Marking & Feedback Policy - Enquirers 2024/25

 

Marking and Feedback Policy 

Enquirers and Navigators

Version

1.3

Review Date

September 2023

Review Cycle

Triennially

Review Due

September 2026

Author / Owner

Hannah Parry

 

 

 

Introduction

Marking complements and assists teaching and learning. It serves as a tool for assessing individual and school performance. Marking should be diagnostic and inform pupils of the next steps needed in their learning in order to improve their work. Marking will also provide focused feedback on the learning objective / success criteria for that lesson whenever appropriate.

This policy clearly outlines our intention for teacher marking based on the Enquirers curriculum area.

The Nature of Marking

All work should be marked in line with the school’s policy.

  • Marking should be constructive.
  • Marking should be done by the teacher or Teaching Assistants (TA) to:
    • indicate achievement in relation to the learning objective/success criteria;
    • show pupils how they can improve their work, and show pupils how they have improved compared to earlier / previous work, and
    • show progress over time.
    • As a result it will:
    • enhance the pupil’s self-esteem and confidence;
    • aid teacher assessment, and
    • help pupils know how they can improve their work.
    • Self checking can also be undertaken by the pupils to:
    • encourage independent learning through self-checking;
    • be more critical in their approach to their work, and
    • aid teacher assessment.

MARKING COMPLETED BY STAFF

Verbal

  • This can take the form of a discussion about work and / or a comment about the quality of work in relation to the success criteria. It provides direct contact with the pupil(s). It is appropriate for all pupils to receive verbal feedback and for some pupils, along with gesture, signing etc, is the most comprehensive and meaningful method of receiving feedback. A verbal exchange may be accompanied by a written mark or e.g. a Vbl to represent verbal feedback, which serves as a record that the pupil has received feedback. In some cases it may be helpful to add anecdotal notes to explain the context in which the work was done. A comment / stamp will show who has supported the learning. (TA/Teacher/ Independent.)

Written

This means notes or comments accompanied by the use of symbols, stamps and stickers.  Notes and comments should be constructive, positive and neat, and relate to the agreed success criteria and where appropriate, inform the next steps needed to make improvements. Written comments should be completed and accompanied by a code (see below) that clearly identifies the level of support or prompt the pupil received to complete the work.

Teachers should write in a different colour to the pupil.

Orange: oops                           Blue: Brilliant                          Purple: Pen of progress

Teacher comment / next steps in black pen.      

A visual representation is also appropriate for some pupils and this can take the form of symbols, stamps and / or stickers. This depends entirely on the needs of the class and motivators that are appropriate. As a result, classes can choose their own symbols, stamps and stickers to use.

Corrections

Not every mistake will need to be corrected and to correct everything is seen as counterproductive for pupil motivation. Marking is intended to be productive and pupils can only learn from it when they are given time to respond to staff comments and make further necessary improvements to their work. Time needs to be given in lessons for pupils to review their work in light of the comments made, either with a member of staff or with learning / talking partner.  Pupils may use a purple pen for their corrections.

Codes for Marking

The following symbols can be indicated on pupil work to support learning:

. = full stop

“ = speech marks

, = comma

C = capital letter

? = question mark

! = exclamation mark

sp = spelling mistake

TA = target achieved

? and squiggle under sentence = this does not make sense e.g. ‘I went but horrid’?

 

A verbal commentary will need to take place where orange has been used.

 

 

Codes for Annotating the Level of Support / Prompts  

I              = independent

VBL       = verbal support (giving contextual clues, not mouthing the answer)

VS          = visual support

GS          = gestural support e.g. signing, facial expression

PPS       = physical support e.g. hand over hand or physically moving the pupil to enable them             to undertake the task

FPS? (S) = scribed by an adult but pupil’s own words

Ext         = Extension Task

Recording

This could be in written form or through photos and video.

1) It should relate to the specific learning outcome(s) that are the focus of the marking for the lesson. A member of staff will scribe and record the response on a monitoring document or as write-ups. At times it may be more beneficial to use video or photographs.

2) Write ups can also be used to celebrate any other achievement not related to the learning outcome.