PEAK FOREST C E (VC) PRIMARY SCHOOL
MARKING POLICY
Aims
All marking should be positive, clear and appropriate in its purpose, productive in its outcomes and
child-centred. Marking shows children that their work is valued and should motivate them to work
harder. It should celebrate achievements and successes as well as providing guidance for moving
forward. This marking policy is linked to our assessment policy and will at all times follow our equal
opportunities policy.
Principles

Marking should be of benefit to pupils, teachers and parents.

Marking should encourage and praise in order to boost children’s self-esteem and aspirations.

Marking should focus on the child’s achievements and demonstrate that the child’s work is
valued and appreciated. It should be positive, constructive and should focus on improvement.

Marking should provide ongoing assessment which informs our future planning. It should act as
evidence of attainment, particularly when judged against set criteria (e.g. the learning
objective)
Guidelines
At Peak Forest Primary School we give feedback about children’s work in a variety of ways. It can be
verbal, written or given in the form of codes or symbols. All feedback should be appropriate to the age
of the child and the learning objective. The following strategies are guidelines and it may not be
appropriate for them to be followed for every piece of learning.
 Marking
Should be undertaken as soon after the work is completed as possible and where appropriate pupils
should be involved.
 Presentation
DUMTUMS will be displayed in both classrooms:
Date/Underline/Miss a line/ Title/Underline/Miss a line/Start
Reminders will be given where presentation or handwriting are not of a high enough standard.
 Literacy
Comments should largely relate directly to the L.O. but will at times have to focus on punctuation,
grammar, spelling or presentation.
Once a week in literacy, one piece of creative or longer writing will be marked in depth. Constructive
comments will praise success and next steps will indicate where improvements could be made. Specific
time will be given the following lesson to reflect upon and to improve their writing. In KS2, children will
be expected to respond to most written comments to acknowledge they have read them. In KS1,
children will be expected to respond where appropriate. Planning will be structured to allow
improvement time to follow immediately after a longer piece of writing.
Shorter tasks or grammar tasks should be marked correctly with a tick or a • A written comment about
the L.O. may also be given.
 Spellings
It is not possible, or effective to correct every word or sentence. Common patterns or HF words which
are misspelt are underlined, written correctly by the teacher in the margin and then written 3 times by
the child or copied out at the bottom of the page. In KS1 a marking strip with symbols may be used
instead of comments.
 Maths
Maths will either be marked with a • or a tick. It will made be clear if the learning objective has been
fully or partially or not met. Next steps will concentrate on consolidation or mastery of a skill
depending on the judgement of the teacher, e.g. missing number calculations, magic squares or a
problem so they can use and apply the skill they have been working on.
 Other written work
Where HF words or words specific to the topic have been spelt incorrectly, these will be underlined
and written correctly in the margin for the child to write out three times. Comments may also be made
about achievement of the learning objective, misunderstanding of concepts or processes and quality of
presentation.
 Peer and self-assessment
We will take opportunities, where appropriate to encourage children to assess their own work and that
of others. Guidelines will be given to ensure their feedback is positive and helpful.

Some children may struggle finding and identifying the feedback in their books. In these cases, a
highlighted dot will indicate clearly that action is needed by them.
Marking Codes
I
Work has been completed independently
S
Work has been supported by TA and/or teacher
TA
Work has been supported by TA
T
Work has been supported by teacher
√
Work is correct
•
Work is incorrect
Discussed
Verbal feedback has been given
LO
LO P
LO A
LO not achieved
LO partially achieved
LO achieved in full
Key Stage 2 (symbol written in margin)
CL
Capital letter missing or incorrect (error circled)
P
Punctuation missing or incorrect (error circled)
ᶺ
indicates a word is missing
NS
Next step
M
Mastery next step (maths only)
C
Consolidation next step (maths only)
Key Stage 1
Marking symbol strip for self/peer/teacher assessment. Children will graduate onto KS2 symbols as
they reach the end of KS1. Some children in KS2 may also benefit from the use of marking symbols.