Effective Marking

WHY BOTHER? Effective marking allows us as teachers to  show  the children that we teach that we value their efforts.  It allows us to judge our own effectiveness as teachers. It is when we can make strategic decisions about the next steps children need to make. But more importantly it is a rare opportunity to have an individual dialogue with every child.  Without it most of the children we teach would never get that one to one feedback they need in order to make outstanding progress. When it is done well it allows us to personalise our feedback, targets and praise. It is a crucial skill for every good teacher.

As an AST I often work on projects to develop Teaching and learning. Recently I been asked to create a marking strategy to help to develop consistency across the school and improve the standard of the fomative feedback students receive. I feel now, as I did then that marking is a powerful tool that if used effectively can be one of the most formative assessment tools  around.

After much research, delving into the work done by Professor John Hattie and findings of Paul Black and Dylan Williams I created a Strategy that I hopes would help to address some of these issues. After trialing (thanks to the wonderful marking champion group at TSS school) and continued evaluating I feel we at TSS (Titus Salt School) have come up with an effective strategy. A strategy that addresses the need of the child whilst still addressing the need for a work life balance for the teacher and a personalised approach for indidivual Faculty areas.

The Strategy is based on 6 threads, as outlined below  and uses  a 3 in 1 stamper which was ordered from the website http://www.primaryteaching.co.uk

Below is a PDF document that outlines in detail the strategy and some examples of how it works in practice.

Effective Marking Teachers Handbook 2011-2012 NEW

Nb: The book scrutiny criteria within this booklet was developed by/with Richard Field  (Assistant Head TSS).

Here are examples in practice:

What the strategy looks like-Acknowledgement marking

What the strategy looks like-Verbal feedback

What the strategy looks like-Quality teacher marking

What the strategy looks like-Quality student marking

What the strategy looks like-literacy

The marking strategy is continuously developed based on new developments and ideas. Below is the latest Marking Handbook that I have created to help to share best practice across the school and ensure that a consistent message is maintained.

Effective Marking Teachers Handbook 2013-2014 NEW

Here is also the PPT that I used during the Teachmeet at Dixon’s City Academy. It contains some slides from @AlinsonShaun’s blog as examples of additional best practice. Again I hope that you find this useful. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Marking overview

Thanks,

Hayley