Madley Brook CP School
Marking and Feedback Policy
October 2015
What is marking?
A written or verbal comment to a child concerning his / her work that informs the child
about what he/she has done well and what he/she needs to do to improve.
Why is work marked?








To improve children’s learning
To provide an on-going dialogue between teacher and pupil
To show the child that his/her work is valued
To share expectations
As part of on-going assessment and monitoring of a child’s progress
Occasionally children will self-assess or peer-assess their own or other’s work. This
will be acknowledged by the teacher
If teaching assistants have been working with a group of children they will mark the
work accordingly to show evidence of support. This will be acknowledge by the class
teacher for monitoring
To inform future lesson planning.
Principles of marking and feedback






The process of marking and offering feedback should be a positive one
Marking should always be against the lesson’s learning outcomes including the class
non-negotiables for technical accuracy for the expected age range
Comments should be appropriate to the age and ability of the child
Children are encouraged to self and peer assess
Completed next steps will be acknowledged by the class teacher and any corrections
needed will be addressed
The best marking and feedback is the dialogue that takes place between the teacher
and the child whilst the task is being completed
General Guidance




In maths, teachers will use a tick for a correct answer and a dot or a circle for
incorrect. Children will be encouraged to re-work incorrect answers.
All children will have time to respond to marking as part of the school day where
marking is appropriate (see below)
Teachers will mark against the learning objective and success criteria
Teachers will comment on spelling, punctuation, grammar or handwriting as
appropriate to the child in the following cases:
 If the spelling, high frequency word, punctuation or grammar is something the
child should know
 It relates to technical / key vocabulary






 If the handwriting is not at the required standard for the individual child
All written comments should be neat and legible
The teacher should aim to mark the work prior to the next lesson however in certain
circumstances not all work is marked (see below)
Comments should aim to be as specific as possible, identifying next steps where
appropriate
Responding to marking – in Key Stage 2 all children have a purple pen to show
corrections
Peer assessment will be used as appropriate to the lesson content. Children will
initial their names after marking is completed
In writing self-assessment in Key Stage 2, where varying different colours are used,
the colours will match the different areas of the success criteria grids where the
objective has been met
Key to marking
Foundation Stage
I
S
Black pen
Green pen
C
T
Independent
Supported
Annotation
Next steps
Copied
Traced
All work initialled and dated
Key Stage 1
Orange Pen
Green Pen
I
S
Sp or circle in
green
VF
^
Marking Stamps
GW
Correct work
Any next steps or changes that need to be made
Independent
Supported
Spelling to correct
Verbal feedback ( in a speech bubble)
Omission
As indicated for NS in literacy
Guided write
Exceptional work
The following subjects may not be marked:
Phonics
Guided practice
Science
Practical sessions
Art
Practical sessions
MFL
Guided practice
Key Stage 2
Green Ink
Orange
Highlighter
I
S
All work will be marked using green ink
Learning objective will be highlighted if met and squiggle line if not
Independent
Supported
GW
TI
Sp
VF
^
Gr
C
//
Guided Write
To intervention
Spelling to correct
Verbal feedback in speech bubble
Learning objective highlighted when achieved
One tick to show LO achieved
Two ticks if good
Three ticks if outstanding
Squiggly line under LO in highlighter pen if not achieved
Block – next step ticked when achieved
Ring around missed capital letter
Omission
Grammar correction
Correction
Use a better word
New paragraph
The following subjects may not be marked:
SPAG
Guided practice
Science
Practical sessions
Art
Practical sessions
MFL
Guided practice
Journals
Child led work
Handwriting
Guided practice
Monitoring and evaluation
This policy will be monitored through learning walks by all staff and reported to
governors annually in subject leader reports.