Marking, Feedback and

Assessment Policy

DOCUMENT DETAILS

Category: Educational

Approved By: Local Governing Committee

Version: 1

Status: Approved

Issue Date: 09/07/2019

Next Review Date: 09/07/2020 (Annual)

Signed:

Headteacher

Chair of Governors

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Aim

To establish a clear approach that acknowledges the range of activities and processes through which teachers at Paxman Academy across all department areas come to know about the achievements of our students and the extent of the knowledge, skills and understanding that they have developed. Considered marking, assessment and feedback will inform students of what they need to do to improve and will inform teacher planning and monitoring. Regular and timely marking, feedback and assessments are the vehicles by which teachers can advise students of their progress, their targets and how to close any gap that might exist between the two. To ensure that all approaches and practices take into consideration the ‘Workload Principles’ relating to marking, as set out by Nikki Morgan, Secretary of State for Education, in March 2016. These stated that all marking should be ‘Meaningful’, ‘Manageable’ and ‘Motivating’. Rationale

Marking, feedback and assessment have a variety of purposes. Firstly, students should act upon their feedback in order to make progress over time. They also inform future planning and teaching. Essentially, they inform dialogue between teacher and student. Teacher marking, feedback and assessment should be something that students use as a vehicle to move forward in their learning. The overarching aim of effective marking, feedback and assessment is to get students to actively engage in the process by taking the appropriate actions to improve their learning.

Marking, feedback and assessment at Paxman Academy is viewed as a tool for facilitating the development of a ‘can do’ attitude, which enables pupils to improve upon their best. Marking, feedback and assessment provides a clear framework within which central learning objectives can be set and students’ progress against these monitored accurately. This should be done in partnership with the students. Written and Verbal Feedback should:

Be predominantly encouraging and constructive Relate to specific skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to the lesson objectives and

contribute to student success Promote high standards of literacy and oracy Provide positive feedback Challenge the students to think for themselves Present pupils with accurate, timely and constructive feedback on their progress, and identify

their next steps for improvement Celebrate and reward pupils’ attitude to learning and progress Promote a positive self-image for learners in accordance with school aims, and, through this,

encourage them to value and take pride in their work

Summative Assessment Tasks should:

Allow for accurate and timely reporting of student progress and development to stakeholders Enable comparative analysis of individual and school levels of attainment with national

indicators Guide future planning, teaching and curriculum development Comply with statutory requirements Be standardised and in-line with the assessment and reporting schedules for the whole

school and within departments Provide evidence that is recorded in Go4Schools and informs reporting

Monitoring and evaluation of marking, feedback and assessment

The quality and frequency of marking, feedback and assessment will be monitored by:

Termly marking spotlights which will have a specific whole school and departmental focus. Staff marking, feedback and assessment practices to be peer reviewed and agreed targets put

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in place. SLT will also be attached to different subject areas to support and review marking, feedback and assessment practices.

Marking spotlight evaluation feedback Learning walks and lesson observations The Leadership Team through monitoring of assessment schedules, and other relevant

planning documents Termly Student Voice Ensuring that formal and informal assessment opportunities cover all attainment targets and

relevant knowledge, skills and understanding by ensuring these are all written clearly into schemes of work.

Ensuring that all lessons are being taught from an agreed scheme of work

Monitoring will consist of checking for marking, feedback and assessment in the following areas:

Accuracy of content Quality of written communication including use of literacy code and checking of key terms In written feedback, Steps for Success comments that are specific to the skills, knowledge

and concepts required to achieve learning outcomes Questioning and challenges being put in place to develop and stretch students’ thinking Use of self and peer-assessment which is clearly signposted and uses a red pen That a dialogue with students and their learning is visible and where students are responding

to feedback and this is evidenced through progress The quality and presentation of pupil work Home learning tasks are clearly signposted and marked either by teacher, self or peer. That students clearly understand where they currently are and what they need to do next to

progress in their learning That clear opportunities for moderation take place to ensure consistency and accuracy of

assessment Any online assessment tools being used to support marking, feedback and assessment are

easily accessible to SLT and are in line with the school’s policy

Frequency of Marking, Feedback and Assessment:

A minimum of one summative assessment for each unit of study that is recorded in Go4Schools and where appropriate in-depth feedback for the student has been provided. Staff are responsible for ensuring that all marksheet entries are kept up to date on Go 4 Schools.

A minimum of two pieces of homework each term are marked and these marks are recorded in Go4Schools

Formative, in-depth marking should take place at least every 3 to 6 weeks, depending on the frequency of lessons. A specific comment on learning achieved against the learning objectives set needs to be made at the end of a piece of work, together with Steps for Success, which outline next steps in learning.

Formative verbal feedback should be provided every lesson through the use of effective assessment for learning and peer and self-assessment techniques.

