ASSESSMENT FOR ACTION
MARKING AND FEEDBACK
Manageable and effective ways of marking
and providing feedback to pupils
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These guidelines are intended to help teachers consider the purposes of
marking, the effectiveness of feedback, and how they can have a positive
impact on children’s learning.
We trust you will find this guidance useful in defining why and how to
provide effective assessment for learning in the classroom. The
suggestions and examples are intended to provide helpful and practical
ideas for teachers.
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CONTENTS
Page No
Introduction
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Section 1: The Purposes of Marking and Feedback
4
Section 2: What about OfSTED?
6
Section 3: The benefits of Assessment for Learning
7
Section 4: What makes Effective Marking?
8
Section 5: What makes Effective Feedback?
13
Section 6: Practical ideas for Teachers
Section 7: Writing a Policy
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21
Appendix A Marking Symbols
Appendix B Annotated Samples of Marking
Introduction
'Decisions about how to mark work and record progress are
professional matters for schools to consider in the context of the needs
of their children'
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Teachers spend a great deal of time marking children’s work. Used properly, marking
and feedback are essential tools for ensuring that children learn more effectively and
understand what they are aiming for, and they can provide strategies for success and
ways to move forward.
Shirley Clarke says, “Teachers do marking instead of having a social life!”
If children are asked about why teachers mark their work, they often make interesting
and amusing comments such as, “In case someone looks at our books,” or “ Because
that’s what teachers do!” etc.
Marking is not just a tool for keeping parents happy or filling mark books.
Research (‘Inside the Black Box’ Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam, 1998) has shown that
there has been a tendency to mark for quantity and presentation of the work, rather than
for quality. The accumulation of grades and marks is given priority, rather than
examining children's work to ascertain future learning needs. Grading and marking has
also been found to have a detrimental effect on some pupils, and can lead to lower self
esteem, since children tend to focus on the grade rather than comments. They do not
know how to move forward or improve their work, and have little understanding about
what to do next.
The provision of effective marking and feedback to children is one of the key
factors for improving learning through assessment. The learner needs to
understand the purpose of the learning, how to make improvements, and be given
specific time to respond to comments or feedback.
Section 1: The Purposes of Marking and Feedback
1.1 What is marking and feedback?
A distinction can be made between marking and feedback, but quality is the most
important factor. For the purpose of this document, marking tends to refer to written
comments, whilst feedback is usually given verbally, yet the two are often inseparable.
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SCAA/QCA/DFEE 1994 onwards
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Marking is the tool teachers use daily to find out what children have done, and where
they need to go next. They use marking to move learning forward. There are two main
reasons for marking: to give a written assessment record and to provide comments about
the quality of children’s work and how they can do better next time.
‘Marking has the potential to be the most powerful, manageable and
useful ongoing diagnostic record of achievement.’ 2
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Marking is the annotating of a piece of written work, using words, symbols and grades.
It is usually in a written form, but can be verbal, especially for young children. Children
need acknowledgement that their work has been looked at, but ‘in depth feedback’ is
given when appropriate. Less detailed marking is often supported by oral feedback.
Feedback that focuses on what needs to be done can encourage all to
believe that they can improve. 3
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Feedback may consist of a dialogue between teacher and child, a group or a class, and
will provide pupils with information about how they performed in relation to the
learning intention/objective(s), and the next steps necessary to improve the work.
1.2 Marking and Feedback are an essential part of the teaching and
learning process.
Used effectively, marking and feedback can:

help children become better learners by giving a clear picture of what they have
done, and what they need to develop;

give recognition and praise for achievement;

provide suggestions for the next learning task;
‘Targeting Assessment in the Primary Classroom’ Shirley Clarke 1998.
‘Working inside the Black Box – Assessment for Learning in the Classroom’ Paul Black, Christine
Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall and Dylan Wiliam. 2002
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3
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
enable parents to understand their child’s strengths and weaknesses;

identify targets for individuals or groups of children;

ensure regular dialogue between teacher and child;

