• City Academy 412 pupils in Essex
• FSM: 3.6%

Review rating:

Average rating across all Discovery Espresso reviews: 3.7/5

A well contracture resource but it is expensive and the company doesn't offer any flexibility in purchase options.

How well does it match the curriculum?

Well: It covers the curriculum as well as we expected

The content is very engaging with a broad mix of different materials, from interactive resources to videos to well presented diagrams. Great navigation and well organised topics helps staff and children find relevant content. The weakness is that content isn't always presented at differing levels of complexity.

How well does it support adaptation for different groups of pupils?

Reasonably: Essentially there’s enough for most pupils but there isn’t enough extension or challenge

The content could be presented in layers, with basic content as the base layer and more complex concepts layered on top.

How well does it engage and motivate pupils?

Well: Pupils generally enjoy using it and tend to welcome doing so

The range of materials and the way the differing materials engage the children. The content is not just video based. I think subtitled videos will help children access the material and develop reading skills.

How well supported is it by any included formative assessments?

Reasonably: There is some formative assessment included, but its usefulness is a bit limited

Not much in the way of formative assessment

How well does it support planning?

Reasonably: Mostly we can use it without an unreasonable amount of effort or additional resource requirement

It helps planning in providing a strong resource. It doesn't offer equally strong planning. This is an area that could be developed because this could be curated by a team of strong teachers and then adapted for children / schools / curriculum to suit the school.

How well does it support home use / independent learning?

Well: Pupils could be expected to use this at home or independently, with a minimum amount of support or additional resources

Very easy to access remotely. We used this software during both pandemics and this means that children can access similar content to what would have been provided in the classroom in 'normal' times.

How would you rate it for value for money compared to similar resources?

Badly: It really isn’t worth investing the time or money in introducing this resource at a school like mine

Allowing schools to purchase software for just some groups of learners. The company only allows you to buy licences for the whole school even though it is not used by some year groups. This makes it very expensive and an inefficient use of resources as I would rather invest in an alternative software for those where Espresso isn't appropriate.

Would you recommend it to a colleague in a similar school to yours? 7/11

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