Introduction
The feedback policy is a whole school procedure for Lower, Upper and Post 16 College. It is focused on maximising the impact of formative and summative assessment that students receive, and teachers utilising feedback to plan appropriate learning for students of all abilities. It acknowledges that feedback is not a discrete practice but integral to teaching and learning at EWS, that it has a greater impact when it occurs closer to completion of work, that students need to be allocated time to act upon feedback given, and that student responses to feedback need to be acknowledged.
The policy aims:
- To develop high quality feedback in all subjects.
- To ensure that all students receive timely, sufficient and appropriate feedback to enable them to understand what they can do and what they need to do in order to make further progress.
- To develop diagnostic feedback across all subjects which students act on.
- To develop an ethos where teachers use feedback to inform and accelerate the learning of all students.
The policy embraces verbal feedback in lessons, regular formative marking, and termly summative marking. Teachers are also expected to provide appropriate feedback on the quality of students’ written communication in terms of SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar).
This policy is supplemented with additional subject specific procedures that maintain and develop this policy where appropriate (Appendix 1). Guidance for parents is also provided (Appendix 2). This policy should be read in conjunction with the EWS Teaching & Learning Code of Practice.
Procedures for providing feedback
Written feedback from a teacher should be given in non-green coloured ink (agreed at subject level). Students should act upon teacher feedback using green ink. They should also complete ‘therapy’ work in green ink.
| Type of feedback | Purpose | Detail | Frequency |
| Verbal feedback | Monitoring the quality and quantity of student work | Teachers observe the quality and quantity of student work as the learning is taking place in the lesson by circulating around the class and providing students with verbal feedback to act on immediately. Any student misconceptions are identified and corrected promptly. Teachers may wish to record this event in the student book/folder or to ask the student to summarise the key aspects of the feedback in their book/folder. | Ongoing in lessons, including the targeting of ‘focus’ students in the majority lessons |
| Peer assessment and Self assessment | Developing student understanding of marking and assessment criteria to develop the self-regulation skills necessary for progression from feedback | Teachers provide students with oral or written guidelines (using clear and specific criteria) so that they can identify positives, areas for development and next steps in their own work, or that of their peers. Where possible, students should act on this feedback and demonstrate their improved understanding by making amendments and/or improvements in green ink. | Ongoing in lessons |
| Formative assessment | Providing students with regular and timely feedback on how to improve their performance.
Allowing teachers to plan targeted, appropriate and challenging learning activities / therapy to boost student performance |
Teachers provide a written comment (using code marking where preferred) which clearly indicates how students can improve their performance. They then direct a student to complete a task or answer a question that engages students with this improvement strategy (DIRT) e.g. re-draft a section, complete a small supplementary question or task (oral or written).
Where given, marks must be consistent within each subject area for that particular task, e.g. percentage, numerical mark, mark-scheme level, whole grade etc. |
At least twice a short term (once for rotation and subjects taught once a fortnight) for extended tasks, together with regular feedback for shorter class- or homework activities |
| Summative assessment | Enabling students to gauge their learning and progress over a unit or longer stretch of work
|
As above, but with overall attainment indicated by GCSE/A level notional grade or Alpha-Epsilon band where appropriate.
Summative assessments should be timed in order to ensure students have sufficient time to improve their performance before moving on to the next unit of work. Students should also revisit the skills/knowledge in the assessment in future weeks/terms (interleaving) to ensure the skills/knowledge are maintained. |
At least once a term |
Characteristics of effective feedback
EWS feedback will be:
- Timely ‘the more delay that occurs, the less improvement is made’
- Regular
- Specific – both in terms of subject criteria and what improvements are needed from the student
- Focused on the work/performance – not the student
- Verified to show the student understood the feedback, acted on it, and the improvements made are marked/acknowledged
Appendix 1—subject specific procedures
ART |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given if appropriate and possible as the task could be practical and therefore student might not be in the best position to do this. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in some lessons. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for independent work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students which they will record. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
BUSINESS & FINANCE |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback will be carried out in all lessons with some students. This will be performed as part of a review of students work and will be used to identify areas of strength and potential areas of improvement. When it occurs it is noted on work with ‘VF’. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. The students will use level descriptors to perform an assessment of work that has and are encouraged to give accurate grades and identify areas of improvement. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work in line with relevant exam board policies. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged.