suggest individual strategies for improvement.
Section 2: What about OfSTED?
‘The quality and use of assessment remain the weakest aspect of teaching. Many
schools are generating a great deal of assessment data, at considerable cost in
terms of time, but are not using it to set work based on the pupils' prior
attainment or to set appropriate targets for different groups of pupils. Teachers'
marking is usually positive and encouraging but often gives insufficient guidance
on what pupils have to do in order to improve.’
The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools 2001
‘Written feedback should not be too general. It should give guidance as to how
children can and should improve their work, and support and clarify just what the
child was doing well, or less well as they completed their work.’
Excerpt from OfSTED Report on an East Riding Infant School, 2002.
‘Inspectors must evaluate and report on:
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How well pupils achieve, taking account of the progress they have made, the
level of demands made of them, and other relevant factors…..’
Section 3: The Benefits of Assessment for Learning
'It is becoming evident from research that assessment for learning has huge
potential, as yet largely unexploited, to raise student achievement.'4
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There is often a 'gap' between the child's performance and the desired standard.
Research shows that effective feedback from teachers enables children to 'close the gap'.
Children need to be given a clear idea of how to improve their work, move forward in
their learning and achieve their targets.
Assessment for Learning will:

raise attainment in schools as children become better learners;

provide an ongoing record-keeping system measured against learning intentions;

motivate and encourage all children by helping them to identify strengths and
successes;
David Hargreaves, Chief Exec. QCA, Times Education Supplement, June 2001, ‘Making Assessment
Work’
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
provide information that informs future teaching and learning

support a learning environment where it is safe to fail and where children can
learn by their mistakes.

provide children with opportunities to reflect upon their own learning and
become aware of their future needs.
‘An assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to
be used as feedback, by teachers, and by their pupils, in assessing
themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning
activities in which they are engaged. Such assessment becomes
‘formative assessment’ when the evidence is actually used to adapt
the teaching work to meet learning needs.’ 5
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Section 4: What Makes Effective Marking?
4.1 Marking will be effective in the classroom when:

it is are manageable;

it relates to learning intentions which are shared with the child and criteria for
success are understood;

teachers focus on certain aspects of the work, not attempting to assess
everything, and provide constructive criticism;

effort is recognised as well as quality;

children are given time to reflect upon and respond to their comments;

it is given promptly and regularly to children:
‘Working inside the Black Box – Assessment for Learning in the Classroom’ Paul Black, Christine
Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall and Dylan Wiliam. 2002
5
7

the language used is consistent, unambiguous, and appropriate to the child’s
maturity;

children understand their achievements and know exactly what they must do
next to make progress;

there is a consistent approach throughout the school, in line with the overall
policy on assessment, recording and reporting;

it supports the target setting process and is an integral part of that cycle.

the principles of the marking process can apply to all age groups.
4.2 Marking in the presence of the child
Marking alongside the child is most effective when:

teachers agree next steps and individual targets with children, and they become
involved in setting their own targets;

specific advice for improvement is given;

teachers follow up agreed targets with the child to evaluate progress;

it gives children the opportunity to comment upon their work as it is marked;

it involves dialogue between teacher and child;

it provides individual strategies for improvement.
Marking in the presence of the child is usually the most effective method of marking.
As the child becomes older, the pattern of marking changes. There will probably be less
time for marking in the presence of the child and out of necessity, teachers will mark
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more work out of the classroom. It is preferable however, to mark in the presence of the
child as often as possible.
With older children, teachers will often mark as they move around the room, checking
for understanding, and providing reminders and prompts as necessary.
4.3 Distance Marking
Distance marking may have limited value with younger children, but is often essential
when marking large amounts of work. With the pressures of the classroom, it is usually
necessary, particularly with older children.
Some principles need to be considered if this form of marking is to be used effectively:

Symbols and codes used should be agreed and understood by teachers and
children;
‘I think it’s something to do with the marking comments I wrote on
Darren’s book, Miss Ellis. I suggested he spent some time
investigating the difference between conflict and cooperation,
since we have just completed ‘War and Peace’
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
Teachers should ensure that children are given specific time to respond to
written comments and to make improvements from the prompts that the
teacher provides;

Comments are clear and the language used is accessible;

