Marking year 9 English

[diddyd]

DD English book has been marked twice by a teacher in 16 weeks. And twice peer marked. She's in year 9. How much marking is realistic?

I'm going in to see the Head this week. I have got nowhere with anyone else to date.

[diddyd]

I think they take in some of the assessments - maybe once a term and they don't come home. Although there is worryingly an unmarked assessment in her book - and then two days later the school report comes out

[PenelopePitstops]

Depends on schools marking policy.

I know for maths a lot of my feedback is verbal (and also the most useful!) I try to mark once per week but only on piece "in depth", the rest is given a quick scan for glaring errors. This takes 2hours per class per week on top of teaching timetable.

There may be other assessed things you aren't seeing, exams or pieces done on paper.

[diddyd]

Ok. Thanks for the advice. I will check she is handing in. (I'm pretty sure she is - but will double check).

I will also ask what schools marking policy is before I make any judgements. Thanks.

I've just got worried as her grades have dropped since last report for English and she's had a series of supply teachers. Many of these teachers only appear for a day or two. Then she never sees them again.

It may be they are marking to the new (tougher) GCSE criteria? And / or I've been told that teachers sometimes artificially keep year 9 grades lower in order to show greater progress in year 10. I don't know how much truth there is in this ?

[Natalieevans79]

Hello -I'm an English teacher. The marking seems reasonable imo; don't forget it's exam season. (Plus you also state that on top of the book marking, they have had assessments marked). Year 11 and 6th form will take priority. Teachers will be marking tonnes of timed essays on a weekly basis for up to 4 or 5 exam classes. Here we aim to mark every book twice a term but this is not achievable all the time. There are points where I would be absolutely fine marking books once every 8 weeks, for example if I knew a class had not done much written work (as reading a text etc), or during exam season where I simply did not have the time. Speaking to colleagues, I know this is pretty standard fare in every school I've taught.

[freerangeeggs]

I'm also an English teacher and that is true about exam season unfortunately. We always try to stay on top of the book marking but when you're churning out mock exams for Y11, 12 and 13 every week it's sometimes just not possible. We try to make up for it when the older students go on exam leave.

If she's had lots of supply teachers that could be the issue - the marking is probably just really disjointed as a result. I'd be more worried about the lessons reflecting that than about the marking itself, though.

And as a previous poster mentioned, reports are usually written a couple of weeks in advance of them being sent home (it's a big job) so the unmarked assessment isn't really relevant.

[Minime85]

I'm an English teacher as well and agree about priority being year 11 at this time of year. I am catching up now yr 11 have gone on yr 7 and 8 assessments. We don't mark books at my school. They are seen as their rough work books and they have a separate assessment book which we mark for key pieces. Having worked in schools that do mark work books I see absolutely no difference in attainment between schools who do or don't.

There is nothing in keeping yr9 marks lower as they don't correlate straight over to ks4 and fft which is what predictions are based on are linked back to how your child did at primary school.

I'd be more concerned about the supply situation. I think parents maybe don't recognise the time it takes to mark English work. It isn't just a right or wrong. There are so many skills to be marked in each piece.

[diddyd]

Ok thanks. It's reassuring to know that the marking at her school, particularly at this exam time, seems broadly par for the course. As a parent with no friends who teach secondary, I'm thankful for all your input.

It's clear the school has a crisis in the English dept as they struggle to firstly recruit, and then secondly, retain any new English teachers they employ.

I meet the Head tomorrow so I think I'll keep the focus on making sure my DD is front of mind when they are organising the year 10 classes. She's had so much instability / supply teachers I feel I need be a bit pushy and ask them secure her a good GCSE teacher. I recognise nothing is guaranteed though. (Also being pushy is well outside my comfort zone - but I figure if I don't put her in the front of their mind, no one will...)