key stage 1 and key stage 2 marking policies

Reception and Key Stage 1 Marking Policy

We believe that a common, consistent marking policy is fundamental for every child’s learning.

Aims
• To inform the child in order to:
o praise achievement
o reinforce learning
o involve the child in the group of future goals/targets.
• To inform the teachers’ assessment and future planning.
• To inform the parents of each child’s level of achievement, progress, and appropriate expectations.
• To inform relevant outside agencies where appropriate.

Expected Outcomes
• Consistent practice throughout the department which is appropriate to the task and the age, ability and confidence of the child.
• An understanding by the child of the process of correction.
• The establishment and acceptance of expected standards of work.
• The ability to accept and learn from constructive criticism.
• Identification of a child’s:
• level of ability
• rate of progress
• direction of future learning/target setting
• Consistent reward system.

Implementation
The following are used for guidelines only. The level and extent of marking will vary according to the ability and maturity of the child and the actual task set. The use of erasers by staff and pupils is not encouraged. Teachers are encouraged to use a blue or black pen for marking children’s work.

Marking in English (and writing in other curriculum areas.)

Marking in English is grouped under four main headings:
• spelling
• handwriting
• grammar
• imagination

Before the children start a piece of work, they will be told the focus of the work. At the start of Year 1 there will be usually one focus at a time, but towards the end of Year 2 there could be two or three.

The writing books will be marked with a coloured spot to denote the focus.
• red denotes spelling
• yellow denotes handwriting
• blue denotes grammar and punctuation
• green denotes imagination and ideas.

Although the level of marking may vary for individual children according to age, maturity and ability, the following guidelines will normally apply.

Spelling
Yr Reception Emergent writers
One key word chosen for correction

Yr 1 Key words are corrected by the teacher.
The incorrect word is underlined and the correct spelling is written above and again at the end of the piece of work. The pupil’s attention is drawn to the correct spelling.

Yr 2 Key words and specific topic words are corrected. The incorrect word is underlined with the correct spelling written above. The child writes the word using LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE and CHECK. If the word is underlined only, the child must find the correct spelling using word book/dictionary

Handwriting
Yr Reception Encouragement of correct letter formation and attention to pencil grip.

Yr 1 As above, plus the awareness of ascenders and descenders and the size of capital letters. Leading on to a definite focus of joining up letters correctly.

Yr 2 As above, plus developing a comfortable and legible cursive style of handwriting.

Grammar
Yr Reception Corrected orally

Yr 1 As above, plus emphasis on sentence construction and emphasis on use of capital letters and full stops.

Yr 2 As above, plus reminders of capital letters and full stops and the use of question marks.

• If a mistake is common to a group of children, a group or class lesson targeting the specific problem is given.
• If it is not possible to correct work with the child present, it is useful for a comment or question to be written after each piece of work.
• It should be noted that appropriate marking strategies are used according to whether the work is in draft or final copy form.

Marking in Mathematics

Reception Yr Ticks used to indicate correct work and a dot to show a wrong answer with a box drawn for correction.

Yr 1 and 2 Ticks used for correct answers. Any incorrect answers are marked using a cross and a box is drawn for correction. A C is drawn over the cross once the work has been corrected accurately.

Marking in Science

A tick is used to acknowledge accuracy and the understanding of the concept at the level required.

NB In all subjects good work and effort are acknowledged with a positive comment at the end of the piece of work and stars or merit stickers are used by all teachers.
Children who have worked particularly hard may show their work to other teachers within the department, and to the Head of Infants and Early Years, and the Headmaster.

Key Stage 2 Marking Policy

This policy gives guidance to staff on the purpose, types and frequency of marking. This policy should be read in conjunction with the Assessment Policy.

Aims
All marking should have a clear purpose for either the child or the teacher depending on the learning objective. It should be regarded as a regular means of communication with pupils about their individual progress.

Regardless of the subject, pupils should be aware that a high standard of presentation is always expected of them.

Purpose of marking
• To inform the teacher of a child’s progress and needs and thus influence future planning.
• To measure a child’s success against a desired and expressed outcome.
• To provide feedback about current work, and thus determine the success of learning and teaching.
• To demonstrate the value of a child’s work.
• To allow for self assessment where the child can recognise their difficulties and mistakes and encourage them to accept help/guidance from others.
• To ensure consistency within and across the key stages.

Types of marking
• Tick in red ink where work is correct, crosses where mistakes are made. Children should be encouraged to do corrections before moving on to new work.
• Teachers’ comments. A negative comment should be supported by encouragement and a constructive statement on how to improve.
• Where work has not been completed within the time allowed a written comment to that effect should be made on the work.
• When appropriate, remarks should be written to indicate that individual attention is being given.
• Over marking should be avoided. When a particular error has been corrected, pupils should be encouraged to find similar mistakes themselves.
• Wherever possible colleagues should adhere to a common range of symbols to indicate the nature of errors (see list *) and highlight areas which most successfully match the lesson objective or where progress has been made.
• Spellings and how/when to mark them can create difficulties. As a general rule teachers should underline the incorrect spelling and write the correct version so the child can see it. In work where there are many incorrect spellings, careful professional judgement is required in determining how many to correct so as not to demotivate the child.
• Children may, where appropriate, self mark work, or mark another child’s work. The teacher will always review this marking.
• Some work will be verbally assessed, e.g. Art & Music. Teachers should ensure that comments are constructive, aimed at helping the child to attain a higher level and emphasising the good work already being achieved.
• In addition to a teacher’s comments, corrections and verbal response to a piece of work. More formal marking may take a number of forms.
• Score – e.g. percentage or number ranking ( 7/10)
• Grading – e.g. letters B+ ( as used on report forms)
• Levels – in years 5 and 6 it is intended that children should become more aware of National Curriculum levels and thus these will be explained and used with more frequency by teachers in these year groups.

Frequency of marking
• Marking may take place during a lesson which allows for immediate feedback. The most effective way of assessing children’s work is for the teacher to move around the classroom and mark work at the children’s desks. This minimises the need for children to move around the classroom and ensures that queues are not allowed to build up. There may of course be occasions when a member of staff needs to sit at his/her desk to mark work. When this is necessary strategies should be developed to ensure that only a small number of children are queuing to have their work marked at any one time.
• Most work will be marked before the next session of that subject. If the teacher is unable to mark work within the lesson the children should hand in books at the end of the lesson so that the teacher has time to correct and comment on the work done promptly. However, in the case of a long term project it may not be marked until the completion of the project. Children will be informed in advance if this is the case.

Marking is aimed at what is right as well as what is wrong. Children, like all of us, respond better to praise for their achievements rather than criticism of their shortcomings.

*Symbols for annotating children’s writing.
Content
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 = 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 sections of text = rewrite this section.
• gr = grammatical error

Spelling
Focus on common words and patterns and on aspects of spelling that you know have been taught.
• Underline a word = spelling that needs changing.

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 the errors and put them in.
• 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 missing punctuation should be added.

Rewarding Pupils

Infants may have their efforts rewarded with praise, stamps, stickers and Form Certificates awarded at an Infant Assembly. Children with particularly good work will be sent to the Headmaster who will award a ‘Headmaster’s Sticker’. Juniors may have their efforts rewarded with praise, stamps, stickers and House Points. Exceptionally good work (bearing in mind the ability of the child) will be rewarded with a ‘Headmaster’s Certificate’ presented in a Junior Assembly. Please see the document Rules Rewards and Sanctions contained in the Staff Handbook

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