Specific strategies for improvement are given
How clear are written comments to pupils?
‘Develop these ideas further’
‘Yes, but how?’
‘More detail needed’
‘Yes, but I thought it had all the detail it needed so now I’m not
clear.’
‘You must try harder’
‘!!!!!!!!!!’
‘A lovely story’
‘So is it perfect then?’
‘Good work’
‘How good, in what way?’
‘Spellings’
‘Which?’
‘Use Paragraphs’
‘Yes but I don’t know how, which is why I
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didn’t use them in the first place.’
4.4 Focused Quality Marking
It is common practice for teachers to share learning objectives and explain the success
criteria against which work will be assessed so it is important that marking relates to the
success criteria.
‘In depth’ marking can be time consuming but can be extremely valuable. Time needs to
be allocated accordingly, and not every piece of work will be marked in detail, and
teachers need to be selective.
Focused Quality Marking is used to help teachers concentrate on specific aspects of
learning, and the teacher may choose specific curriculum areas over a period of time. For
example, each week a KS2 teacher may decide to ‘quality mark’ one of the following:
 science investigation
 factual historical report
 a persuasive letter
 descriptive non-narrative/narrative
 representation of data with an explanation
This enables the teacher to assess understanding and check progress within a unit of
work and within a period of time.
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This detailed marking may entail choosing pieces of work from one group at a time, or
for each individual child. ‘Closing the gap’ prompts are useful for focused marking.
Successes can be acknowledged, and suggestions for improvement given through
symbols or written comments, with perhaps an asterisk used to draw attention to the area
that might be developed/improved. (Further details can be found in section 6)
More detailed marking of selected pieces of work has been found to have a beneficial
effect on children:
 they feel motivated to improve their work;
 self esteem increases;
 they become more aware of the quality of their work, and begin to make
suggestions about their own achievements and how to make improvements.
It allows every child to receive regular quality feedback. Judgements are recorded to
inform future planning. Quality marking may take place in the presence of the child, but
is more likely to be used for distance marking.
4.5
Check this out!
Children:
 Do they understand the purpose of the work?
 Is the learning intention made explicit?
 Do they understand the criteria for marking?
 Do they understand the language of assessment and marking?
Teachers:
 Do I vary my marking style?
 Do I use positive statements?
 Do I indicate future needs?
 Do I set targets and help children to know what they need to do next?
 Do I encourage them to self-assess?
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


Do I involve children, parents and peers in the marking process?
Can my marking be used for recording and reporting purposes?
Do I ever review and modify my marking procedures?
Try asking the children:
 Why do teachers mark work?
 What sort of things make the teacher think your work is good?
 How do you know if the teacher is not happy with your work?
 What sort of marking do you find helpful?
Section 5: What Makes Effective Feedback?
5.1 Feedback to a class is effective when:

expectations are shared with the whole class so they know what they have to
achieve. Therefore feedback is measured against learning intentions;

examples of expected outcomes and models of good work are given occasionally
to show levels expected;

feedback is given during the learning process to guide learning;

children are involved in reflective dialogue and discussion.
Teachers have found that opportunities for paired talk (‘critical friends’ or ‘response
partners’) help children focus on what they have achieved during the lesson. They have
to be taught how to evaluate and analyse their work, if this to have a positive effect on
learning.
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5.2 Feedback to a group of children within a class is effective when:

there are differentiated learning intentions/objectives linked to shared group
targets. I.e. Where there are ability groups, the teacher will have expectations of
group outcomes and different success criteria will be applied;

the group is aware of the steps needed to improve their work;

children are involved in peer assessment;

there is an understanding that some common rules may apply to every piece of
work, e.g. joined script, presentation and appropriate to the genre.
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5.3 Feedback to an individual will be effective when:

verbal and written language is clearly understood.

