This one day training will enable teachers and school leaders to discover the results of research into the effect of verbal feedback on student engagement and attainment.

This research-evaluation and the accompanying Toolkit outline the interventions used and highlight what the 7 schools believed to be the key impacts on both teachers and their students.

The study aimed to publish a clear framework and common vernacular for teachers and schools to use, as well as publish data from schools participating in the pilot, with a view to:
• dramatically reduce the quantity of written feedback and instead, provide instant verbal feedback in lessons
• develop an ethos in which teachers can focus on the learning of the pupils
• create an environment where teachers can spend their working time dedicated to
• developing technological feedback strategies
• foster targeted talk about knowledge and skills
• encourage pupils to think about where they’re going, how well they are getting on and what’s next.

The findings show that verbal feedback, when accompanied by a reduction or removal of written forms of feedback, does not negatively affect either the engagement or attainment of students. This is true for disadvantaged students and all students.

Furthermore, in most cases, clear improvements in the engagement of disadvantaged students were seen, and this was accompanied by a large number of examples by gains in progress or attainment. Impacts on teacher wellbeing was a supplementary focus of enquiry for some and, in these cases, gains were found there also. In every case, time saved on marking outside the lesson was ‘reinvested’ in lesson planning to better suit the range of needs of students.

This training will enable teachers and school leaders to:
• Discover the research methodology used and its findings
• Use the framework to construct your own action research project
• Access research methods, ethics and data collection
• Learn more about some of the techniques used by the teachers
• Explore possibilities for your school to kickstart a research project with Ross McGill.

Case study schools:
• Reigate School, Reigate, Surrey
• Oakgrove School, Milton Keynes
• The London Nautical School, London
• Trinity Catholic School, Nottingham
• Ranelagh School, Bracknell, Berkshire
• Westminster City School, London
• Batley Girls High School, Batley, West Yorkshire.