Assessment and Feedback

Here at Shakespeare and More, we work to a really simple principle: whatever children are doing- a piece of writing, giving an answer in class, giving a presentation, a discussion with their friends- they have to try to make it the best they can. Then we help them to make it a little bit better. Repeat this in every English lesson for a year, and ta-dah, they can do lots of things they couldn’t do before.
All our Shakespeare and More units have opportunities for assessment built in, but it is the kind of assessment that will actually make a difference. You know, the kind that will help children to learn things. Assessment, teaching, feedback and reporting all join up. It’s not rocket science (apart from in science lessons, when sometimes it is).
Feeding Back
There are lots of ways to give children feedback and sitting down and marking a big pile of written work is just one of them. We have just one golden rule with all feedback that children receive and that is that the child gets the opportunity to act on it.
After all, what’s the point in waiting until a child has finished writing something and then the teacher pointing out all ways to make it better? It’s too late by then. It's unlikely to make them feel great, and the chances are by the time they return to do something like it again they’ll have forgotten everything they've been told. We think immediate feedback and then the chance to put it right leads to better outcomes and better learning. And that’s got to be a good thing…
Here’s a look at some of the ways we think assessment can support children’s learning:
First Impressions
One-to-One Feedback
Sharing Work
Peer Assessment
Written Feedback
We've also made some handy tracker sheets ready for assessing reading and writing ready for life after National Curriculum levels.
All our Shakespeare and More units have opportunities for assessment built in, but it is the kind of assessment that will actually make a difference. You know, the kind that will help children to learn things. Assessment, teaching, feedback and reporting all join up. It’s not rocket science (apart from in science lessons, when sometimes it is).
Feeding Back
There are lots of ways to give children feedback and sitting down and marking a big pile of written work is just one of them. We have just one golden rule with all feedback that children receive and that is that the child gets the opportunity to act on it.
After all, what’s the point in waiting until a child has finished writing something and then the teacher pointing out all ways to make it better? It’s too late by then. It's unlikely to make them feel great, and the chances are by the time they return to do something like it again they’ll have forgotten everything they've been told. We think immediate feedback and then the chance to put it right leads to better outcomes and better learning. And that’s got to be a good thing…
Here’s a look at some of the ways we think assessment can support children’s learning:
First Impressions
One-to-One Feedback
Sharing Work
Peer Assessment
Written Feedback
We've also made some handy tracker sheets ready for assessing reading and writing ready for life after National Curriculum levels.