Marking, Feedback & Assessment Policy
Rationale
At Oakfield Community Primary and Nursery School, we recognise that marking, feedback & assessment are essential components of planning to ensure optimal progress and strong academic development. Providing high-quality feedback to pupils is integral to effective teaching and we ensure a consistent approach throughout the school.
Providing feedback is well-evidenced and has a high impact on learning outcomes. Effective feedback focuses on the task, subject and self-regulation strategies, providing specific information on how to improve.
We are acutely aware of the latest research regarding feedback and this policy is written considering Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, particularly reviewing, questioning, modelling and practice. This policy also considers the summary of recommendations outlined by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in their report on ‘Teacher Feedback to improve pupil learning’.
Effective feedback should focus on moving learning forward: targeting the task & subject alongside self-regulation strategies. We are also mindful of the need for a variety of feedback – Oral, Written, Peer-Assessed, Self-Assessed - and incorporate all within our policy.
At Oakfield, we understand the difference between marking and feedback and adapt accordingly:
Marking highlights the level of correctness of a piece of work. The focus may be accuracy of work, spelling, punctuation, grammar but regardless, marking means highlighting errors. Additionally, we may attribute the level of error or success to a mark scheme and give the student a numerical indicator or mark following the process.
Feedback, on the other hand, advises and guides pupils on how they can overcome misconceptions and make the next steps in their learning. Feedback is an on-going process in which learners should be given time and opportunity to respond and adapt their thoughts and work to sequentially improve. Unlike marking, feedback gives specific points for improvement.