• Urban Academy 433 pupils (oversubscribed) in Plymouth
• FSM: 37.1%

Review rating:

Average rating across all Discovery Espresso reviews: 3.7/5

A brilliant resource that helps reduce teacher workload but is an effective tool that helps get the best out of our children. They need engaging and inspiring lessons and this helps to achieve that.

How well does it match the curriculum?

Well: It covers the curriculum as well as we expected

Great curriculum content and a bank of resources that fit the curriculum. Weakness would be lack of resources to support those with SEND and particularly in year on where those children are working at foundation stage

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

Well: A large majority of resources are suitably differentiated for pupils

Better resources for SEND children needed. Also resources for children that are working at Foundation Stage to help support them in these subjects.

How well does it engage and motivate pupils?

Brilliantly: Pupils love using and are excited when they know they are going to do so

My class particularly love videos so they absolutely love the bank of videos available and it’s a great tool for the lesson starter. They also enjoy the quizzes. Better plenary tools would be good to help draw back the children and review what we have done as a class.

How well supported is it by any included formative assessments?

Well: We could (or do) use it for monitoring individual pupil progress

We don’t currently use for formative assessments but the tracking of pupil engagement is really good. It’s good to be able to monitor how long a pupil is spending on a task and which helps inform our planning and which pupils might need support.

How well does it support planning?

Well: It’s fairly self-contained and can be used with minimal preparation

It reduces teacher workload which is what we all want! A great bank of engaging resources when teachers are particularly stuck on a topic they are teaching. I still have to adapt for children’s needs and ensure I am providing differentiation.

How well does it support home use / independent learning?

Reasonably: It could be used at home or independently, but pupils would need some extra support or resources

Parents struggle to engage with home learning. Many need simple tasks and would want it printed so wouldn’t engage with the quizzes: Many don’t have devices as well so this would need to be considered.

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

Well: It’s worth the money and effort to introduce – more so than many similar resources I’ve seen

Some parts of the website can be accessed for free. Content for the younger children in Foundation Stage would be good so it can be accessed by the whole school.

Would you recommend it to a colleague in a similar school to yours? 9/11

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