How to get children responding to and acting on marking? Following an review that showed our marking needed to be improved, I created a system called 'Think Pink' in which teachers highlight part of their marking in pink highlighter (something specific - a question, some corrections, an extension, an explanation) and the child responds when their book is returned in pink pen. We invested in a box of pink pens for each class, and the children love them and are eager to respond. It has been in use for 18 months now, having started in Maths it was soon extended to English books and other subjects, and it has been taken on and used by other schools in our trust (including middle schools and secondary, not just primary). It was praised by Ofsted in a recent inspection as an example of best practice in interactive marking. I've included final pdf files that you can print and use it exactly as they are, or Word versions that you can customise, add your school logo, and distribute exactly as you want.

An extensive collated set (55 pages altogether, giving many weeks of practice) of ‘long answer’ questions from KS2 reading SAT tests. Ideal to teaching Y6 how to answer the 2-mark and 3-mark longer written answers. The relevant text is included with each question: some have a full text and several related long questions, others have a shorter extract where a question asks about a specific paragraph. A second document includes the full mark scheme for the relevant questions only, collated by year in the same order as the questions. I have deliberately not used SAT papers from 2017-2019, as you are likely to be using these as end of term assessments, and if they’ve done the longer questions before it can skew your assessment data. An extensive collation job means there are 55 pages of text, questions and mark scheme extracts altogether.

Test gap analysis grid for any GPS paper 1 short answer SAT test (/50 marks). It auto sums scores per child, and success rate for each question, leading straight from a practice test to gap analysis; identify which questions your class / groups are weakest at, and what each child's priorities are, to direct revision. Can be easily modified for any future GPS test, including the NNC 2016 GPS sample paper 1.

A set of 9 ultra-close-up, striking colour photographs of different parts of animals (for example, a spider's silk spinners; a mosquito's eyes), along with display signs and an answer sheet. I've used these on a classroom wall (where children stick up Post-it notes with their guesses) or website / blog (where they post answers online), and it always generates lots of interest, speculation and debate. Photos are in .jpg format for printing or use online, the choice is yours.

A lesson from the new National Curriculum (year 6 science) looking at variation in species, asking the children to identify the advantage that came from random variation. High level thinking skills required. Includes a set of pictures to print which illustrate each adaption (prehensile tail on a spider monkey, humans walking on 2 legs, long horns on a water buffalo, and 5 more), along with some prompt photos to reveal later showing the adaptions in use (the water buffalo throwing an attacking lion off with his its horns, a Neanderthal man carrying a spear).

A SmartBoard slide show and Word collection of difficult to find images and some research notes / dates about the Royal Menagerie zoo, a collection of animals kept (often in poor conditions) at the Tower of London from 1210 to 1832. Liven up some of the duller areas of the new History curriculum (Tudors?), or link to themed animals work / PHSE. Would your children be interested to know that ... ... a polar bear was taken to fish for its dinner in the Thames attached to a long rope. ... lions would roam loose inside the outer walls of the Tower. ... a room was set aside as 'monkey school' where visitors would pay to sit inside with monkeys loose all around them. Lots of info, hours of research, but I haven't written a plan for this as there is so much you can do with it all - use it however it works with your class.

Written for year 6 algebra in the new National Curriculum (but also suitable at KS3), a differentiated question sheet, with a set of linear sequences for children to solve. In each case, they need to find the rule for n, then the 10th, 20th, 50th or other specified term. Example: Q: What is the 20th number in this sequence? 5, 8, 11 A: Rule: 3n+2 20th number is (3x20) + 2 = 62 Differentiated with 6 easier questions, 14 core (increasing in difficulty), then 4 extension questions going into negative number sequences for the more able. Answer sheet provided in same format. Whole document is in Word, so can be edited (tweaked slightly to make it easier or harder, depending on your class) or copy / pasted into Smartboard or other formats. Would also be suitable for a homework / reinforcement.

Fractions of numbers / ratio and proportion / bar models / reasoning / problem solving Two pages of bar model puzzles for upper KS2 or KS3. Each puzzle has three parallel bars, of different lengths, divided in different ways. By starting from the one value given, students need to use a range of strategies to find the answers in the other bar models. Steady progression of questions, gradually becoming more difficult. An ideal homework for year 6, more able year 5, or support in year 7-9. Very visual, minimal words / instructions. A great resource for mathematical reasoning and problem solving. Included in the download: all the questions on pdf (2 pages A4 size) answer sheet, showing all the working / steps the original Word document, so you can customise it, change numbers, change colour shading, or re-position bars to re-use with all new questions.

Some questions (text and research based) on a newspaper story reporting on the death of Nelson Mandela.

2 Excel spreadsheets containing grids with written instructions for drawing shapes. Can be printed A3 or A4, and the layout adapted to different requirements. Examples (easier): Draw a pentagon with one line of symmetry. Examples (harder): Draw a pentagon with just one acute angle.

Homework or worksheet on equivalent fractions, fractions of amounts, etc. Easier & harder versions available.

Year 5/6 English NNC. Homework (or class writing task) using a humorous comic strip as a prompt for writing a short story where every sentence starts with a fronted adverbial. Can be customised, with more adverbial suggestions added or all suggestions removed for HA / LA groups.

Maths - a homework featuring ratio and proportion word problems

Research homework on Carl Linnaeus, and his main work, Linnaean taxonomy.

Colour pictures of trees, leaves and fruit found in the UK. Could be used as the source of a classification key from those found on a walk.

A shape drawing resource to help children improve the accuracy of their drawing and measuring ... which produces a pretty pattern they can enjoy colouring in afterwards. Suitable for ages 7 - 11.

Spreadsheet format for mid-year reporting to parents, for years 1 - 6. Simple to complete (teachers just complete yellow boxes; the rest can be locked and password protected to prevent errors), it reports how the child is progressing at a mid-year point against the expectations of the new National Curriculum in Maths, Reading & Writing, as well as boxes for effort / behaviour, a space to describe interventions, and an editable box for a short personal comment. Includes a box for parent feedback and an invite to an upcoming parents' evening (which can be edited or removed, as required).

Arithmetic homework to practise the formal column methods of addition and subtraction. 2 difficulty levels.

A homework to revise the GPS areas of ADJECTIVES, PREPOSITIONS, NOUN TYPES, and PREFIXES / SUFFIXES. Open task, children create their own mini revision pages.