Bradford Grammar School Marking & Presentation Policy This - PDF document

Bradford Grammar School Marking & Presentation Policy This policy applies to the Junior School and is published to parents, pupils and employees. Updated 20 September 2017. This policy has regard for the Equality Act 2010. This policy complies with the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) regulatory requirements. Any phrasing displayed in italics is ISI regulatory wording. Document Purpose This policy reflects the values, ethos and philosophy of Bradford Grammar Junior School (the School) in relation to the presentation and marking of pupils’ work. It gives a framework within which all governors, staff and pupils work together. The School’s values are: • Excellence • Compassion • Determination • Opportunity • Service Introduction The presentation of pupils’ work is an important aspect of the learning process; pupils must learn that there are presentation conventions which must be followed in order that their work is completed in an acceptable way. Marking is an essential part of the teaching and learning process and is a valuable form of communication between teachers and pupils. It enables teachers to analyse work completed by pupils and to gauge their understanding. The quality of the marking reinforces its importance to the pupils. Presentation The School has devised a set of guidelines for pupils to follow when presenting their work. The guidelines can be found on presentation and marking stickers, which are included in the front of all pupils’ exercise books or booklets and on posters which are displayed in all classrooms. Copies of the stickers and posters are appended to this policy. Marking Marking at the School has an essential role in:  The assessment and tracking of pupils’ progress.  The recording and reporting of pupils’ progress.  Evidencing pupils’ learning and their next steps for learning.  Informing teaching and planning.  Making pupils aware of and accountable for their own progress.  Encouraging pupils to have positive attitudes to learning and achievement.  Improving pupils’ resilience. 1

Marking can be carried out by the teacher during the course of a lesson, in which case it should be with a purple pen. Verbal feedback should be evidenced on the pupil’s work by the use of a purple ‘V’. Marking can be carried out in lessons by the pupils themselves or their peers. This should be evidenced on the work. Pupils’ work that has been self or peer marked should be checked by the teacher. Marking can be carried out by the teacher after the lesson, in which case it should be with a green pen. To be effective, such marking should:  Be carried out promptly following the completion of a pupils’ work and ideally in advance of the subsequent lesson.  Follow the guidelines appended to this policy.  Be accurate, clear and explicit.  Include a positive written comment which acknowledges the pupil’s progress in relation to the learning objective for the lesson.  Include a written comment which offers advice for future progress.  Where appropriate, include a written comment which reflects the effort that the pupil has made.  Where appropriate, acknowledge that a pupil has successfully acted on previous advice.  Where appropriate, require pupils to review, revise, edit, correct or repeat work. To encourage self-improvement pupils may be given self-assessment stickers to direct their attention to specific areas of improvement (see Appendix 7).  Where appropriate, identify opportunities for pupils to extend their learning.  Where appropriate, comment on the presentation of a pupil’s work.  Where appropriate, include a comment to acknowledge that work is unfinished and give instructions as to the steps that the pupil must take to complete their work. Pupils should be asked to read the teacher’s comments as soon as is practicable and to initial the comments to indicate that they have read them. Subject to the age of the pupils and the task carried out, pupils will be awarded marks, which may be grades or numerical. Marks should reflect the knowledge, skills and understanding expected for the particular age range and ability of pupils. In Year 2 numerical marks are not given in any subject. Marking and feedback is relevant to the task. In Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 pupils are generally given numerical marks. In the event that a piece of work has not been completed in the required timescale, a mark will be given for the work produced but pupils will be given an opportunity to complete the work and subsequently improve their mark. Pupils’ marks should be collated by individual teachers in a mark book or on a spreadsheet, as they are required to be totalled and transferred to ‘The Clock House Mark Book’ on the School’s server at the end of the autumn and summer terms. These marks, along with the pupils’ exam marks, appear on the autumn and summer reports. The exceptions are: art, Religious Studies (RS), music, Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) and 2

Physical Education (PE) where attainment and effort grades are given without numerical marks. Grades are not given for PSHE or games. 3

Appendix 1: Marking of Written Work When marking written work, always correct full stop and capital letter errors. After that, mark according to the guidelines below. Work which is handed in late will be marked with an ‘ L’. A deadline should also indicate the date by which the late work must be completed. Any pupils who are identified with SEND, will have an individual learning plan identifying any exceptions to the guidelines below. Marking Guidelines (Punctuation) Punctuation errors are identified by circling the error and writing a ‘p’ in the margin. Year 2: Capital letters, full stops, exclamation marks and question marks from September. Throughout the year mark for commas in lists, apostrophes for contraction and singular possession in nouns, when they have been taught. Year 3: Capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks and commas for lists, apostrophes for contractions and singular possession nouns. Throughout the year mark for inverted commas to punctuate direct speech, when they have been taught. Year 4: Capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks and commas for lists, apostrophes for contractions and singular possession nouns, inverted commas to punctuate direct speech. Throughout the year mark for commas after fronted adverbials, possessive apostrophes for plural nouns and other punctuation to indicate direct speech (capital letters, commas, end stops and using a new line for speech), when they have been taught. Year 5: Capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks and commas for lists, apostrophes for contractions and singular possession nouns and plural nouns, inverted commas to punctuate direct speech other punctuation to indicate direct speech (capital letters, commas, end stops and using a new line for speech), fronted adverbials. Throughout the year mark for brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis and use of commas to clarify meaning or to avoid ambiguity, when they have been taught. Year 6: Capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks and commas for lists, apostrophes for contractions and singular possession nouns and plural nouns, inverted commas to punctuate direct speech other punctuation to indicate direct speech (capital letters, commas, end stops and using a new 4

line for speech), fronted adverbials, brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis and use of commas to clarify meaning or to avoid ambiguity. Throughout the year, mark for semi-colons, colons and dashes to mark the boundary between independent clauses, colons to introduce lists and semi- colons within lists, bullet points to list information and hyphens to avoid ambiguity, when they have been taught. Marking Guidelines (Spelling) Spelling errors are identified by underlining the spelling error. If the teacher requires the pupil to correct the spelling, they should write sp x 3 in the margin. A maximum of three spelling corrections should be required per piece of work. Spelling corrections should be completed at the end of the piece of work. If there are more than three errors, the teacher should indicate that the spelling is incorrect by writing ‘ sp’ in the margin, underlining the word and writing the correct spelling above. Year 2: During Year 2, spellings will be corrected according to: • The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for year 1 • All spellings taught from The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for year 2 • All spellings given to pupils during a lesson / on a worksheet • Subject specific vocabulary Year 3: During Year 3 spellings will be corrected according to: • The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for year 2 • All spellings taught from The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for years 3 and 4 • All spellings given to pupils during a lesson / on a worksheet • Subject specific vocabulary Year 4: During Year 4 spellings will be corrected according to: • The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for year 2 • All spellings taught from The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for years 3 and 4 • All spellings given to pupils during a lesson / on a worksheet • Subject specific vocabulary Year 5: During Year 5 spellings will be corrected according to: • The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for years 3 and 4 • All spellings taught from The statutory requirements for Spelling – work for years 5 and 6 5