MARKING POLICY

The marking of children’s work should be seen as a means of improving the accuracy and standard of work and evidence that whatever the child has produced has been seen and assessed by the teacher. Children should see marking as helping them to improve their efforts and not in a negative way.

Children should not be deterred from trying because of the way marking is executed within the School. Marking must be constructive in order to lead to improvement and reinforcement.

Aim

1. To try to convey to children that marking is a means of helping and not a means to criticism.

2. To demonstrate to children that the teacher has a personal involvement in their work by reading and checking results.

3. To act as a diagnostic aid to future planning for the class, a group or an individual.

4. To assist children to strive towards improvement in there work whatever the subject.

Objectives

1. Take into account the needs and ability of the individual child

2. Whenever possible, mark the work when the child is present

3. If the child is not present, use written comment and follow-up at the earliest opportunity

4. Encourage self-correction

5. Take into account the purpose of the work i.e. creativity spelling, grammar, fluency etc.

6. Give praise and encouragement whenever possible and ensure that marking is neither unsympathetic nor inhibiting

7. Encourage drafting and redrafting of written work where self-correction and teacher correction is seen as a means of improving quality

8. Check whether errors are due to carelessness or a lack of understanding

9. A constant code of marking, agreed amongst the staff, should be adhered to, also allowing for individual teacher comments.