Introduction

At Luddendenfoot we believe that effective marking can provide clear feedback to children about strengths and weaknesses in their work and can recognise, encourage and reward children’s effort and progress.

Aims

To provide a clear record of children’s progress.
To praise effort and to support and encourage learning
To focus teachers on those areas of learning where groups and individual children need specific help
To help parents to see the strengths and weaknesses in children’s work

Broad guidelines

When marking children’s work, teachers need to consider whether:

Comments are to form the basis of a discussion between teacher and child
Children are expected to read the comments
Comments are to inform future work
Comments are to correct or improve an existing piece of work

Comments on a child’s work should:

Have due consideration to the ability of the child
Relate to planned learning objectives
Be legible and clear in meaning
Recognise children’s achievements
Wherever possible indicate the next step in children’s learning

Teachers will aim to mark work with children present as often as possible. All work should be marked promptly using a green pen. Whenever possible, teachers should try to build time into lessons for children to respond to the marking.

SYMBOLS FOR ANNOTATING CHILDREN’S WRITING

Use annotations to show where improvements are needed and focus on a target or aspect of writing.

Squiggle under a word = weak word. Try again!
Upside down V = missing word, insert a good word, phrase or clause.
R = repetition. Find it and change it!
Brackets = rewrite this bit so that I can understand it.
Arrow = insert an extra section here. For example develop an argument further.
? = there is something wrong here. Find it and put it right.
Circle whole section of text = rewrite this part.
// = start a new line
//P = start a new paragraph

Spelling

Focus on common words and patterns and on aspects of spelling that you know have been taught, otherwise the children will learn that they can ignore what they have been taught!

If there are several errors, focus on the common ones.

SP underneath and to left of word = spelling error.
You can either underline the word and correct above/in margin or circle the word which asks the pupil to correct it.

Punctuation

Focus on accuracy, starting with full stops.

For those who are ‘bright but careless’, write the number of errors at the top of the page and ask them to find these errors and insert the correct punctuation.
Less confident children could work in pairs, re-reading their work and inserting punctuation.
The least confident may need you to write an X in the margin to indicate each line where punctuation should be added.

STRATEGIES FOR MARKING

EFFECTIVE MARKING

Use a notepad when writing so that you can make notes about common aspects that need improving. These can then inform decisions when writing group targets.
Look for a few effective examples from the children’s work to discuss with the whole class.
Where possible, plan into the next session feedback from marking. Encourage children to respond to the marking.
Speed up the process of marking by using a highlighter pen to indicate effective parts of a child’s writing. This can be used to identify where a specific lesson objective has been achieved or where progress has been made.
Older pupils could write a comment before handing work in, drawing your attention to what they are pleased with or an aspect that they want you to look at. Ask them to ‘tick’ their best bit and to bracket a section that they are concerned about and label it with a question mark.

WRITING COMMENTS

Not every piece of writing requires a comment! Where a comment is made, try the following:

Address the writer – use the child’s name – or nothing will happen!
Be specific. For example, ‘I like the way your dialogue shows how angry the character feels’.
Avoid vague comments like ‘Well done, James!’ This may be kind but it is not effective marking.
Note one aspect that needs to be worked on again, using a sentence such as, ‘Next time, use a question mark at the end to make the reader think about the issue’.
When work is returned, ask the children to read their comments and initial or sign when read. Older children could write a response commenting on what they have learned from the marking.

FOCUSED MARKING

Ensure that marking is focused. This makes marking quicker and more effective:

Mark to the lesson objective
Pick up on progress towards targets
Focus on where the children have ticked or bracketed aspects that they are pleased with or are concerned about
Use marking to insist on basic aspects that have been taught but not learned, for example, using a full stop

Focus on a section or aspect of the text – the opening, the dialogue or the use of complex sentences. It is helpful if the children are clear of the focus before they write. This can be written at the top of the page as a reminder or built into a title/objective: ‘I need to (or I can) write an ending that shows how the character has changed.’

ANNOTATING WRITING

When marking, use annotations (see symbols) to identify weak areas in writing. This helps to speed up marking and encourages children to improve their own work. Where possible,(!) when you return work to the class they should spend five minutes polishing their writing and making improvements where you have indicated. They can do this individually or with partners. Try the following routing:

Return all books
The children read your comments, and sign and write a response if they wish.
Show a child’s example on the class board
The author reads aloud and identifies one aspect that he or she likes as well as areas that need improvement
The class comments on strengths and makes suggestions for improvements to the author.
You focus the class on an objective or aspect of progress
All of the children polish their own writing, making changes where your marking has indicated.

Evaluation and review

This policy will be evaluated and reviewed biannually by the teaching staff at the school. It will be approved, dated and signed by the Headteacher and the Chair of Governors at a full Governors meeting.

Signed

Headteacher ………………………………

Chair of Governors……………………….

Date……………………………………….