specific feedback about the work is provided;

advice is given about how to improve;

strategies provide support for further progress.
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Teachers need to think about the child as the audience. This sounds obvious, but the
reality is that written comments are often ‘back patting’ and don’t give meaningful
feedback. It is therefore important to analyse children’s work and make comments that
not only encourage but give suggestions for improvement(s). These comments need to
be made in such a way that the child can easily amend or add to the work that has been
done.
Children often think that written comments are for other adults to read! We have to ask
ourselves why they think this!
Section 6: Practical ideas and suggestions for marking and
verbal feedback
The following are suggestions for providing effective marking and feedback. They may
not necessarily work for every child, but can be adjusted or adapted accordingly.
6.1 Dating and signing
Dating and signing can be used to indicate that the teacher has acknowledged effort and
noted what has been achieved. Children usually date their own work but the teacher may
need to date work for younger children.
Where the teacher scans/skims pieces of work, acknowledgement may be given by
initialling and dating. The teacher will need to explain to children and parents that not all
pieces of work need to have written comments.
6.2 Ticks and crosses
Ticks can be used to indicate:
 a correct answer, where it can only be right or wrong;
 steps along the way which are correct (e.g. in writing, an investigation, a maths
problem);
 something which is very good within a piece of work.
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Crosses should only be used where appropriate e.g:
 mental arithmetic;
 one word/short factual answers where they can only be right or wrong (e.g.
spelling tests);
 multiple choice questions.
6.3 Incorrect responses



Where mistakes indicate a developing understanding, encouragement and
guidance with suggestions for improvements may be given to the child. Children
need to be encouraged to ‘have a go’. It is important that they understand that
the need to improve, or to make corrections is part of the learning process.
Sadly, some children are brought up to believe that to make a mistake is always
an indication of failure.
Where work has been rushed or badly presented, or where little effort has been
made, the child may be asked to make improvements. The teacher should have
high expectations of the children, and the children should be encouraged to have
high expectations of themselves.
The number of marks, corrections and opportunities for improvement largely
depend upon the learning objective for that particular piece of work and the
needs of the child, but a ratio of three successes to one improvement is a helpful
rule of thumb.
‘We always expect children to do their best, but this does not mean we
expect perfection’ 7
6.4 Traffic lights:
For older children, it has been found that ‘Traffic Lights’ can help with communication
between teacher and child.
 Children are asked to ‘traffic light’ by putting a small coloured circle or dot at the
end of the piece of work. They choose the colour according to their degree of
understanding. It involves the pupil (and possibly response partner) in self or
paired assessment.
 The teacher looks at the work, and if there is a lot of red, it means that the pupil
has a limited understanding and there is a need to re-teach. Future teaching is
therefore planned according to need.
 Traffic lighting against success criteria needs to be made specific, so pupils know
why and what they are supposed to be achieving.
In one school, a teacher asked children who had amber and green to get together and the
green ones taught the amber ones whilst the teacher worked with those that had red and
gave further explanation.
Then the teacher only did this occasionally e.g. every three weeks.
He worked with the red and ambers to get them into green.
6.5 The Practical Book:
This is useful for children from the Foundation Stage to Year 1.
 Each child has a plain A4 book.
 Whenever the children are involved in a structured play activity (e.g. sand and
water/construction) they are given their practical book.
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



