Busy Things review by Simon

Date: 29.04.2022

Review subject: English

Phase: Primary

Reviewer: Simon, Deputy head

Review rating:

Average rating across all Busy Things reviews: 4.4/5

Overall it does the job we need it to do, which is support catch-up.

How well does it match the curriculum?

Well: It covers the curriculum as well as we expected

There is decent coverage for our purpose of use, which is catch-up

How well does it support your school’s inclusion/diversity/equal opportunities policy?

Well: The content is inclusive and sensitively presented

How well does it support differentiation for the full range of the classes you use it with?

We only use for catch-up, not for anyone working at or above

How well does it engage and motivate pupils?

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

The children who use it are never reluctant to do so

How well supported is it by accompanying formative assessments?

Badly: There isn’t any / enough formative assessment or what there is, isn’t very useful

I don't know of any formative assessment being used with this product

How well does it support planning?

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

Useful for catch-up

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

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

It is around the same/slightly cheaper than some products I have seen. However, I don't use those products so I'm not sure how well they compare.