HFS Online Apps
ONLINE LEARNING at HFS
At Holy Family Primary School, we understand the need to continually deliver high quality education, including during periods of remote working – whether for an individual pupil or many. We recognise the importance of maintaining high expectations in all areas of school life and ensuring that all pupils have access to the learning resources and support they need to succeed. We ensure that all the applications that are utilised within school all have excellent online safety, access to educational resources, data protection, and safeguarding.
There are a number of applications that we utilise in school, and below are links to these websites where you can find further information about them, and how they are used throughout the digital community. Click on the name of each application to find out more.
All parents and pupils must agree to adhere to Holy Family's Acceptable Use of the Internet Agreement which can be found here. Any posts must be appropriate for school; expectations for online behaviour will be exactly as if the pupils were in their physical classrooms.
Is a free and secure learning platform for the Holy Family School community. This is a fantastic resource that has been developed specifically for schools and we are able to tailor it to provide the most appropriate environment for our children. As well as providing a safe and secure way for staff and pupils to connect with each other, we will be able to use it to post our home learning material and provide a secure way for children to upload and show us their work, should they wish to.
As a parent you want your child to succeed. You want them to develop a strong educational foundation from which they can grow. Spelling tests are one of the first ways that children compare themselves academically to other children. At HFS we use the spelling scheme to teach year groups the spelling rules, and engage them in spelling activities throughout the week.
TTRockstars - Times Tables Practice:
When it comes to times tables, speed AND accuracy are important – the more facts your child remembers, the easier it is for them to do harder calculations. Times Table Rock Stars is a fun and challenging programme designed to help pupils master the times tables. To be a Times Table Rock Star you need to answer any multiplication fact up to 12×12 in less than 3 seconds!
The goal is for all participating rockers to be Times Table Rock Stars after 20 weeks!
Parent Handbook
Please find below (at the end of all this information) the Parent Handbook for Times Tables Rock Stars. This contains all the information you need to support your child to become a Times Tables Rock Star. You can also download the free App by visiting your Play Store.
At HFS we utilise this hour of code in varying ways. It's a fantastic way to get the children engaged in programming. From getting your Minecraft character across a lake, to making a bird flap its wings. Each level builds on the level before slowly teaching the children programming code in a fun and engaging way. Code.org® is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by young women and students from other underrepresented groups. Its vision is that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core education. Code.org also created the annual Hour of Code campaign, which has engaged more than 15% of all students in the world.
The children are used to using Renaissance Learning (AR) in the classroom as a way of quizzing after they have read a book. It gives the children instant feedback on the book they have read and enables the teachers to see how their understanding of the book was. When the children log into the application they are asked a series of questions about the book, which they can answer online. As they read more the application adjusts to give the teacher reading information and move the children up in their book levels.
Is a world-leading music teaching and learning platform used in 62 countries. It has a vast library of resources, songs, instrumental courses and creative apps. Quality-assured training, support for blended and home learning, assessment, special needs education, and more. When used in school the children get a vast amount of knowledge about the rhythm and composition of different styles of music. This learning can be continued at home. A brochure is included at the end of this post.
Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that makes it easy to create, share and play learning games or trivia quizzes in minutes. It unleashes the fun in classrooms, offices and living rooms! This free application is used within school to test the children's knowledge on certain topics. You can also create your own quizzes for families to do together.
Tapestry is utilised in KS1 as an online learning journey. Tapestry builds a very special record of a child’s experiences, development and learning journey through their early years and primary education. Using photos, videos and diary entries, a teacher or early years practitioner, along with the child’s parents, ‘weaves’ the story of the child and how they are growing and developing. The Tapestry platform then works seamlessly to enable these memories to be kept as a permanent record of each child’s unique journey.
GoBubble is a social networking site aimed at students under the age of 13. It was introduced to the children 5 years ago to cover the 'Blogging' side of the curriculum, and has been a winning formula even since. It teaches the children how to be safer and kinder online. Within the platform, classroom groups can be created for collaborative activities or competitions. Teachers can post and share content, allowing students opportunities for two-way conversations with fellow classmates, or connect their classes with other classrooms around the globe. Parents can also see student content and conversations, after an initial sign-up.
Teachers and students can communicate through simple and intuitive "bubbles," or posts, with the ability to add links, images, videos, and text. An outside live moderation team moderate all posts through the system's safety features and, posts flagged to teachers can be dealt with in person. GoBubble is free to schools and can be accessed through the web and app versions. Login letters are provided to all children/parents when they are logged into the system. A copy of which is below.
Scratch is a programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world. As children create with Scratch, they learn to think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically. Scratch is designed and maintained by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. Within HFS we get the children using Scratch to create very simple programming steps. The 'block' language of Scratch is a perfect way to introduce the children to programming in a very simple way, that overtimes grows and becomes more complex. The programming language behind Scratch is Python.
Seesaw is a platform for student engagement. Teachers can empower students to create, reflect, share, and collaborate. Students “show what they know” using photos, videos, drawings, text, PDFs, and links. It’s simple to get student work in one place and share with families, and nothing is shared without teacher approval.
One thing be aware of...don't be fooled by the name! Dyslexia Gold isn't just a tool for dyslexic children. It's a fun, effective & unique set of programs designed to help children catch up: Improve Reading with Engaging Eyes and Fluency Builder. Master Spelling with Spelling Tutor. Learn Times Tables with Times Table Tutor. As HFS we give this out to children who are finding reading or spelling particularly difficult as a fun way to engage them into further learning.
At HFS we have our own Private YouTube channel where we can upload video's and assemblies. This YouTube channel is a private channel and cannot be seen if searched for in YouTube, videos we upload contain no adverts. The only access to the channel is via a link sent out to teachers.
We have asked all teachers to only send the link to parents email addresses when there is a video of interest they would like to share so that no child is given direct access to the YouTube site. Children under 13 are not allowed to have access to YouTube without parental permission. Therefore if you allow your child to see the videos uploaded it is your responsibility as a parent to ensure the YouTube terms of service are followed. If you click on the YouTube heading above it will take you to their website terms of service page.