Marking and Feedback Policy.
Pupils at Abbey Hey Primary Academy benefit from high quality assessment
and constructive feedback which leads to excellent progress in lessons.
Checking for understanding is an embedded feature of learning. Pupils are
fully involved in evaluating their own and each other’s learning and use a
common language for assessment for learning to excellent effect.
‘The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest
prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback.’
Professor John Hattie (Influences on Student Learning)
1. Rationale
Feedback / marking is the process where children are informed about what they have achieved
and what they need to do to improve. Feedback is a positive form of communication based on
learning intentions and success criteria. It can be verbal or written and could be from teacher to
child, teaching assistant to child, child to teacher or child to child. Written feedback may take the
form of acknowledgement marking or in-depth marking linked to the planned learning.
2. Principles
Marking and feedback should be:
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If possible immediate or as soon as possible after the child has completed the work.
Be manageable for all teaching staff
Involve all adults in the classroom
Be seen by pupils as useful and positive
Inform future planning and targets
Be accessible and inclusive
Relate to the learning objective and success criteria
Be responded to.
3. Key characteristics for Assessment for Learning
Effective learning takes place when learners understand what they are trying to achieve and
why it is important – context. Staff should always consider the context and share it with pupils
where appropriate, applying it to real life. The learning intention must be shared with pupils at
the start of every lesson; this enables pupils to review their own progress and to see if they have
achieved the objective.
Success Criteria: Developing a success criteria to achieve the learning objective will provide
children with a framework against which to focus their efforts, evaluate their progress and
discuss issues. Success criteria’s must be generated with pupils during the teacher modelling (I)
part of the lesson. They should be displayed prominently in the classroom so children are able
to refer to them. For the extended, independent piece of Literacy, the Success Criteria should
be stuck on the right hand side of the book and should be presented as a grid enabling
children to self and peer assess throughout the lesson.
4. Feedback
The purpose of assessment for learning is to provide feedback in such a way that learning will
improve as a result. Teaching staff will need to identify next steps in learning as well as
responding to mistakes. Feedback will always be constructive and sensitive. Feedback must
always comment on the work; not the child.
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Verbal – the most immediate and interactive form of feedback
Focus on being constructive and informative
Self and peer assessment – we recognise the value of peer and self-assessment. This is not a
strategy that should be used to replace teacher marking. It must be done as well as and
used as a reflective tool to support children’s learning. Any self-assessment must be
completed in gel pen and peer assessment must be completed in a black pen.
5. Marking
Marking is only of value if comments are read and responded to. When work is distance
marked, teachers must allow pupils time to respond to their comments at the start of the next
lesson (Find & Fix Time). Improvements must be made using a coloured gel pen. Children must
not rub out work that has been previously marked during Find and Fix time. Clear evidence
that children have improved their work must be seen in all books. Staff must be mindful that
their comments are not the same throughout the children’s books as this will demonstrate that
children are not progressing.
Literacy Marking:
All children’s books must be marked daily and all pieces of work acknowledged by the
teacher. A schedule will be set up whereby all children have at last two in depth marks per
week. Children’s successes should be highlighted in green and next steps written in red. All
teacher’s comments should be linked to steps in the success criteria and be designed to move
children’s learning forward. When a teacher has modelled a skill for a child, there must be an
opportunity for the child to practice the skill to demonstrate that they have understood the
marking and feedback given.
Teachers should be mindful that there is parity amongst the number of comments they give
each child. There should be a maximum of two next step comments.
A maximum of five spellings should be corrected in any one piece of work. These words should
be high frequency words that are used regularly by the child. The words should be written on
the right hand side of the page and practiced in find and fix time. Any words that the children
have underlined having identified that they are unsure of the correct spelling should be
corrected by the teacher in the margin.
When marking is not in depth, staff must use the time when children are working solo to
circulate around the class (walk, talk, find, fix), addressing misconceptions they see in
children’s books. This instant feedback must be given using green and red pens, as above.
Successes should be highlighted in green and areas for improvement in pink.
Maths Marking:
Maths work should be marked daily. All tasks should be marked with a tick for something
correct, or a dot where something is incorrect. Ticks are in green and dots are in red. Children
should have time to correct their misconceptions in find and fix time. Teachers must model
correct methods in children’s books where the child has not understood the concept. This
should be done in red pen. Teachers should add underneath their modelling, an opportunity
for the child to practice the skill explained. There is no value in comments such as ’Well Done’
or ‘Good Try’ as this does not move learning forward. If all work is correct, challenges should
be set to move learning forward towards mastery of the learning intention.
Foundation Subjects: As we are using a cross curricular approach, marking for all foundation
subjects must be done in the same way as Literacy.
Supply Teachers
Work completed when the class teacher is absent must be marked in accordance with the
steps in the marking policy. It is the class teacher’s responsibility to ensure that all learning in
the books of children in their class is marked in accordance with the marking policy. It is
unacceptable to write ‘Supply’ if a cover teacher took the lesson.