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This policy forms part of a whole school policy for
teaching and learning and includes Early Years. It relates to the
ethos of the School and has direct links with curriculum planning
and assessment.
How children's work is received and marked and the nature of
feedback given to them will have a direct bearing on learning
attitudes and future achievements.
The policy must be: |
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- Consistently applied by all staff and clear in its purpose
- Manageable
- Productive in its outcomes
- Informed by pupils' individual learning needs and previous
assessments
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In as far as is reasonable, the School needs a
common, manageable policy on marking that is implemented by all the
teachers. The policy should state whether to use stickers, praise,
levels, percentages, grades/marks, comments, etc. or any combination
thereof, and at what stages of pupil development. Basic skills, e.g,
Language/literacy and Numeracy are developed and enhanced in all
curricular areas if pupils receive praise when: |
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- reading and writing for different observers, e.g. parents,
friends, teachers and other adults;
- working with others, e.g. teachers, friends, and peers in
problem solving exercises;
- sharing reading exercises with other children (group work)
or with a teacher/adult;
- evaluating and reviewing a piece of work in discussion with
other children and the teacher;
- they think about the quality of what they have read, and
their own creative writing with either the teacher or the class;
- their work is marked or discussed by a teacher who asks
questions such as 'How?', 'Why?' and 'When?', etc. to expand on
the child's use of language.
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Differences in the National Curriculum subjects
make it difficult to operate one system to grade/mark, or show
levels on pupils' work. Although each teacher will certainly have
his/her own ideas and considerations about marking, the School
Policy should have the following features: |
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- particularly in the early years marking needs to be simple,
positive and child friendly. This can be helped by the use of
stickers, smiley faces and stars.
- the marking should provide pupils and parents with clear and
relevant feedback, indicating levels of performance, and
suggesting strategies for improvement, and goals to be achieved.
- marking should be part of a continuous process to show
parents/guardians how well their son/daughter is performing, and
where help can be given to improve areas of their work, i.e.
continuity for pupils, parents and teachers is important.
- the marking/recording process should allow for an easy
transfer of marks from the pupils' work, to their National
Curriculum records.
- marking should be fully integrated with any system of
rewards where, e.g. house points, stars or commendations are
awarded.
- teachers need to decide when it is applicable to mark to a
more structured degree using symbols and comments in addition to
the stickers, etc. It is hoped that eventually many pupils' work
will be marked in a similar way to that used in secondary
schools - this will aid progression between the phases of
compulsory education.
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- to recognise, encourage and reward children's efforts and
achievement, and to celebrate success
- to provide a dialogue between teacher and child; and clear,
appropriate feedback about strengths and weaknesses in their
work
- to improve child's confidence in reviewing their own work
and setting future targets
- to indicate how a piece of work could be amended and
improved in relation to assessment criteria
- to help pupils in KS2 to develop an awareness of the
standards they need to reach in order to achieve particular
levels of the National Curriculum
- to identify pupils who need additional support/more
challenging work and to identify the nature of the
support/challenges needed
- to provide evidence of assessments made and help moderate
the interpretation of learning objectives and levels achieved
- to assist curriculum planning
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Marking should highlight positive aspects, and be
clear and appropriate in its purpose - it needs to be constructive
and the outcomes need to be an integral part of planning if it is to
impact upon learning. |
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If children are to develop as independent learners,
with an awareness of their own strengths and targets for
development, it is essential that: |
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- they are made aware of the learning objective, the purpose
of the task and the relevant success criteria (this is what we
are going to do and this is how I will be marking it.)
- the learning needs of individual children are catered for,
and that the work is pitched and assessed appropriately
- they have the opportunity for peer and self-assessment to
develop skills in identifying how to amend or improve a piece of
work
- work is marked in such a way that achievement is
acknowledged and teaching points are identified
- where appropriate, marking and feedback is linked directly
to children's individual targets at learning is underpinned by
the confidence that every learner can improve
- marking is consistent
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Wherever possible marking takes place with the
children. It should offer guidance as to whether learning targets
have been met and suggest the next steps the children should take in
their learning. |
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In order to achieve a whole school approach,
marking methods must be agreed and should be: |
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- central to classroom practice
- part of effective planning
- developmental across the age-range, sensitive and
constructive
- consistently applied by all those working with children in
school, including support staff
- monitored by Subject Co-ordinators
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- comments should refer to the learning objective and success
criteria
- comments may form the basis of a discussion between teacher
and child, e.g. reviewing targets set, comments may be oral or
written, formal or informal
- comments may be given on a group or individual basis
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- is most powerful and has maximum impact when pointing out
successes and improvement needs against the learning objectives
- is usually interactive and developmental. It may give
reassurance or a quick check on progress. The effect of teacher
comments will be seen in a child's response in moving on to the
next learning step.
- may be in the form of an individual or group conference
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- should be in a colour that can be clearly seen
- should be legible and clear in meaning
- should be developmental e.g. target setting
- must be allotted time where children are expected to read
comments made on their work
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- Staff should agree to common marking practices
- When written feedback is provided, time needs to be built
into lesson/activity sessions for children to reflect on any
marking and respond to this
- Guided writing sessions should include time for giving
children feedback, including reviewing children's current
writing targets
- Teachers should always mark that aspect of a pupil's work
which relates to the learning objective/success criteria.
- Spelling corrections should normally be limited to words the
child should know
- Any 'coding' or short-hand marking should be consistent
throughout the Key Stage/School
- Sensitivity should always be shown towards children's work
and positive comments should precede any targets for improvement
where appropriate
- Use of a child's name in a written comment personalises it
- Sharing work with the whole class can help pupils to make
progress
- Peer or self-assessment against learning objectives and
success criteria can help to empower a child to identify their
learning needs and have control over future targets
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- Self-esteem is a significant factor in being a successful
learner and high expectations can only be fulfilled with
parallel measures to develop self-esteem
- All achievements are linked, as each builds further
confidence in future goals; links should be made explicit to
children
- Children should see learning as a continuum which, given
time, anyone can master
- Some pupils may prefer to celebrate achievements privately,
rather than publicly
- Achievements will be celebrated through whole school, House
and classroom based rewards
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