Classroom Secrets review by Brad Howarth

Date: 30.04.2022

Review subject: Maths

Phase: Primary

Reviewer: Brad Howarth, Subject coordinator

Review rating:

Average rating across all Classroom Secrets reviews: 4/5

Needs to be used in addition to another scheme; wouldn't be able to use this alone.

How well does it match the curriculum?

Reasonably: It’s good enough for the money, but needs some additional resources

Matches curriculum, but some really poor questions across all areas of maths.

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

Reasonably: There is some representation of minorities and no real stereotyping

Makes a good effort at differentiation.

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

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

Three levels of differentiation is good.

How well does it engage and motivate pupils?

Reasonably: We can’t use it too often or for too long

Not varied enough to keep children interested.

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

There isn't any.

How well does it support planning?

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

We had to pick and choose which questions were useful.

How well does it support home use / independent learning?

Badly: It’s not really suitable for home use or independent learning

Parents would be confused by the layout and types of questions.

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

Very cheap overall.