Principles of Assessment and Marking Teachers are encouraged to make use of a variety of techniques when assessing students’ work. Formative assessment The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by teachers to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Three main types of formative marking teachers could use are:

1. Acknowledgement marking 2. Quality teacher marking 3. Quality student marking

The main features of each of the above types of marking are:

1. Acknowledgement marking

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Checking that work has been completed to the expected standard Correcting obvious and/or consistent mistakes using the literacy code Supports quality teacher marking Helps develop peer and self-assessment skills Teachers can acknowledge work through various methods e.g. ticks, simple marks,

corrections, think pink etc. Work can also be acknowledged using whole school or department stamps Student errors that are made repeatedly or are vital to the work should be highlighted by the

teacher for the student to concentrate on and in some cases made the topic of further class explanation, demonstration and practise.

2. Quality teacher feedback and assessment will:

Use developmental comments to help pupils understand what they need to do to improve that is underpinned by the skills, knowledge and concepts relevant to the learning outcomes.

Use “Steps for Success” comments and encourage students to respond this feedback. Use of the school stamp aids this process.

Use summative assessment Ensure that the quantity and form of feedback given is appropriate for each individual

student. Ensure all students are meeting the highest expectations, holding students to account where

this is not evident, and ensure that further challenge and opportunities to extend are put in place for those that are

Identify any lapses in student presentation and deal with this appropriately Verbal or written feedback exists for the benefit of the student; for the teacher, it is an

opportunity for giving confidential one-to-one feedback. Reflection time for the “Steps for Success” process should be built in to lesson plans and

schemes of work to allow students to respond to the feedback given. Show clear correcting of obvious and/or consistent mistakes using the literacy code Help to develop peer and self-assessment skills Inform future planning

3. Quality marking by students

When student’s work is assessed by their peers or by themselves they should be given clear guidelines to aid the assessment and feedback process. This could take the form of suggestions for or examples of feedback or a list of key points or words against which the students can assess the work. Work that has been assessed either through self or peer assessment should be completed with a red pen. Where a specific mark or grade has been applied it should be verified afterwards by the teacher. Students should be taught to do this effectively and time should be given to make sure that not only is the feedback meaningful but also that students have time to respond and reflect on the feedback.

Summative assessment The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning by comparing it against a standard or benchmark. In practice this is a grade or band that is awarded to quantify achievement and should include success criteria. This should identify strengths and areas of improvement. Summative Marking should include marking of end of unit assessments to judge student attainment and, therefore, progress made at a given point in time. These assessment opportunities should be written into schemes of work. Summative marking is most effective when combined with formative marking and students should be given time in lessons to reflect on their work, where appropriate, when it has been marked in this way. Opportunities for moderation of these pieces should be planned to ensure consistency and accuracy. Literacy Assessment All teachers are encouraged to mark for literacy and to introduce tasks specifically aimed at improving literacy. Staff are not necessarily expected to correct every punctuation and grammatical error in every piece of writing. Neither will every spelling mistake need to be corrected. However, in order to help

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students develop their literacy skills, key pieces of work should be selected and marked using the literacy code displayed below:

Literacy Marking Symbol Explanation Sp (with word underlined) Spelling error

Underline the word or the part of the word and write sp in the margin

P Punctuation error Underline the error and write p in the margin

G Error in expression of Standard English Underline the error and write g in the margin

np New Paragraph needed

cl Capital letter misuse

This code will help students acknowledge mistakes and encourage them to improve their written work. Literacy boxes are available to help students make the necessary amendments. Resources in each box includes a selection of dictionaries and thesauruses. Steps for Success The School believes that students should respond to feedback and have the opportunity to make the necessary improvements following feedback from the class teacher. There is an expectation that students will be provided with reflection time on a frequent basis as part of the agreed scheme of work. This time ensures the feedback provided to students outlining the next steps in their learning is responded to and helps the students to make progress following a piece of work. The time dedicated to Reflect on Steps to Success marking will vary depending on the task and feedback targets set. Examples of Steps to Success marking include:

Responding to precise feedback. Using teacher feedback to reflect and analyse work in order to make improvements. Replying to questions which extend understanding.

Reflection time must be built into the planning of key lessons immediately following extended feedback. It can take the form of a starter activity lasting a few minutes or be a fuller, lengthier opportunity dependent on the activity, the subject or key stage – this will be decided by the class room teacher as appropriate. Teachers may choose to plan “Do it now” or “Close the Gap” activities to close the feedback loop and ensure improvements are made. Written presentation of work Please refer to the School’s Presentation policy. Paxman Academy Non-Negotiables and Responsibilities for Marking, Feedback and Assessment:

Role Responsibility Teacher Ensure student work receives written and verbal feedback that is in line with

school policy To use the literacy marking codes as appropriate That any online assessment tools used are also in line with the school policy

and easily accessible to Senior Leaders To share good practice of marking, feedback and assessment in meetings To ensure that students adhere to the presentation policy of the school and

department To record assessment data in Go4Schools To ensure that work being marked or assessed is meaningful and motivating

for students

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SLT To ensure all staff use strategies for marking, feedback and assessment that are in line with the school’s policies and expectations

Develop and implement a programme of monitoring that takes into account the varied approaches to marking, feedback and assessment that are used across the school, whilst still adhering to the school policy

Monitor the quality and accuracy of marking, assessment and feedback take necessary steps to deal with issues of underperformance

