Hello! My name is Jonathan Coy, and I am CEO of HeadteacherChat™. I am delighted to have been given access to Sumdog to see what they have on offer to support schools, and I thought you would be interested to know what I discovered. 

Read the full review below....  

What is Sumdog?  

 Sumdog is an online practice and assessment tool that uses games-based learning to build maths fluency and improve spelling. A recent study actually found that using Sumdog for 30 minutes a week almost doubled children's fluency progress. 

Watch a video: https://vimeo.com/378507200 

Benefits: 

• It’s quick and easy to integrate with your current MIS
• Accessible for pupils anywhere, anytime, any device. 
• Adapts tasks to suit the learning needs based on an initial assessment
• Pupils progress through a personalised learning plan aligned to the NC.
• Includes the Progression Framework for KS3. 
• Teachers have access to baseline assessment information to inform planning.
• Teachers have control over the content for pupils.
• Adaptive questions with auto-marking that are adapted to various levels 
• Uses evidence-based learning to engage pupils
• Complements established teaching methods 

It’s tailored to individual learning needs

• Pupils complete a baseline assessment, enabling teachers and leaders to identify strengths and areas for development across the cohort. 
• Teachers can look at individual pupils' data to see how they are getting on.
• Teachers can see the breadth of curriculum topics and the tasks that children have completed.  
• Teachers can name a challenge, differentiate work, and set new tasks.  

Assessment: 

NESTA and the Department for Education funded the development of their Assessment Library.

Sumdog is really good at identifying the gaps in children's learning and helps to fill the gaps, with its personalised practice program. It will also show progress and identify the childrens’ next steps.

White Rose Maths-aligned assessments are already created on the platform and ready to use. Teachers can look at the assessments prior to organising the assessment for pupils to check it is the correct one for the pupil.  

It is fun! 

Pupils can compete in contests against other pupils across the country, against other pupils based on their baseline assessment scores.

Pupils love to take part and are rewarded with coins for completing the tasks. They can then spend their coins on items for their Sumdog house, their Sumdog garden. 

The games are fun and engaging and the questions are based on their personal learning plan.  

What does HeadteacherChat™ think?  

• The app is very appealing and we can see that pupils will love using it.
• Setting up and managing pupil’s and classes is easy to do.
• Sumdog is inclusive and fun to play at school, and at home.
• Accuracy, fluency, speed, and motivation are all improved by using Sumdog. 
• Continuous data collection and distribution of critical evidence. 

“Sumdog has been incredibly helpful for many of our pupils already– it has really helped develop fluency and knowledge in an exciting and engaging format – and the recent provision of iPads with full Sumdog access to every child is fantastic. The adaptive nature of Sumdog means provision can be exact for each pupil and teachers can use the computational analysis to fill any gaps and move learning forwards. A number of pupils in our academies have limited access to digital resources and addressing the inequalities this creates is a high priority for us. We’re eager to give our staff and families more support and flexibility too. With easy-to-use tools we trust, like Sumdog, we can work together across the whole-school community, ensuring every learner has the foundations they deserve to be confidently numerate.” 

Emily Hobson, Primary National Lead for Curriculum, Pedagogy and Behaviour for Oasis Community Learning 

Sumdog has the HeadteacherChat™ Stamp of Approval because:   

• Ideal for anytime play on smartphones, tablets, and computers. 
• Interactive games for both school and home that are highly inclusive. 
• Diagnostic assessment, and then embark on a personalised learning programme. 
• There is no need for worksheets or marking. 
• Personalised maths that are simple to set to save workload. 
• An easy approach to reliably assess progress. 

‘Sumdog has been extremely beneficial to many pupils, assisting them in the development of fluency and knowledge in an exciting and engaging format. It is able to personalise learning and identify gaps in an engaging and fun platform, which really supports children in their maths and spelling progress.’

Jonathan Coy  

CEO, HeadteacherChat™ May 2022  

To find out more information go to: https://www.sumdog.com/en/

‍