We use a range of apps to help engage the children in various subjects in school and to assist during home learning.

 

DB Primary

DB Primary is a safe and friendly online environment designed to engage and educate our pupils.

All pupils are given their own individual username and password to log on to their DB Primary home page. They can access homework set by their teacher as well as work independently on activities as they have access to all features both at school and at home. This gives them the opportunity to progress across key stages and allows them to acquire the knowledge and skills to become digitally literate. There is also a whistle feature which allows children to instantly report anything that upsets them.

 

DB Primary also gives the school the opportunity to share, collaborate and communicate via forums, blogs and email.

 

myON

myON is a digital reading application that enables pupils to read anytime and anywhere, 24/7, including weekends, holidays and school breaks.  

 

Pupils have the opportunity to choose what they want to read, in a digital environment in which they are comfortable, motivating them to become better and more confident readers. Reading supports such as naturally recorded audio, and highlighting at the word and sentence level, are available to allow students to explore new genres and become familiar with undiscovered topics. Reading books from their recommended list provides practice opportunities for pupils to read for longer periods or time with more challenging types of text. Pupils will develop better attitudes and behaviours around reading. 

 

On your child’s myON dashboard, you will see a Library Tab and Projects Tab. The dashboard shows suggested books for the pupil to read, how many books he or she has read, how many pages he or she has read, the total time spent reading, and the books your child has read. The projects page will show any books that they have been set for school projects. 

 

Times Table Rock Stars 

 

                                   

 

Times Tables Rocks Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice designed to encourage children to master times table and division fact instant recall. Each week concentrates on a different times table, with a recommended consolidation week for rehearsing the tables that have recently been practiced every third week or so. 

 

To be a TTRS you need to be able to answer any multiplication fact up to 12x12 in less than 3 seconds!

 

World famous rock musicians are the best at what they do because they have spent hours practicing guitar chords. It's just the same with times tables, all TTRS need practice, practice and practice! It's absolutely essential your child does a little bit of times table practice every day. In our experience short bursts on a daily basis are more effective than spending hours once a wee.

 

On the programme your child will get quicker as they practice and it is helpful to know the quicker they answer the question, the higher their Rock Status on the programme. Ultimately being quicker will also give every child confidence, experience and ability to recall their knowledge of times tables in a random order.

 

For Year 4 children this will be a real benefit when they are required to participate in the Government's Multiplication Check. A Child confident in their times tables is able to apply their knowledge to other mathematical problems.

 

Numbots

 

 

We have recently introduced a new maths online learning platform for Key Stage 1 children called NumBots. Numbots is all about every child achieving the 'triple win' of mastering the skills involved in the understanding, recall and fluency of mental addition and subtraction, so that they move from counting to calculating.

 

As well as using Numbots in school, we encourage children to interact with the programme at home. All children start at the same place in 'Story mode' and when they get to a certain stage they will unlock 'Challenge mode'. The idea is that they play little and often and this will significantly improve their understanding of number bonds and addition and subtraction facts. 

 

All children in Key Stage 1 have a login. If your child is unsure of their details, please contact their class teacher for assistance. Using Numbots in Key Stage 1 will help prepare the children for using 'Times Table Rock Stars' in Key Stage 2.

 

The Times Tables Rock Stars app and NumBots app are available to download on all android and Apple devices or can be found at: 

 

https://numbots.com/

https://ttrockstars.com/ 

 

Tapestry

Tapestry is our online learning journal. We use this to post all of the online learning for children in Nursery and Reception. You'll be able to log in and see the activities of the day which will appear on your child's homepage. You can post pictures or videos of your child's learning from home and Tapestry allows us to view your child's learning and give feedback. 

We upload a mixture of activities including phonics, maths, stories read by staff, physical activities and fun games to play. 

 

AR Reader

 

 

Accelerated Reader is a computer-based program that Northgate uses to support and check reading practice and progress. It helps teachers guide children to books that are on children’ individual reading levels. Children take short quizzes after reading a book to check if they’ve understood what they have read. 

Your child picks a book at his/her own ability and reads it at his/her own pace. Once finished your child would take a short quiz on the computer at home or school. Passing the quiz will show that your child has understood what he/she has been reading.  

 

Accelerated Reader helps teachers find and guide struggling readers to pick book they can successfully read.  

The programme does not teach reading skills and strategies. It is intended to encourage children to read independently, at their own ability and pace.  

Northgate have selected this programme to help children enjoy a vast range of books that they can select independently.  

 

Charanga

 

Charanga is an online music teaching tool, which includes interactive and engaging resources for teaching a range of musical skills. It is used across Key Stage One and Two during music lessons to help the children understand the key musical concepts such as rhythm, pulse and dynamics as well as giving them high quality instrumental teaching resources.