For each child the teacher writes, in advance, the date and the activity at the top
of the page, usually including the learning intention/objective.
On completing the activity, the children then record what they were doing by
drawing a picture.
Children can also use the space for any jottings that occur naturally during the
activity. E.g. If the child has been playing in the ‘café’, a menu may have been
devised. The list may have been written on a piece of paper that could then be
stuck in the book to show the child’s attempts at writing.
At the bottom of the page the teacher may write a comment, noting significant
achievement, giving praise and encouragement and/or making suggestions that
point to future learning. The comment is often written alongside the child and a
little chat may ensue.
Finding out which
people have nits.
1/5/02
Making long and short
strings of beads
5/5/02
The practical book gives greater value to practical work in the Foundation Stage,
providing a record of progress relating to the tasks. It can be helpful to provide evidence
that appropriate feedback has been given, even if it is oral. The feedback, recorded in
the practical book, enables the teacher to make reference to the conversation held with
the child.
6.6 Closing the Gap
Teachers will always have an expectation of the learning outcome.
Success criteria will have been agreed, but children need to be given the opportunity to
add, amend, correct or alter work that has been marked, so that it ‘closes the gap’
between actual and desired learning. Shirley Clarke8 recommends a ratio of three
successes to one improvement. The ‘successes’ are acknowledged and one area is chosen
for improvement. The child is given a specific time limit in which to complete their
improvement, perhaps 3 or 5 minutes. The results are extremely effective.
Three kinds of prompts can be given. An arrow points to the section that is to be
improved/expanded or re-worked.
e.g.
Monday 22 February
L.O. To know why we have night and day
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‘Unlocking Formative Assessment’ Shirley Clarke, 2001
Sun
day
night.
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The sun gives us night and day. The sun is a big ball of gases, it gives us heat.*
The sun stays in one place and does not move.
Sometimes you can not see it because the earth spins on its axis. When a part of the Earth is turned
6.7 Dialogue Boxes
Dialogue boxes enable the teacher to communicate with children by outlining successes
and perhaps giving something further to think about.
a.
Teacher's suggestions
Pupil's response
b.
This sheet is inserted in the flyleaf of
the child's exercise book. Teachers
comment and date. Pupils number
the pages of the exercise books for
ease of reference. Targets are set and
dated when achieved. The system
allows the teacher to regulate the
learning and keep pupils on track
c.
The grate fire of lundon
was very hot and lots of
peepl dyd.  And it was at
Pooding Lane and sum
peepl tryd to put it owt 
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“Egg and spoon races are to be axed as
schools bring in soft boiled sports!” shouted
Edwards angrely.
“That will do,”insisted Mr P Brayne. “And
get your kit on, boy!”
He wanderd off and picked up
Please put these words right,
Jenny
died London tried out
Dialogue box
Good accurate
punctuation, James
I am looking forward to
reading the end of
this story.
Successes
Read this through with your
partner and discuss the
character of Mr P Brayne so
you can put in some extra
detail
Now think about….
6.8 Feedback Sheet
Feedback sheets can work well with older children.
In Ruth Sutton’s book, ‘The Learning School’, 1998, the following suggested table is used
to facilitate teachers’ communication with children and parents.
The child writes in the date and task, copies out feedback comments and then decides
upon his/her own next steps.
e.g.
Date
Task
Feedback
Next steps
Parents’
targets
comments
14/03 To write an
Good detail
To learn how Keiran seems to be
included
and
you
to use bullet working harder this
explanation for
have explained
points
term. Thanks Miss
why the chicken this carefully.
accurately
crossed the
road
The sheet may be stuck into the front or back cover of the relevant exercise book and
may be used for most NC subjects.
