2009-2010 - Hornbill School Website

We recognise the importance of commenting regularly on children’s work in a
meaningful and helpful way. Our comments may ask questions, seek answers,
encourage, remind, emphasise an improvement or point out a difficulty. We aim to
provide feedback in a constructive and interesting manner. The children need to
understand and be able to read our comments. They should also know what it required
in response to our marking.
We believe it is not essential to correct every mistake in a piece of written work, but
to correct those elements to which individual children have been asked to pay
particular attention. For example, this may be the use of capital letters or the spelling
of particular words.
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We encourage the use of the school editing key when marking grammatical or spelling
errors. Those incorrect words that the teacher feels a child should be ready or able
to spell may be written out three times. When appropriate we encourage children to
self-correct their work using the editing key displayed in each classroom. This work
can be carried out effectively with a partner.
Where a piece of work is to be copied out as a presentation piece we will make sure it
has been thoroughly marked. We would not want a child to be copying out an incorrect
piece, as this would serve to reinforce the errors. For some children it is in
appropriate for them to copy out a piece of writing and, if their first draft is a quality
piece of work from them, it should be used for presentation as it stands.
4. Conclusion
Our teachers spend a lot of time marking children’s work, in one form or another, and
we recognise the importance of being clear and consistent in our practice. We see
marking within the general context of giving feedback, both written and verbal, on all
the things our children do in school.
CODES TO BE DISPLAYED
s/p
A spelling needs to be corrected
A word has been left out
This word needs to be replaced
C
Capital letter is missing
// A new sentence needed
/// A new paragraph needed
P/G
I
Check punctuation and grammar
Child worked independently