Any marked work should match a specific assessment focus so that the children are aware of targets they are working towards which should be reflected in their work. You should involve the children closely in any marking so that it is a meaningful activity that is part of the development of their learning. The class can learn how to mark their own work so that they can assess their own progress and set future individual targets. Marking is an essential tool that forms parts of the way that the children can learn and progress in different skills and subjects.

Marking in Class
One of the best ways to organise marking is by marking in the class as the children are still working. This can provide immediate feedback so that the children can correct any errors and improve their work. Spend time discussing with individual children about steps that they can take to improve the marked piece of work before the end of the lesson. Record a simple target for the children to try and achieve as they continue their work. Allow time at the end of the lesson for the class to evaluate their progress against any selected targets. Help the children identify improvements to any future work following the discussions about their work as it was marked during the lesson.

Children Marking
The children can also take an active role in marking by working as a class during the plenary to check completed work and think about future targets for improvement. If you use the time in a plenary then the children can be given instant feedback to enable them to reflect more carefully on their work and suggest improvements for future lessons and activities. Getting the class to mark their own work will also cut down the time you need to mark the children’s work so that you can concentrate on setting assessment for future work and lessons.

Marking Targets
You need to make it clear to the class the target for their work which you will be assessing when marking. Spend time at the start of a lesson discussing with the children the focus for the lesson such as using commas before fronted adverbials in sentences. Display the target at the front of the classroom so that the children are aware of the main focus of their work. When you then come to mark the children’s work you should concentrate on assessing the children’s progress towards the selected target at the start of the lesson rather than attempting to identify and correct all errors in their work.

Marking Comments
When marking the children’s work you should include a positive comment about the children’s work such as good use of punctuation marks. You should also include a comment about how the children should improve their work in the future such as using commas for other purposes in a sentence rather than just lists. At the start of the year, you can teach the children some of the marks that you will use when marking their work so that they are familiar with the feedback you will be giving them about how to progress in different skills and lessons.

Marking for Assessment
You can work closely with colleagues in other classes to assess the children’s work against different National Curriculum subjects. You can use the sessions to moderate marking across the school and monitor the progress of children as they advance through year groups. Marking with other teachers can help assess the children’s progress across the school by identifying weaknesses that the whole school will need to focus on so that the whole school community can make progress and the teachers can better target any future teaching activities.