confident with this learning I need more practice with this learning / I am not confident with this learning
Children should have opportunity to reflect on their own learning and record this using green pen to write an SA (self-assessment) comment.
Guidance for Peer Marking There will be occasions when children mark each other’s work and they will do so using the agreed success criteria, mark code and taught guidelines. Peer and self-assessment have a key role to play in marking and feedback – they empower children to take control of their learning. Within most lessons children should have opportunity to assess their learning and progress – or that of others – against agreed success criteria. Peer marking will be done using a red pen and will be noted at the end of the work with the appropriate code (see above) and pupil initials e.g.
P
BS
Children may select to record their response partner’s feedback comments themselves, but should use red pen to indicate that the feedback has been peer lead as opposed to selfassessment/editing which would be in green pen. Children will be expected to evaluate the work of their peers positively and provide suggestions for improvement. An effective learning environment may include co-operative marking of one pupil book at a time e.g. partner A reads out written work alongside B who gives feedback.
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Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Policy Monitoring, Review & Evaluation: Marking and feedback will be closely monitored by staff, Phase Leaders, SLT and Core Group Governors as part of the school Strategic action Plan through: o o o o
Book trawls Lesson observations Pupil conferencing Phase and whole team moderation tasks
This policy will be evaluated through the year and reviewed in Term 1 - 2017.
Policy Adopted:
________________________________ Date
Chair of Governors:
____________________________
Headteacher:
_________________________________
Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
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Appendix 1
Marking Codes
Whitstable Junior School
Marking Key
Sp
Code
Explanation
Correct answer / good idea
word underlined Sp ^ //
~~~ (wiggly line) date? LI?
spelling mistake
copy out 3 times Find the spelling mistake and correct it missing words
add in the missing words new paragraph needed sentence doesn’t make sense
write out a correct new sentence no date on work
add the date
no focus/title on work
add the LI / title
improvement comment
improve your work
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Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Whitstable Junior School Marking & Feedback Policy GUIDANCE FOR PARENTS
At Whitstable Junior School we wish to provide the very best learning experiences for all our pupils. This leaflet gives information about how assessment is instrumental in unlocking children’s understanding of their learning and providing them with the tools to achieve and become a lifelong learner. The principles of Assessment for Learning Research shows us that children learn best when:
They know what they are going to learn
They know how they are going to learn
They know how they will be assessed
They know how to meet the criteria for assessment
In lessons this means that teachers give children more information about what they are going to learn (the learning objectives) and use more strategies to actively engage them in learning. Teachers use a variety of ways to assess the progress children make and children are part of the process. What does Assessment for Learning at Whitstable Junior School look like in a lesson? There is a clear focus on exactly what is being taught. Children are told the learning objectives (referred to as the LI) so they know exactly what they are learning. Questioning, feedback and marking will all be focussed on checking that the children are achieving these learning objectives. Teachers also help children to recognise what they need to achieve during the lesson and what their work should include in order for them to be successful in their learning (the success criteria). Assessment happens throughout each lesson. We do this in a variety of ways. Below are some examples: Thumbs Up Children use their thumbs to show their own level of understanding. This is instant so teachers can provide extra help during a lesson to support those who need it.
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Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Smiley faces Children draw a circle at the end of their work to show their level of understanding: - I understand! - Not quite there; I need more practice or I don’t understand this yet. Using this method, teachers get an immediate indication of children’s’ understanding, feelings and general confidence levels. This only used occasionally.
Individual whiteboards Following a question from the teacher, the children hold up their answer on an individual whiteboard. This allows the teacher to make a quick assessment of their progress and identify those who are ready to move on and those who may need extra help.
Talk Partners Children may discuss their thinking, answers to questions or decide what is required to complete a task with a talk partner randomly each week. Teachers use this to build children’s confidence and will listen in on conversations to gain an overview of children’s learning.
No Hands Up Whitstable Junior School has a 100% participation policy and all children are expected to join in the lesson through the use of My Turn Your Turn (MTYT) by the teacher, Turn to Your Partner (TTYP) and a range of strategies whereby all children answer all questions. Teachers ask direct questions to individual children too – these are tailored to meet the needs of the child. This means children don’t need to put their hand up and the pace of the lesson is fast and focussed! Teachers often wait longer for answers, giving children thinking and discussion time with their talk partner.
Peer Assessment This is when another child decides how successful your child has been in achieving the learning objective for the lesson. They can highlight successful areas and others for further improvement. At the same time your child will assess another child’s work. This helps children learn about how their work is assessed and what they need to include to move forward with their learning. 9 Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
Self-Assessment Your child decides how successful they were with their learning. They may use the original learning objectives or success criteria for the lesson. They may be asked to set themselves targets for their next piece of work. Feedback and Marking Verbal feedback from the teacher and marking helps children to move forward with their learning. Verbal feedback and marking tells the child what they have learned and what they need to improve to do even better. Feedback and marking like this can be:
Given in a lesson to give the child time to make improvements right away, or written after the lesson.
Given verbally in a lesson, so you may see no written comment after some pieces of work or just an indication that verbal feedback has been given e.g. ‘VF’.
Given after the lesson.
Given by the teacher, teaching assistant, the child themselves or one of their class mates.
Things you might notice Marking will look different; sometimes there will be extensive comments and ways forward for improvement. At other times there may be no written marking, or just an abbreviation to show that assessment took place or feedback was given during the lesson e.g. ‘VF’ (verbal feedback), ‘P’ (peer assessment), ‘S’ (support given), ‘I’ (independent work) . Other children might have written in your child’s book. Work will be marked in purple pen by the teacher or with green (green for grow) highlighter pen to identify ways forward. There may be marking codes used which make reference to assessment guidelines, which indicate that work and has been assessed in relation to national assessment standards. Other codes are used in class with the children to make clear our high expectations of selfreview, proof reading and improvement. Tests Tests still take place as they are another way to monitor children’s progress and attainment. Tests are sometimes called Assessment of Learning. After a test the teacher will give extensive feedback to the class, not just a score or grade. This feedback will include information on how the answers were marked and ways forward for improvement. In this way the test becomes part of learning.
If you have any questions about Assessment for Learning at Whitstable Junior School please contact staff at school for further information. 10 Whitstable Junior School
Marking and Feedback Policy 2016