6.9 Symbols
Symbols are used to represent specific features that are to be corrected or improved.
They save a lot of time for the teacher and children love them! Children seem to enjoy
being asked to identify the areas that need correcting, since it appears to ask them to be
‘detectives’. Again, children need to be given time to respond to symbols recorded on
their work.
They can be very effective with young (and indeed older) children, since a sense of
interest and ownership can be fostered, particularly if teacher(s) and children work
together to devise the symbols in the first place.
Everyone concerned needs to understand the meaning of the symbols and it is important
that they are used consistently throughout the school, and embedded in school policy.
The symbols may alter according to the age of the child and the needs of the year group.
In one East Riding Infant school, the child is asked to copy the symbol for improvement
from his previous piece of work at the top of the next page where the new piece starts.
This acts as a prompt. It is also useful for assessment, since the teacher can glance through
19 The teacher can then identify where a
the workbooks, and see if a symbol is recurring.
particular child, or group of children would benefit from extra input. Marking is therefore
being used to inform planning for further teaching.
6.10 Marking in pairs
This can be used effectively with children of all ages. Ground rules need to be
established for listening, confidentiality, and avoiding excessive criticism. The process
needs to be modelled to the children to ensure they understand what is required. The
children discuss each other’s work and are encouraged to look for successes in their
partners' writing and an area for improvement.
"I enjoy working with partners to edit work - but not friends. They won’t tell you the
truth. It needs to be someone who will be honest with you and help you improve."
(KS2 school pupil) 9
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Section 7: Developing a Marking and Feedback Policy
"A whole school marking policy should be part of the school's
assessment policy."
(OfSTED)
The aim is to ensure that children receive a consistent message from all staff.
Marking should be in line with learning objectives, the National Curriculum, NLS, NNS
and the school’s Assessment Policy. It will need to be reviewed regularly and monitored
to check that practice continues to reflect school policy.
The Marking Policy should be part of the school’s Assessment Policy, either as a separate
section, or as a supplementary document.
Guidelines for writing a Marking and Feedback Policy
Introduction
The policy should provide a consistent structure that relates to existing school policies
and include the following:
Aim
Purpose and philosophy (ensure staff agree)
Recording – that shows children’s responses to the marking comments, and
demonstrates the ongoing record of progress
Marking and Feedback and Target Setting:Verbal feedback – dated/acknowledged
Marking comments written in appropriate language
Marking should relate to learning objectives and success criteria
Marking may also relate to NC levels, particularly in KS2, and will probably relate to
individual targets
Marking codes/symbols should be used consistently
Response time to marking must be ‘built in’.
The frequency and amount of quality marking should be agreed amongst the staff
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‘How am I doing? Assessment and Feedback to Learners’ Suffolk Advisory Service 2001
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Moderation of policy – who is responsible?
Review date of policy
Appendix – that may include examples of marking practice for particular age groups,
and symbols used.
It is the role of the ARR coordinator to ensure that the policy is workable,
manageable and useful, widely implemented and adhered to by the whole staff.
Appendix A
Using marking symbols to provide feedback
When marking symbols are used on children's work, the child has to self-correct,
the teacher agrees with the child that the work is correct and the symbol is
coloured in, thus the learning is reinforced. This can be effective in both KS1 and
KS2.
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
draw a picture


