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This article reviews an action research pilot study into how to effectively show children’s learning progress during the course of lessons at a British Curriculum primary school in Dubai, awarded Outstanding status by the Dubai School Inspection Board (DSIB), 2024. Whilst the school showed outstanding progress through its summative data and external assessments, it was noted by the inspectorate that it was not always clear whether, during the course of a lesson, children were making clear progress against the learning goals of that session.

Arbor School was founded with a succinct and compelling vision, “Enough for all, forever.” The school delivers a rigorous and challenging curriculum, grounded in the National Curriculum for England and the requirements of the Dubai KHDA. While standardised assessments provide one measure of academic progress and attainment, there are no similar tools to assess Ecoliteracy outcomes.

One of the aspects of teaching with the highest impact is the cycle of feedback, during which teachers give information to students about their performance, relative to defined targets and learning outcomes. Within this aspect, it has been found that all methods of feedback delivery are highly effective (Educational Endowment Fund, 2021), however it is important that feedback is “timely, specific and actionable” (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).