Organise staff at each marking spotlight, and keep a record of outcomes and targets

Plan opportunities to moderate key assessment activities to ensure consistency

Go4Schools mark books set-up accurately for staff to support assessment records

To regularly review that calendared data collection points support assessment points and are manageable for staff

To provide CPD opportunities for staff as appropriate focusing on marking, feedback and assessment

To have access to any online systems/platforms that are being used

LSAs To read through the comments written by the teachers in order to guide any students they are working with in the class

To listen to verbal feedback and comments made by the teacher and use this to guide any students they are working with in the class

Where students have required extended guided support to complete a task, that this is acknowledge through the ‘LSA’ stamp

Where appropriate, LSAs can offer written feedback in students work with a purple pen. In particular, LSAs may want to check for written accuracy of SPAG and key terms being spelt accurately

Students Read and listen to comments made by Teachers/LSAs and complete any directed tasks provided

Catch-up on work after absence Keep high standards of presentation in written work Respond positively to feedback and endeavour to make improvements through

engaging in the “Steps for Success process” Use a red pen and clearly and neatly signpost when either completing a piece

of peer or self-assessment Follow guidelines given in the Academy Presentation policy

Governors To agree to the school’s Marking, Feedback and Assessment Policy To listen to feedback on the implementation of the policy Sample students’ work and listen to the students’ view of marking, assessment

and feedback during monitoring visits to the Academy

Reporting Arrangements

The Scheduling of Reports

Each student will receive one full report and two interim reports each year. (With the exception of Year 11 who receive one full and one interim report.) We feel it is important to report on a regular basis throughout the year in order to inform parents, monitor progress and to help students to achieve their very best. The Format of the Report

The format of the full report and the format of the interim report is almost the same. Subject based reports are always to the same format and therefore provide a cohesive and ongoing picture of student

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performance. The only difference between an interim report and a full report is that the latter will include an overview by the Form Tutor. The report provides a range of information for students and parents, as well as an effective starting point for discussions at home.

Receiving the Report

Reports are made available through an online platform called Go 4 Schools. To login you will need to use the email address you have supplied the school. The reports are available at 4 p.m. on the day they are due to be published. There is a link to the report platform under the Parents tab of the website.

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Appendices Descriptions of types of marking and assessment used at Paxman Academy Types of assessment and feedback that we use at Paxman Academy are listed below. Teachers are encouraged to choose from this menu so that marking and assessment shows a tailored approach relevant to their subject area.

Processes Formative (Assessment for learning) Summative (Assessment of learning)

Informal Examples:

Questioning Discussions Feedback Peer/ self-assessment Observations

Examples:

Essays or reports Portfolios Coursework Teacher assessment Practical demonstrations Presentations

Formal Examples:

Use of test results Further analysis of tests, exams,

essays Target setting Assessment milestones

Examples:

Tests Examinations Essays in controlled

conditions Assessment milestones

Dialogic marking This occurs where the teacher provides information on the quality of work to the learner, alongside advice on how to develop and improve the work. It is expected that the learner responds to the feedback given, by making improvements, either in the original piece of work or subsequent pieces, or responding to challenges given. Teachers would then check any improvements made and, if appropriate, leave further feedback. This type of feedback is particularly effective as it engages learners by encouraging an awareness of their learning and enables them to develop an insight into what is required of them. It is particularly useful in instances where students need to redraft work. Next step marking This directs the student on what to do next time to improve their work. This is specific guidance upon a piece of work and, where provided, there should be evidence that students have acted on advice given to improve the quality of their work – either by redrafting or incorporating the advice given to improve the quality of future pieces of work. Symbol marking Instead of leaving written feedback, teachers give feedback in the form of a symbol. During reflection time, the teacher would show students what feedback the symbol stands for. The students then write down what they need to do to improve their work and act upon a target associated with the symbol. This may be in the form of a challenge, redrafting a piece of work or conveying improvements in subsequent pieces of work. Think pink This is used to remind the student to edit or correct. This can either be shown as a pink dot at the start of a sentence and it is left up to the students to find the mistake, or, the incorrect sections of work can be highlighted in the colour. During this process, students have to identify their errors, relating to the learning objective and modify their work accordingly. Go Green Often used alongside Think Pink as way of highlighting something done particularly well in a piece of work. Again students have to identify and write down what it is that they have done well, referring to the learning objective.

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Exemplars of good marking

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Appendices Examples of online marking

In the example below you can see the use of THINK PINK with the teacher comment in green as per the school policy.

You can also see the use of stamps for motivation. These are just simple images that have been imported into the document.

Simple marking - (recognising that work has been done) tick and flick for book based departments is easy enough as we can use the comment section in classrooms for a very simple comment. Within this section you can also add ticks. It is expected that a comment at the end of the document following the Steps for Success element will be added for this style of marking.

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Simple dialogue - Simple comment with request for further work or comment – can also be done using the commenting system. So these two are outside of the document.

The next level which is the deeper end of unit marking that needs to include commentary and SPAG within documents. This can be achieved using Goobric as above.