Templates for formative assessment will be provided in Year 12 and Year 13 centre assessed units. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Feedback from summative assessment will mirror exam board feedback using level descriptors and common language. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
DESIGN TECHNOLOGY |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback will be carried out in all lessons with some students. This will be performed as part of a review of student work and will be used to identify areas of strength and potential areas of improvement. When it occurs it is noted on work with ‘VF’ and students will write next to the ‘VF’ a short note to remind them of the feedback discussion. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in some lessons. Students use criteria to give accurate grades and identify areas of improvement |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
DRAMA |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers provide verbal feedback in nearly all lessons. This usually is formed out of discussions in a group performance environment in which teacher provides summary of general comments and also specific skills-based feedback for students. Often it is not appropriate for a student to record this at the time as it is largely within a practical environment, but teachers will focus on seeing that the feedback has been acted upon in the next practical engagement. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will peer-assess on a regular basis in Drama as this forms the basis for most plenary and discussion-based environments around exploration and performance. It is a key element of the drama feedback structure. When discussing grades for specific performances, students will self-assess in terms of development. This is recorded in the front page of books for each project. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record this. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
ENGLISH |
|
| Type of feedback | Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given in their books/folders. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for independent pieces of work and offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
FOOD |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback will be carried out in all lessons with some students. This will be performed as part of a review of student work and will be used to identify areas of strength and potential areas of improvement. When it occurs it is noted on work with ‘VF’ and students will write next to the ‘VF’ a short note to remind them of the feedback discussion. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in some lessons. Students use criteria to give accurate grades and identify areas of improvement |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for two independent pieces of work per short term. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
GEOGRAPHY |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given in their books/folders. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for two independent pieces of work per short term. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback will be carried out in all lessons with some students. This will be performed as part of a review of students work and will be used to identify areas of strength and potential areas of improvement. When it occurs it is noted on work with ‘VF’. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. The students will use level descriptors to perform an assessment of work that has and are encouraged to give accurate grades and identify areas of improvement. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
HISTORY |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given in their books/folders. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for two independent pieces of work per short term. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
ICT |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback will be carried out in all lessons with some students. This will be performed as part of a review of students work and will be used to identify areas of strength and potential areas of improvement. There are no stamps or recording facilities to evidence this at present but methods for recording are being reviewed. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. The students use level descriptors to perform an assessment of work that has be circulated electronically (via email) or at a shared workstation area. The students are encouraged to give accurate grades and identify areas of improvement |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. All students work has comment boxes that allow for a positive reflection, grade, and area of improvement. There is a student feedback section that allows students to record a comment reflecting on their own understanding of the comment. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
MATHS(an overview from Maths’ specific marking and feedback policy) |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given in their books/folders |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess where appropriate. Students will rate the work they have completed on the RAG123 scale at the end of each lesson. Teachers may, at times, wish to do this for the students. If a student does not rate the lesson as a G1, they should give a reason why. Teachers are to look through the books, as appropriate, to take into account the student’s feedback from each lesson in order to inform future planning. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers must complete two formative marked pieces per term for each student using WWW and EBI. At least one of these should be an assessed piece of work (for example, an exit ticket, an end of topic test, or an exam paper). This marking may be evident in class work books, homework books, assessment folders or attached to a test . Teachers will mark in purple pen and students complete corrections and next step tasks in green pen. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will self-assess strengths and weaknesses and record this information in their assessment books. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
MFL |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given in their books/folders with a green pen. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess when possible (for example when learning vocabulary or precise grammar points) with clear criteria given to help with this marking. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for two independent pieces of work per short term. One will be done with help (book/dictionary) and the second one will be on the same topic but without resources. DIRT will be done on the first piece and feedbacks/marks will be given on the second piece with an opportunity for therapy and improvement. The second piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. KS4 should be provided with a GCSE tick list on each marked piece to acknowledge what they included successfully and what is still missing. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work as a result of therapy lessons and targeted exercises. |
MUSIC |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. When verbal feedback has been given the student will summarise the feedback given in a manner appropriate to the task and situation, for example an immediate musical response or a written summary. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons in verbal or written form, as appropriate to the task. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for independent pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for improving the work/performance which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record this. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
PE |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in all lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. When verbal feedback has been given in core PE lessons the student will summarise the feedback given or practically demonstrate their understanding. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons and use this feedback to action improvement of themselves or others. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record this. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. During core PE students will be informed of their level of attainment and this will be recorded in registers. |
RELIGIOUS STUDIES |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Teachers will provide verbal feedback in most lessons. Not every student will receive verbal feedback in every lesson; this will depend on the activity and the student. Students will summarise the feedback given in their books/folders. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess where appropriate. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for two independent pieces of work per short term. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
SCIENCE |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback to responses during Q&A to indicate quality of answers as well as to develop structure of answers, to improve terminology used and to stretch understanding.
