The Feedforward book is an important part of a different concept of marking and planning. It is aimed to make teachers' time more efficient and also to reduce workload for staff. Effectively, the feedforward book is a teacher's on-going notebook that helps to cut down unnecessary planning and marking time.
As you are probably aware, conventional marking has been criticised in terms of time spent by teachers in relation to progress made by pupils. According to the DfE, schools should be looking at the impact of marking and feedback upon children's learning and creating a marking policy which is beneficial to both children's progress and teacher workloads.
The feedforward system gives full consideration to the DfE's point. Effectively, it aims to ensure that teachers do not take books home to mark but spend a small amount of time at the end of the school day focusing on a 'learning review' of three pupils' outcomes during that day. In other words, your feedback system needs to gauge the effectiveness of your teaching and learning by considering what a child knows, what they do not know and then consider how can they get them to know the things they do not know.
Then teachers need to know if how they taught them worked. At a whole school level, they need to know, what children knew, what they know now, and what still needs to be taught.
The feedforward principle is built upon a system that leads to children learning more effectively. The feedforward book allows a teacher to make daily adjustments to planning by noting what happens on a given day and what needs to be revisited on the next. It also allows teachers to pick up on individuals who need rapid intervention and provides a 'focus' for any other adult that may be working with them.
Finally, it introduces the concept of 'learning reviews'. Learning reviews sees teachers working in pairs and focusing daily for a week on three children's learning. This would normally be done at the end of the school day. However, it is suggested that no more than 5 minutes be spent per child each day. Effectively 15 minutes per day. Teachers would make brief notes on what they are noticing and have a brief chat with the individual children on the next day. At the end of the week, teachers should summarise what they have learned about each child and provide further feedback at the beginning of the next week.
The concept underpinning this system is that pupils who may normally struggle do not fall further behind and that bright children are challenged appropriately and immediately.
To learn more, check out the Focus miniclip which explains more about using the feedforward book.
What are you buying into?
Initially, all you need is one hard copy, the brief explanatory pages with examples and the electronic copy of the book. This will cost you £50. If you are happy with the book as it stands and do not want to make any adjustments then we can make multiple colour copies for you at £13 per copy or black and white for £5.00 per copy.
However, you will have the electronic version and can make your own adjustments as needed and make your own copies from there.