Discovery Education Espresso summary review

Date: 03.08.2022

Average star rating: 3.7/5

Overview comments:

• It is a very good website that has been developed well over the years to move with the curriculum and introduce new experiences for the children.

• Great for Neurotypical but for neurodiverse it can be tricky to navigate

• An excellent site that just about has everything.

• Great resource, updated regularly and very current

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

• A fantastic resource that not only reduces workload but is a fantastic resource for children. It brings their learning to life which isn’t always easy to achieve.

• 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.

• It is a good resource for dipping in and out of to support all areas of the curriculum

• a user friendly, relatively easy accessible catalogue of resources for aiding teaching and learning

• I think it is good for supporting teachers that are getting familiar with the role but needs to improve significantly for me to consider continuing subscription

• It’s a useful resource which the children seem to enjoy.

• We really enjoy using espresso and so do the children!

• Really nice Espresso and have used it for many years

• I would recommend it the children like it and it is visually appealing.

• A very useful website all round.

• We love the resource and are slowly discovering more and more about the resource (have only used for about 1 year). We look forward to using it further over time, and making fuller use of everything it offers.

• It was once a great resource but needs updating

How well does it match the curriculum?

• 5* Strengths: A wide range of ways to teach the same objective i.e. through block coding and through Python. Weaknesses: Setting up child access is time consuming and logging in using QR codes doesn’t always work.

• 3* Clear progression with good recovering of the subject matter. Little freedom and a little limited in different examples.

• 5* Such a wide range of activities and it covers everything and much, much more! It is clear to see what is being covered as well.

• 5* There is loads of content, all relevant and all related to National curriculum ks2. Searchable by subject when required and a variety of resources

• 4* 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.

• 4* Provides a bank of resources that are excellent for curriculum coverage. It brings the curriculum to life and makes it exciting. More resources needed to support children who are SEN. Particularly in Year One where they will need to access a lot of Foundation stage.

• 4* 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

• 4* Engaging videos for a range of subjects and topics. The worksheets aren't very engaging. Sometimes difficult to find what you need

• 4* A range of resources available in various formats to support all areas of the curriculum for KS1 and EYFS child friendly language and age appropriate images in all resources

• 3* It covers a lot but not always in enough detail. Needs more regular updates in terms of quizzes, videos and interactive activities.

• 3* Covers whole primary phase so can be used consistently across the school. Limited content so have to use other resources.

How could it be improved to support different learners?

• 4* There are some 'clues’ to help but these are sometimes hard to see, especially on iPads. The help video is too prescriptive and means the children can just copy it, rather than experimenting or tinkering themselves.

• 3* Symbols for non readers or places to click on text and then it reads for you and highlights the buttons you need to press.,

• 4* Some of the less able children can struggle to read/understand tasks. Maybe videos to explain tasks.

• 4* Differentiation could be highlighted when selecting and resources be adapted for top middle and bottom.

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

• 4* More content linked to Foundation Stage to involve those who are still working on that curriculum. Also for children who are SEND.

• 4* Better resources for SEND children. Resources for children that are working at Foundation Stage to help support them in these subjects.

• 3* Challenges for those higher attaining pupils and ideas for staff to support those who might struggle. Videos with challenge and extend.

• 3* maybe resources could be presented in a differentiated format....start low/easy level, then progress to the average/mid level, ...then end with challenge and extension for more able children. e.g. video could then be stop/fast forward to the relevant sections for the needs of the children being taught

• 2* The use of specific children's profiles and inclusion of adaptive technology and tracking would drastically improve things

How well does it engage and motivate pupils?

• 4* Bright colourful interface is attractive and the newer version takes children step by step through objectives, attempting to build understanding. There are issues with using iPads as parts of the screen can be hidden or difficult to manoeuvre to.

• 3* Nice and visual with clear successes. Rewards or certificates would be nice. Children to edit their own certificates, or teacher o be allowed

• 5* Excellent platform. It’s very easy to use and engaging bit visually and context wise. Possibly improve the search/filter aspect

• 4* Pupils like the videos, most are modern and relatable to their everyday lives. They like the way that it is pitched appropriately

• 4* 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.

• 5* The children in my class are particularly fond of the use of videos so they love the bank of videos used in lessons. The love the quizzes also. It’s a very engaging resource that brings learning to life.

• 5* 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.

• 4* The children enjoy the characters and the videos are fun and colourful. They use real videos to engage the children.

• 5* probably as today's children are more familiar with looking at screens and accessing technology regularly they enjoy viewing information on class IWB, and also images, videos etc that are presented are in child friendly formats

How well does it support planning?

• 5* It is clearly linked to objectives and shows progression through the year groups. Difficult to allow children who are new to the school or have missed parts to catch-up.

• 4* Really clear progression and next steps easily identified. A link to other activities within the programme would be nice.

• 4* Easy to use alongside current planning. Objectives usually match up but sometimes it is difficult to use it.

• 3* There is a great variety and sorted with subjects. Sometimes there is so much relevant work it’s difficult to sort through. The training we had at the start of the year was useful to show how to search effectively

• 3* 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.

• 4* A brilliant resource that reduces teacher workload which is what we all want more of! We still have to follow a set structure in our planning and adapt for the class and set children so can’t purely use this resource.

• 4* 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 need and ensure I am providing differentiation.

• 3* The planning is not easy to adapt to meet the needs of the children. It is best to dip in and out of the resources

• 4* as the resource has a catalogue of materials for all year groups/key stages it is mostly possible to find relevant documents, videos etc to match core and foundation subject planning needs.

What improvements could make this better value for money?

• 4* Lower the cost as a result of loyalty to the platform? Be able to set up homework through school’s learning platform.

• 3* Link more objects throughout the functions. Opportunities to use the skills learnt in the ICT in order to other skills

• 4* Not sure really. It’s pretty good. Possibly discount for recommendations to other schools. (I guess this maybe a thing but I wasn’t aware.

• 3* It becomes a consideration as a regular resource and is difficult to split into subject budgets to be d considered independently

• 2* 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.

• 3* Many of the resources are free which is great to see and not always the case with other resources. It would be good to have resources for the younger pupils in school.

• 4* 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.

• 4* Good value for money. It includes a range of activities for EYFS, KS1 and KS2. It covers all areas of learning and national curriculum subjects

• 3* due to cut-backs and limited budgets schools are thinking twice about continuing with subscriptions, ultimately this means that children do lose some experiences....therefore costs to subscribe are key!

Net promoter score for this resource:

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