• Home Page
• -
• News Centre
• -
• News Archive
• -
• 2007
• -
• July
• -
• Computers for pupils

Access Tools

Around 600 secondary school pupils in Knowsley are set to receive the loan of laptop computers as part of a national scheme to give children access to computers and the internet at home.

Knowsley Council is the first local authority in the country to take up the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ £60m ‘Computers for Pupils’ programme by offering its pupils laptops with full wireless access to the internet using the very latest 3G technology.

Three hundred pupils across Knowsley secondary schools, who currently don’t have a computer at home will receive their laptops next week (commencing July 16th) with a further three hundred students set to benefit in October.

They will be able to use them for homework, research and developing ICT and life skills. In addition, it is anticipated that the young people and their families will be able to fully maximise the Knowsley Personalised learning Environment once rolled out as part of the BSF programme.

ICT is, in Knowsley, already transforming the way that teaching and learning is undertaken and accessed across the borough and the Council has already undertaken significant investment in ICT provision at schools. The deployment of laptops to young people gives it the opportunity to test model the use of ICT and flexible devices to support learning in advance of the opening of the new learning centres.

Security arrangements, including tracking devices, have been put in place as part of the scheme to ensure that the equipment remains safe and secure. Guidelines will also be followed so that pupils will only be able to access appropriate websites.

Councillor Graham Wright, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “Once again in Knowsley we are leading the way in the educational field by seizing the opportunity presented by this national scheme for the benefit of our young people and their families.

“Putting computers into the home and using ICT in all aspects of learning can really help pupils’ education and attainment. The use of ICT is a key element of our Building Schools for the Future programme which is why we have worked in partnership with our BSF ICT partner, RM, to make Computers for Pupils a reality in Knowsley.”

Tim Pearson, Chief Executive of RM said:

"Knowsley's forward- looking Computers for Pupils project will increase the number of children and their families who can enjoy the educational and social benefits of home access to ICT. Partnering with Knowsley to help improve educational opportunities in this way is really exciting for RM." 

Congratulating Knowsley, Niel McLean, Becta’s Executive Director for Institutional and Workforce Development said: “ I welcome this announcement which is part of a nationwide initiative to give pupils access to computers at home. I am sure it will have a positive impact on learning in Knowsley. Giving children access to computers at home has been shown to help their education. They can motivate pupils to learn and help develop key ICT and life skills. But it's not just the pupil who benefits. The whole family, school and wider community can benefit through increased involvement of parents in their child's education and better communication between the school and home.'

The scheme will be launched to pupils and parents at events in the following schools:

• All Saints Catholic High School, Kirkby
• Halewood College
• Brookfield High School, Kirkby
• Higher Side School, Whiston
• Ruffwood School, Kirkby
• Alt Bridge Secondary Support Centre, Huyton
• St Edmund Arrowsmith High School, Prescot
• St Edmund of Canterbury High School, Huyton.

-Ends-

Further information can be found on the Computers for Pupils web page.

A copy of Adobe Acrobat reader is needed to enable access to the PDF document(s) above. If you do not already have this click to Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Link opens in a new window) now.

To read the PDF document with a screen reader please visit Access Adobe website (Link opens in a new window), which provides useful tools and resources. Adobe also has a free online conversion tool for PDFs.