Discovery Espresso review by Andrew

Date: 26.04.2022

Review subject: Cross-curricular

Phase: Primary

Reviewer: Andrew, Headteacher

Review rating:

Average rating across all Discovery Espresso reviews: 3.6/5

Quite expensive and staff can become reliant on it, but incredibly helpful where staff confidence or knowledge isn't strong

How well does it match the curriculum?

Well: It covers the curriculum as well as we expected

Range of content and resources support teachers in delivering across the curriculum

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

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

Some good elements but maybe not labelled explicitly

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

Badly: There isn’t enough range or some the age-related expectations are misaligned

More variation of activities to go with learning, possibly some responsive, adaptive online activities would be great

How well does it engage and motivate pupils?

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

Kids love lots of the contents and video parts

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

Lots could be done here to enable tracking of learning

How well does it support planning?

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

Some good articles and videos engage children. RE is a good supporting area

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

We don't use it for this very much

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

Reasonably: It represents about the same value for money as similar resources I’ve seen

Quite expensive and I would like more updates, particularly with interactive activities