At St Anselm’s, we recognise the importance of feedback as part of the teaching & learning cycle, and we aim to maximise the effectiveness of its use in practice. We are also mindful also of the workload implications of written marking, and of the research surrounding effective feedback. Our policy is underpinned by the evidence of best practice from the Education Endowment Foundation and other organisations, and was formulated following an action research project carried out by the school in 2019.

The Education Endowment Foundation research shows that effective feedback should:

• redirect or refocus either the teacher’s or the learner’s actions to achieve a goal.
• be specific, accurate and clear.
• encourage and support further effort.
• be given sparingly so that it is meaningful.
• provide specific guidance on how to improve.
• put the onus on the students to correct their own mistakes
• alert the teacher to misconceptions that they can address in subsequent lessons
• provide pupils with the metacognitive language to manage their own learning which includes the skills of setting and monitoring goals, assessing progress, and identifying personal strengths and challenges.

The DfE’s research into teacher workload has highlighted written marking as a key contributing factor to workload. Through this policy, we aim to maximise the effective use of feedback in practice whilst also reducing teacher workload. We want our teachers to make professional judgements about when is the right time to intervene, which means that all of our time and effort is focussed on having an impact on learning. In essence, the ethos of this policy is to adhere to the principles that feedback should be Meaningful, Manageable and Motivating for the child and for the teacher.

Minimal marking

Teachers are encouraged to mark children’s work as infrequently as possible. This does not mean teachers are not required to look at the children’s work, as this is an integral part of the planning and assessment process. The emphasis has moved away from “marking” and towards giving high-quality feedback which can be given in a number of ways.

Feedback Approaches

Feedback will likely look different in different subjects and between tasks. The expectation is always that children will check their work for the non-negotiables as they learn and before work is ‘finished’ and will use the principles for self-editing (e.g. modelled under the visualiser, recalculate maths calculations, purple pen etc) which will have been taught.

Self-editing

In addition to the routine checking of the subject knowledge involved in a particular lesson, the children also need to ensure that their use of written English is of high-quality and consistent. Where possible, children should be given designated time at the end of a lesson and/or the beginning of the next lesson to review and improve their work so that it:

• • satisfies the school’s written English non-negotiables
  • is in line with the expectations for their age group.

Self-editing should be completed in a purple pen and should be seen alongside their original work, so that it is made clear to the teacher what changes have been made and what learning has taken place. In order to maximise its effectiveness, this approach should also be scaffolded with prompts as required.

Effective Feedback within and outside of a lesson

The most effective feedback takes place within a lesson, in the moment.  It should be clear by looking at a child’s piece of learning where feedback has been given  to bring about change.  However, feedback can also take place effectively outside of a lesson.