Question

Write a report for the headteacher which: 

A. Makes three recommendations for the further development of effective feedback at your school 

B. Outlines your rationale for your three reccomendations, and

C. Briefly describes some of the challenges of implementing your proposed recommendations and how you will address them. 

Within this report I will outline three recommendations based on the evidence I gathered during discussions, learning walks and book scrutiny’s. I think it is important that we take into account teacher workload and that this is acknowledged throughout the recommendations.  

Recommendation one – oral whole class feedback.  

Within the English department and Humanities department teacher feedback and questioning was shown to have impact on the understanding of the learners. Both approaches were individual but worked whole class. In line with my findings from observations and reading Cauley and McMillan who say that ‘  Effective feedback treats mistakes as important opportunities to learn. It stimulates students to try alternative strategies and to seek out additional resources to develop their knowledge, understanding, and skills’ (Cauley & McMillan 2010). My  first recommendation is that within each lesson there should be oral feedback with a focus on misconceptions, positive praise and unpicking of thinking. Rather than a focus on yes or no answers instead unpick incorrect answers explaining the process. This paired with effective questioning and timely feedback will allow pupils to move on their learning and understanding. This does not directly increase teacher workload but does ensure that teachers are actively participating in lessons. The EEF found that the effect of verbal feedback was higher than other forms.  

Recommendation two – individual feedback.  

This process has demonstrated a large discrepancy in the written marking and feedback given within subject groups. It has also highlighted that there is significant workload implication for those who are providing both oral feedback within lessons and lengthy detailed written feedback. Staff did not feel that they were able to see the benefit from the feedback or the response from pupils. My next recommendation is that we change from individual detailed feedback to targeted timely feedback that is able to be acted upon within the next subject lesson. I propose that staff in planning highlight areas for targeted marking and that other errors are picked up during verbal feedback either within the lesson or the next lesson. Time should then be allocated at the start of the next lesson for the pupils to implement and respond to the feedback. This should be done in another colour so can be identified.  By targeting the feedback to specific areas then staff are not having to ‘ deep mark’ on a regular basis. The EEF say that ‘ Effective feedback tends to focus on the task, subject and self – regulation strategies: it provides specific information on how to improve.’ I would recommend that per subject per term each department decided on one area to deep mark. After this mark, time needs to be allocated per pupil to be able to respond to the deep mark.  

Recommendation three – increase peer feedback.  

Peer feedback was used to great effect within the technology department and was seen to develop not only next steps and evaluation but allowed the pupils to discuss and showcase understanding. Pupils demonstrated their ability to reflect and deepen understanding whilst also developing social and communication needs. My recommendation would be to increase the opportunity’s for peer to peer feedback. The EEF stated that ‘Feedback may have a positive impact through supporting pupils to focus future learning on areas of weakness, through identifying and explaining misconceptions, through supporting them in taking greater responsibility for their own improvement or through increasing pupils’ motivation to improve.’ The lesson I observed in technology showed how the pupil through giving feedback were able to show self motivation and had the skills required to take responsibly for their own improvement. This has no impact on teacher workload but does require that the teacher is present and listening in conversations to ensure that any misconceptions are explained. This was raised as a concern in the humanities department so I would recommend that the humanities team have the opportunity to observe the technology team and the routine put in place. This practice has been started within the maths team but needed further developing.  

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