Barton Hill Deputy Head, Andrew Grimley talks about how they have been using DB Primary to teach remotely

Barton Hill Academy have been DB Primary customers for over eight years. We spoke to Deputy Head, Andrew Grimley to find out how they have been using the platform to teach their pupils remotely and how they plan to use it to help pupil’s transition back into school over the coming months.

What is the biggest benefit DB Primary has provided to your school?

Allowing for flipped learning and review of previous learning alongside improved opportunities for high quality feedback, personalised sessions, embedding media and developing contributions. We’ve used the learning library curriculum activities or embedded our own activities and taught coding html computing sessions.

What were the main reasons behind your original purchase of DB Primary?

We use a range of learning resources but find DB Primary to be a more age appropriate learning platform with a higher focus on primary age range and excellent flexibility for higher end users and simplified for simpler access for both staff and pupils.

How has your use of DB Primary changed throughout the last few months?

Exponentially it has become the main focus for our online learning throughout the lockdown. We’ve used it to support curriculum teaching, focused lessons and recorded sessions. DB primary has been extremely effective and will continue through the next stage of the ‘new normal'.

What do you think is the most important aspect of DB Primary?

Teachers have been able to embed their own live lessons, lessons from regular curriculum and allow collaboration from pupils. We’ve also used the safe email function to communicate out information effectively. This includes sending ‘e-marked’ work, good examples of tag usage and using the photo gallery to exemplify quality expectations. We have also been using the rewards feature to celebrate quality work and share certificates.

How have the children engaged with DB Primary to supplement their learning?

Through pupil collaboration and contribution to main learning sessions and re-watching sessions if they have missed then. We have achieved a staggering 92% engagement in online learning across the whole school!

What has been the impact of using DB Primary?

It has allowed us to maintain our regular curriculum for our online transition in an environment most were already familiar with.

How do you anticipate using the platform to help with the transition back into school?

Our online provision must continue as much as possible. We intend to use DB Primary to support children shielding, unable to return and to support colleagues pulled into year groups they are unfamiliar with.

How do you think your use of the platform will change when schools fully return?

We fully anticipate continuing using the full range of curriculum resources to support long term learning and memory and when children find work challenging. We already used it for lots of our curriculum.

More info?

If you would like to know more about DB Primary and how it can be used to maintain school community and teach remotely, please visit our webpage or get in touch with our team.