Policy for Marking and Feedback at Quilters Infant School Introduction THIS DOCUMENT IS a statement of the aims, principals and strategies for the Marking and Feedback of work at Quilters Infant School. IT WAS DEVELOPED during the Spring Term 2012 through a process of consultation with teaching staff and Governors. IT WAS APPROVED by the Curriculum and Pupil Related Matters Committee on the 12 th March 2012. THIS POLICY WILL BE REVIEWED according to the School Development Plan and Policy Checklist. --------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- Headteacher Chair of Curriculum and Pupil Related Matters Committee -------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- Chair of Governors Date 1
Policy for Marking and Feedback at Quilters Infant School Definition Marking and Feedback are strategies used to inform the teacher, child and parent of the progress that is being made and a vision of where the child needs to move onto. Purpose of this Policy This document provides a framework for high quality teaching and learning through marking and feedback across the whole school. Principles of Marking and Feedback of Children s Work We believe that staff should provide constructive feedback to every child, focusing on success and improvement needs against learning objectives enabling children to become reflective learners and helping them to close the gap between current and desired performance. Marking and Feedback should: Be manageable for teachers Relate to learning objectives, which need to be shared with children Involve all adults working with children in the classroom Give children opportunities to become aware of and reflect on their learning needs Give recognition and appropriate praise for achievement Give clear strategies for improvement Allow specific time for children to read, reflect and respond to marking Respond to individual learning needs, marking face-to-face with some and at a distance for others. Inform future planning and individual target setting Be accessible to children Use consistent codes throughout the school Ultimately be seen by children as positive in improving their learning Encourage and teach children to self-mark wherever possible Aims Our aims in Marking and Feedback are: To recognise and appreciate that every child is an individual and has different strengths To develop self-esteem, self-confidence and positive attitude towards their work To develop self-motivation, concentration, application and critical evaluation To develop the ability to share and discuss their own achievements and those of others To establish high expectations and high standards of work, behaviour and attitudes To provide a consistent approach to marking and feedback throughout the school and within each year group To ensure a child s good work, effort, behaviour and attitude is appreciated To inform teachers and other adults as to the child s progress and give recommendations to assist future progress Strategies There is an agreed marking code which is used by all staff throughout the school These codes can be drawn, stamped or used on a sticker The codes are displayed around the class and referred to throughout the day A copy of the codes is stuck in front of the children s Literacy and Maths books All marking is completed in black pen All marking should be clear and legible 2
The emphasis in marking should be on both the success against the learning objective and improvement needs against the learning objective Focused comments should help the child in closing the gap between what they have achieved and what they could have achieved. Spelling, punctuation, grammar and so on should not be asked for in every piece of narrative writing Children should be self-evaluative wherever possible. Children are encouraged to use traffic lights to indicate how they feel they have done Paired and shared marking is used as a way of analysing the learning taking place Organisation Where possible, children should be encouraged to self-mark Set less work, especially in literacy and mathematics, so that time can be allowed to go through work and mark as a class Wherever class discussion takes place, feedback is given orally. Notes might also be necessary to inform future planning as a result of the discussion findings Children need to have some feedback about their work, but flexibility is important, depending on the nature of the task and the time available Distance marking should be accessible to children and manageable for teachers. Use the school codes against learning intentions wherever possible When work has been distance marked, time should be given for children to read and wherever possible make improvements. In order for the marking to be formative, the information must be used and acted on by the children Homework: Should consist of positive comments in the child s reading diary and give suggestions to encourage progress Any written homework should be marked before the next set of homework is given out Words given to learn as sight vocabulary/spellings are assessed on a weekly basis and verbal feedback is given to each child Excellence in good work is celebrated in display and performance including: Sharing work with rest of class/school Work being included in class books Displays in class/school Showing work to Headteacher and receiving a Headteacher s award in assembly. Exhibition evenings for parents Responsibilities SCHOOL STAFF work towards the school s aims by: Ensuring that marking and feedback lessons are taught to a high standard, with consistency across the year group, in accordance with this policy and planning Providing challenging and stimulating marking and feedback lessons designed to engage all children, enabling them to reach high standards of personal achievement Recognising and being constantly aware of the needs of each individual child SUBJECT LEADER works towards the school s aims by: Being enthusiastic about marking and feedback and leading the development of this through the whole school Developing an action plan to further improve the quality of teaching and learning in marking and feedback 3
Reviewing the policy and scheme of work/planning in consultation with staff Taking lead responsibility for implementing this policy and ensuring consistency of approach throughout the school, through leading staff development sessions (in groups or with individuals), monitoring planning, work, lessons and attainment data Keeping up to date with developments in marking and feedback through reading and research THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM (Headteacher and Senior Staff) work towards the school s aims by: Supporting school staff and subject leader in their implementation of the policy Supporting the subject leader in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the policy throughout the school GOVERNORS work towards the school s aims by: Taking responsibility for monitoring the implementation of this policy and action plan Making regular visits to school to collect evidence and monitor their areas of responsibility Writing visit notes and recording information collected Feeding back to the subject leader/members of staff as appropriate Reporting back to the Governing Body Curriculum and Pupil Related Matters Committee Reading reports/minutes produced by staff, other professionals, governors or committees Monitoring and Evaluation The Governors, Senior Leadership Team and Subject Leader are responsible for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of this policy by: Reviewing performance data Reviewing long, medium and short term planning across the school Carrying out work samples and lesson observations Discussions with staff and pupils Contributing to discussion at termly Curriculum and Pupil Related Matters Committee meetings 4
How our work will be marked I have achieved the objective and I have done what I was asked to do. I have used great ideas! a connective eg then, next, finally. Something is incorrect. I need to listen for sounds when I am spelling new words. a capital I when writing about myself. ^ Something is missing. I need to look carefully and check my work. letter joins. -------------- A spelling is incorrect. finger spaces. I need to hold my pencil correctly. I need to think about capital letters in the correct place. I need to think and rehearse what I want to write. R I need to remember full stops. different punctuation. I I worked independently. I need to write neatly on the lines. 5
S I needed some support. I need to write my letters the correct way. 6