Rationale for Changes to Feedback in the Junior School
We are continuously striving to improve our teaching practices and ensure that the time we spend on feedback is meaningful for your child’s learning. As part of this, we are considering a change in how we mark students' work in the Junior School. Our aim is to make feedback more effective for students and enabling teachers to spend more time interacting with your child during lessons.
Why Are We Changing the Feedback System?
Through extensive research and reflection, we’ve found that traditional written marking, while helpful in some cases, can be time-consuming and often doesn’t benefit all students equally. In fact, it can sometimes lead to generic feedback, confusion, and missed opportunities for meaningful dialogue between teachers and students. We believe that marking should be: Formative – helping children understand their progress and where to improve. Timely – immediate feedback during or shortly after the lesson, so children can act on it right away. Specific – tailored to each child’s individual needs, so feedback is meaningful. Actionable – clear steps that children can follow to improve. Most importantly, we want the feedback to move learning forward—not just serve as a record for people to review.
What Is the Proposed New Feedback Approach?
Instead of collecting books at the end of each lesson and writing comments, we propose moving to a more interactive, in-the-moment approach: Live Feedback: Teachers will provide immediate, personalized feedback during the lesson, engaging directly with students as they work. Instant and Relevant: This feedback is timely and specific to what the child is doing in that moment, ensuring it’s useful and meaningful. Actionable: Children can immediately act on the feedback they receive and continue to learn in real-time. Interactive: Teachers will engage in a “live dialogue” with students, writing feedback directly in their books while explaining their thoughts verbally. This eliminates the need for students to interpret written feedback on their own, which can be tricky for some children.
Iain Wheeler 2025