What is the marking policy like at your school?

[irishmurdoch]

My DD is coming to the end of her first half term in Year 7 at a girls independent school and looking through her books, the majority of them don't seem to have been marked even once.

Is this usual? I used to be an English teacher in a similar type of school and probably would have marked at least 3 pieces of written work by now, giving detailed feedback with points for development.

I know things have moved on in terms of work-life balance, but surely this can't be good practice. For example, her Spanish book is full of spelling errors which I worry will become entrenched if they aren't corrected. There's also 3 pieces of written work in her History book that haven't even been given a cursory tick. I wouldn't blame the students if they didn't bother putting any effort into their work if they thought nobody was going to look at it!

Are my expectations too high? What is the policy at other schools?

It varies and it is changing. I left classroom teaching more than six years ago but in my school we had to mark every set of books every six lessons (so every two weeks for my subject) - we had to give two positives and a target and then the students had to add their answer in green pen. We had book checks every term to make sure we were doing this. Icl it was one of the reasons I left - the workload was beyond ridiculous as I taught 11 different groups so was marking for 2-3 hours each night.

Sorry not what you asked! but from a recent Twitter thread I think a lot of schools have moved on from this. I certainly think "a cursory tick" of a piece of work is a waste of everyone's time.

But yes, in half a term I would expect at least one piece of work to have been marked and meaningful feedback given. Especially at a private school.

DD is Yr 8 at indy school and each piece of prep is marked fully plus brief feedback. SPaG is always highlighted. Some subjects grade each piece of prep too on A+-E scale (History, English, maths + Classic)
However each school is different so maybe ask to see their marking policy if you are concerned.

Thanks for the replies :) The school doesn't have their marking policy on the website, but I will certainly request a copy.
@clary I hear you about the marking load - it's mainly why I left teaching as well. I was doing 70 hour weeks in my first few years! So I definitely recognise the value of verbal feedback, peer marking etc. - but still think in some subjects, it's important to catch misconceptions before they're consolidated. And to some extent, students need to be able to look back at their books and remind themselves of the previous feedback in order to apply it in their next piece of work. My DD has auditory processing issues, so verbal feedback just goes in one ear and out the other!

Regardless of marking load, you're paying for this! It is entirely reasonable to expect some written feedback on work in a term.

Yes I agree some written feedback is the least I would expect. I didn't intend my marking rant to suggest otherwise. In fact I was trying to show just how much written feedback there was – in a fairly average state comp. SO in a private school I would certainly expect some. Maybe make the point that your DD needs to see it written down.

Yes, I think I agree that there's some expectation with a private school that there will be more written feedback. (I used to try to see it as the price to pay for having a slightly easier life in the classroom!) Regardless, as a PP has said, my DD needs visual rather than verbal feedback, so I think I'll approach it from a special needs perspective. Thanks all.

Not normal, we found the the majority of independent London girls schools does this. The coed and boys schools in London seems to get their works marked, feedback on year cohort vs DC grade. Areas to look at developing, improvements options, review in class so others know what is missing in 6 marks questions in science subjects. All very helpful.

Research suggests that oral feedback is just as effective and that the kind of detailed written marking that used to be the norm is pointless and has no impact on outcome.

I'm familiar with the research on verbal feedback, but I don't think it's a one size fits all things, especially when you bring auditory processing disorders into the mix.

1 size doesn't fit all though. My DD is highly motivated by written feedback and uses it to refer back to. She forgets verbal information quite quickly but written means that when she's revising for tests etc she can see where to improve

Your expectations are entirely reasonable. I have two DC in Yr10 and 7 at the local co-ed comp. Work is marked every week across all subjects, SPAG picked up, advice given on where to improve/stretch/expand their answers. Yr7 DC has already had a number of assessments marked and returned with indication of where they sit in the cohort.

It must be a huge amount of work for the staff, but I think seeing that written feedback also makes a huge difference to the kids' self esteem, as they see their work is valued?

Their primary school had previously adopted the "research shows verbal feedback is more effective" approach and it was a nightmare, particularly for kids with SEN, mistakes just weren't highlighted clearly enough.

Thanks very much for this, it's given me the confidence to approach the school with my concerns.