Built for our own children first, and checked against officially marked work.

Why we built Silvo

Our children used to get detailed feedback once, after the work was marked, when it was too late to use. At the kitchen table the night before, we couldn't say whether a draft met a senior marking guide, and the AI tools we tried either praised the draft or rewrote it.

So we built Silvo for our own household. Before any child used it, we checked its estimates against officially marked samples from Australian curriculum authorities, and ran it against a set of drafts built to make it fail: hidden instructions, off-topic writing, an illegible photo. Now our children use it on their real assignments. As their marked work comes back, we compare Silvo's estimate with the teacher's mark, and every piece of feedback they say wasn't helpful becomes a test it has to pass.

Silvo is now opening to other families, in stages. If you use it, tell us what works and what doesn't.

Built on how good feedback works

Silvo's rules for feedback are deliberate. Each one follows a widely accepted principle from research and teaching guidance on feedback, including guidance written for Australian teachers. Here is each rule beside the principle behind it.

It works from the teacher's marking guide: Feedback depends on a clear goal: a student needs to know what the standard looks like and how their work compares with it. Silvo's goal is the teacher's own criteria. Sadler (1989); AITSL (2017); NSW Department of Education (2025)
It shows where the draft stands, quoting your child's own words: Good feedback answers three questions: where am I going, how am I going, and where to next. Feedback about the work helps; feedback about the person, praise included, rarely does. Hattie and Timperley (2007); Kluger and DeNisi (1996)
A few priorities, not every error: Feedback works in small, specific pieces about what matters most. Too much at once is overwhelming and gets ignored. Shute (2008); NSW Department of Education (2025)
It asks questions and never writes the fix: Feedback should be more work for the student than for the person giving it, and should make them think. Students improve by closing the gap themselves.Education Endowment Foundation (2021); Sadler (1989); Shute (2008)
Each draft is compared with the last: Research summaries for Australian teachers list feedback on change since the last attempt among the more effective kinds, and give students time to rewrite after feedback. AITSL (2017); NSW Department of Education (2025)
The teacher's judgement is what counts: A result on a school report is the teacher's on-balance judgement across many pieces of work. Research is also cautious about marks while a student is still drafting. So Silvo's estimate is a range, always labelled as an estimate, shown with how sure Silvo is, and never in place of what to do next. NSW Department of Education (2024); Sadler (1989); Shute (2008)

This research and guidance is mostly about teachers giving feedback in class. Silvo follows its principles; it doesn't claim that the researchers or organisations named here endorse it, or that it has been tested to give the same results.

The sources

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487
Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189. doi.org/10.3102/0034654307313795
Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi.org/10.1007/BF00117714
Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254
Collin, J., & Quigley, A. (2021). Teacher feedback to improve pupil learning. Education Endowment Foundation. The guidance report (PDF)
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2017). Spotlight: Reframing feedback to improve teaching and learning. AITSL (PDF)
Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (2025). What works best 2025 practical guide: Effective feedback. NSW Department of Education. The guide (PDF)
NSW Department of Education (2024). Consistent teacher judgement. education.nsw.gov.au

What Silvo is, and isn't

It is: Feedback on a draft of a written assignment, against the teacher's own marking guide, for students in Years 3 to 12 at home.
It isn't: A tutor, an essay writer, an official mark, or a school system. It doesn't connect to your child's school, and your child's teacher's judgement is what counts.
Where: Australia: Australian spelling, marking terms and helplines. Run by Xpedite Partners Pty Ltd.

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