Verbal feedback will be indicated in exercise books by writing ‘VF’ to indicate feedback has taken place in relation to that piece of work. Students will write next to the ‘VF’ a short note to remind them of the feedback discussion. All students should receive verbal feedback every cycle. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for two pieces of work per short term. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and students will record areas of weakness/gaps in knowledge for future tasks. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work before moving on to the next unit of work. |
SOCIAL SCIENCES |
|
| Type of feedback |
Detail |
| Verbal | Verbal feedback will be carried out in all lessons with some students. This will be performed as part of a review of students work and will be used to identify areas of strength and potential areas of improvement. When it occurs it is noted on work with ‘VF’. |
| Peer and self assessment | Students will self-assess or peer-assess in most lessons. The students will use level descriptors to perform an assessment of work that has and are encouraged to give accurate grades and identify areas of improvement. |
| Formative assessment | Teachers will provide feedback for key pieces of work. At least one piece will be a formal assessment used for PP data. Teachers will offer opportunities for DIRT/therapy work which is then marked/acknowledged. |
| Summative assessment | Summative assessment feedback will be shared with students and this will record areas of strength and weakness in relation to the key assessment objectives. Students will be given an opportunity to improve the work/elements of the work, or similar tasks, by demonstrating progress in the assessment objectives and levels before moving on to the next unit of work. |
Appendix 2—Guidance for Parents
Changes to Marking and Feedback at EWS, January 2018
We believe marking and feedback at EWS should be meaningful, manageable and motivating because helpful feedback, responded to by students, results in outstanding progress.
Our new Feedback Policy aims to ensure learners receive regular meaningful advice on how to develop their knowledge and skills, and that they are given opportunities to act on this advice before moving on to new learning. This helps to avoid a ‘cycle of dependency’ where teachers invest time marking work, only for students to make the same mistakes next time and not progress as fast as they could.
What are the main changes?
- We want teachers to mark less and achieve more. This means teachers will focus their feedback more strategically and will avoid marking simply because it is an expected activity. This allows them to spend time giving high quality, targeted feedback.
- Each subject area follows the policy but also has its own subject-specific marking procedures to ensure the best type of feedback is used across the curriculum.
- We want students to focus on fulfilling their own potential rather than fixating on a numerical level. This means teachers will give diagnostic feedback whenever possible – looking at gaps in knowledge/skills and advising students what to do to fill these gaps and move forwards, rather than merely state what grade/score they’ve achieved.
- We will evaluate the success of a teacher’s feedback not by the number of red/purple marks they make, but by improvements seen in a student’s work and progress.
- We want teachers to use quicker, more efficient strategies rather than responding solely on paper. This means teachers will use a combination of ongoing verbal feedback, peer-assessment, self-assessment, twice termly formative assessment, and once termly summative assessment. This may also involve teachers scanning whole class sets of books to quickly evaluate what has been misunderstood by learners so that the next lesson can set about correcting these issues.
- Detailed marking will still take place when it is the best marking and feedback solution in question.
How will we notice the difference?
- You may notice fewer red/purple marks in your child’s books but more green ink where students are responding to feedback by improving or redoing a piece of work (known as DIRT work).
- You will notice fewer numerical levels and, instead, strategies which offer ways to improve work.
How can we support our child?
- Families/carers play a vital role in helping students to develop independence as they progress through school. A student in Key Stage 4 or 5 may wish to pre-assess the quality of their work and make improvements before they submit it for teacher comment. In other cases, a student may wish to discuss with you at home their response to a DIRT task from a teacher before re-submitting it.
- Where you notice that your son/daughter has made the same mistake more than once, please talk to them about the importance of listening to feedback and adjusting their working practice to ensure they are making progress.
Glossary:
Formative Assessment: in-process evaluations of learning. Students receive feedback that assists their learning/progress
Summative Assessment: evaluation of student learning typically given at the end of a project, unit, course
DIRT: dedicated improvement and reflection time (time given to students to act on teacher feedback, usually completed in green pen)
EWS Feedback Policy
Issue date: January 2018
Review date: December 2020