cut out

I can’t read this
find a reference
book


write a letter
save on the computer
Remember finger spaces

put this in your folder

brilliant/well done

do a copy for the display

go back and check/
use the ‘undo’ symbol
for re-working
You need to work more
quickly
You need to take more time
b
Make sure the letter is
the right way round
1 punctuation (numbers after the P relate to examples displayed on a chart
for reference)
e.g.
1
The boy fell off the log. Simple sentence with capital letter and full
stop
2 It’s raining outside. Apostrophe showing omission
3 It was a fine, warm, sunny day. Commas used in lists
Alternatives to the might be Sp for spellings with boxes drawn round the
words to be corrected or H for handwriting, although the glasses symbol may be
used.
Appendix B Annotated Samples of Marking
Sample 1 Year 2
This is an example of a piece of ‘real’ marking. It was clearly not meant for the child,
although in the teacher’s mind, there was probably an attempt to communicate with
the child.
It is typical of marking that is done ‘in case someone looks at the child’s book’, but
what does it really achieve? We need to consider the audience!
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Book review
This is a story about three bears and a norty girl who goes into there
house and steels ther things. She dosent care about any thing and she
tasts there porrij and she breaks the little chair and then she gos
upsters and goes to sleep in the baby bears bed.
And then she thinks the daddy bear porrij is too lumpy and mrs bears
chair is too soft.
I like the story and I think you shoud read it too. It has good pictures
and the riting is not much on the page so you get to read it kwicly. The
best bit is when the bears come home and baby bear has a tan trum like
my little brother dos.
Targets!
Think about and plan writing to ensure good organisation and logical
sequencing.
Try to be more imaginative and use lots of interesting descriptive words.
Use a range of sentence connectives.
Use joined script.
Sample 1 Year 2 (re-marked)
The example is now marked so that:
a. the child is able to read the comments
b. it acknowledges success, since the work fulfils the purpose of the book review
c. it asks for an improvement to be made, with some guidance provided
d. the child is given time to respond, and is therefore able to ‘close the gap’
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Book review
This is a story about three bears and a girl who goes into there house
and steels ther things. She dosent care about any thing and she tasts
there porrij and she breaks the little chair and then she gos upsters and
goes to sleep in the baby bears bed.
And then she thinks the daddy bear porrij is too lumpy and mrs bears
chair is too soft.
I like the story and I think you shoud read it too. It has good pictures
and the riting is not much on the page so you get to read it kwicly. The
best bit is when the bears come home and baby bear has a tan trum like
what my little brother dos.
Good punctuation, Sam
I think I would like to read this story – you have made it sound interesting.
Could you write a bit more that tells me about the girl?
What was her name?
What did she look like?
The girl is called Goldylocks and she had gold hair and she was norty and
she had a blue dress. At the end she was crying.
Sample 2 (Year 6)
This is an example of a piece of ‘real’ marking. It is meant for the child, and
communicates clearly.
However there is no evidence that the child has thought further or been given time to
respond.
Therefore what is the purpose of the marking?
There may have been some discussion about it, but this is not recorded. If the child’s
book is the evidence record, then any dialogue that has taken place needs to be noted.
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Questions to think about!
1. Explain what you did to your tambourine. How did you prove that a louder
sound has bigger vibrations?
We put rice on a tambourine and first hit it softly and then hit it harder
with our hand.
(Child’s work)
What happened to the rice each time?( Teacher’s comment)
2..Explain what you did to your elastic band. How did you prove that a high
pitched sound has more vibration than a lower pitched sound?
We put the elastic band around different things and plucked them with our
hand. The thin band vibrated more than the thick band. (Child’s work)
Yes, it did. What difference was there between the pitch of the sounds made by the
thin bands and those made by the thick bands? (Teacher’s comment)
It seems unlikely from this sample that the child was expected to respond to the
teacher’s comments. There is no way of knowing if the child has read the comments
or thought about the answers to the questions posed by the teacher. What was the
point of the marking if the child was not expected to respond?
In the space below the work, the child could write a response, and thus ‘close the gap’
between the actual and the desired achievement.
Using the child’s workbook in this way enables the child to add to the original piece
of work. The teacher must therefore be analytical about the child’s performance, and
write comments that enable the child to demonstrate his/her knowledge or
understanding.
Signing, dating, acknowledging, providing space for response etc. provide an effective
record of the child’s progress.
Sample 3
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Ryan has been reminded about finger spaces, and this has clearly been applied in the next
piece of work.
It rewards achievement.
It shows dialogue between teacher and child, and is an effective way of recording
progress.
Sample 4 Ellis Y1
Context
A unit of work was assessed in detail and the outcomes were written into the child's annual
report.
Purpose
This shows how the child's exercise book can be used as an effective record of progress.
Focused Quality Marking was done at the end of a unit of work.
The marking/assessment/feedback showed: 26
a. success relating to the learning objective
b. learning had taken place
Task
The task was to design a piece of playground equipment. The class had visited a local
playground and used the equipment, investigated how it worked and how it was made.
A class discussion followed about the structures they had seen.
Drawings were made of swings and slides and the children constructed swings and slides using
‘Quadro’. The children were taught joining skills and how to make tubes by rolling paper.
Learning objective:
‘From your drawing, construct a swing and a slide using junk materials’
Success criteria:
‘To successfully construct a realistic model of an item of playground equipment’
Recording:
Photographs were taken of the models the children made.
Assessment:
Comments relating to the objectives of the task were written on annotation sheets.
Target: To successfully construct a realistic model of an item of playground equipment
 Achieved very satisfactorily. Ellis was proud of her success. The tubes made from card
were carefully compared to get similar sizes. Both a swing and a slide were strong enough
to stand and be tested using a 'play person'.
Target: To be able to follow plans and instructions
 Followed drawing and exchanged ideas with her partner.
Target: To incorporate some type of movement into the model.
 The swing moved freely.
Target: To be able to say what is and what is not working well with the model.
 She was able to explain her design. When it was pointed out that the swing was too high,
this problem was immediately rectified.
Target: To be able to work with a partner.
 Ellis worked well with her partner and although she tended to take advice from Megan, her
contributions were valued and she knew this was a joint effort.
Acknowledgements:
Glynn Jones, Link Adviser ARR and SEN
Jeanne Mundy, Curriculum Project Manager ARR
Jaquay Simpson, Burlington Infants School
Contributions from East Riding schools
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