Ibstock Junior School
Feedback, Marking and Presentation Policy
Date December 2014
Ibstock Junior School
Feedback, Marking and Presentation
Policy
Signed
Head Teacher
Date
December 2014
Review Date
December 2017
Page 1
Ibstock Junior School
Feedback, Marking and Presentation Policy
Date December 2014
1. Philosophy
It is important that children know that their efforts will be recognised, and that feedback will be
given to both acknowledge their achievements, and to enable them to make progress. At Ibstock
Junior School we believe that the marking of children’s work is part of that recognition and
feedback. It forms an essential part of the assessment process by providing a commentary on the
knowledge, understanding and skills demonstrated in the work. Marked work provides a record of
the progress and attainment of a pupil.
Marking must take account of the ability, developmental stage and needs of the individual pupil
with feedback indicating the steps required for progress. Pupils should be encouraged as much as
possible and, ideally work should be discussed at the time and comment and advice shared.
Written comments should be followed by advice and guidance. Children should take pride in the
presentation of their work and see good modelling of this in their learning environment.
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Aims and objectives
We mark children's work and offer feedback in order to:
show that we value the children's work, and encourage them to value it too
boost the pupils' self-esteem, and raise aspirations, through use of praise and
encouragement. The main objective of marking and feedback is not to find fault, but to help
children learn. If children's work is well matched to their abilities, then errors that need to be
corrected will not be so numerous as to affect their self-esteem
give the children a clear general picture of how far they have come in their learning, and
how they can improve their work in the future
offer the children specific information on the extent to which they have met the lesson
objectives and targets set
promote self-assessment, whereby the children recognise their difficulties, and are
encouraged to accept guidance from others
share expectations
gauge the children's understanding, and identify any misconceptions
provide a basis for summative and formative assessment
provide the ongoing assessment that informs future teaching and learning
improve the standard and presentation of written work across all curriculum areas, aiming
for consistency, continuity and progression.
The pupil will be aware of what they are able to do and what it is that they need to do as a
next step improvement
The pupil will be aware that their effort/ achievement have been acknowledged
Written feedback is clear and concise - appropriate to intended learning outcomes
Feedback is constructive
Reference is made to previous marking comments, as appropriate
There needs to be a balance between positive and developmental marking
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Ibstock Junior School
Feedback, Marking and Presentation Policy
Date December 2014
2. The teachers
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Developmental marking/feedback are to be given within a maximum of 2 working days
Staff marking should be in green pen
There is no requirement or expectation to ‘tick’ every calculation in maths books.
Oral feedback- indicated by the ‘We have discussed this’ stamp or similar comment V for
verbal in a circle or an appropriate stamp.
Comment stamps can be used to reinforce acknowledgement of achievement/effort
(differentiated for cover supervisors and support staff)
Marking should be consistent, clear and focused – against identified criteria
E.g. steps to success
indicates next step for child/improvement prompt
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indicates something positive/correct in the child’s work
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It is an expectation that pupils respond to all marking. Therefore they should be given time
to respond to feedback – use check previous learning slide at the start of the next lesson.
Teachers and support staff check that children are responding fully using pink polishing
pen. ‘Ticked’ marking can be initialled.
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Pupils should be given direct guidance regarding next steps so that they understand how
they can improve their work e.g.
First add the units and then the tens. This will help.
When improvement prompts are used, teachers must check that children have made
changes later in their book, otherwise marking is ineffective. E.g:
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Next, please write your y and p letters clearly below the line, like this…
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Open up questions to children to extend or improve their work (especially for higher ability),
not: can you think of an adjective? Did you find it difficult today? But:
Write 2 powerful adjectives below to describe the curtain.
Find 2 prime numbers between 50 and 60.
Find the difference between 107 and 89.
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When marking writing
Teachers’ should try to comment positively on the child as a writer
Only key spellings will be corrected, as determined by the class teacher. Children will
practise that word 3 times at the bottom of the piece of writing.
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Ibstock Junior School
Feedback, Marking and Presentation Policy
Date December 2014
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Teachers can put a ‘P’ for punctuation and ‘G’ for grammar in the margin to indicate there is
a mistake on that line that needs to be addressed
To differentiate marking of writing of for higher ability children, teachers can provide a
challenge summary: there are three grammar mistakes in this paragraph. Please locate
them and improve your sentences
3. The children
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Pupils my use traffic lights system to indicate their level of understanding, or leave a
learning reflection.
The vast majority of feedback marking is responded to by pupils.
When self-assessing, in handwriting, children underline their favourite joins or words
Use pink pen for editing or ‘polishing’ if appropriate.
Pupil to respond to initial marking and feedback where appropriate. Upper KS2 are
expected to respond in sentences, where appropriate.
Children should peer-assess where possible. Upper KS2 children should write full
sentences in their partner’s book. Children should avoid colouring grids to peer-assess as
this is time consuming.
4. Presentation outcomes
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Our agreed page format: summarised as D U M T U M
Date – long in books (day, month and year) on the left hand side of the page
for Maths and any worksheets use short date e.g. 1.9.11
Underline
Miss a line
Title (or Learning Outcome)
Underline
Miss a line
Add Learning objective if this is in addition to the title e.g. L.O. I can …
Use a legible neat cursive script
Write one digit per square in Maths’ books
Diagrams should be drawn and labelled in pencil
Writing in blue ink (pencil until pen is appropriate)
The top line of learning journals are not to be written on
Mistakes – rule/draw one neat line through a mistake. Erasers to be used at the teacher’s
discretion
No ‘graffiti’ on books or covers
Items stuck in are neatly presented
5. Presentation – our practice
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Short, regular handwriting sessions e.g. starter activity modelled by teacher
Pupil to have a clear and large enough work space and clean hands
Ensure correct posture e.g. exercises for gross motor moving to fine motor skills
Seat to ensure left and right handed pupils are not ‘clashing’
Pencil is sharp and of an appropriate length
Pupils may use specialist pencils to help with grip
Model page format and good handwriting
Provide guide lines for pupils writing on plain paper
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Ibstock Junior School
Feedback, Marking and Presentation Policy
Date December 2014
Monitoring and review
We are aware of the need to monitor and update the school's marking and feedback policy on a
regular basis, so that we can take account of improvements made in our practice. We will therefore
review this policy in three years, or earlier if necessary.
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