STUDENTS have received laptops to help them with their studies during lockdown thanks to funding from the government.

West Berkshire Council (WBC) has received funding from the Department for Education (DfE) to provide laptops for children and students with a social worker and disadvantaged Year 10 students.

It forms part of a government initiative announced in April called ‘Get technology support for children and schools during coronavirus (COVID-19)’ that will help them with their studies during lockdown.

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West Berkshire’s Virtual School had already purchased 30 laptops for looked after children using Pupil Premium funding and the DfE’s money allowed them to buy a further 34 laptops for this group.

However, requests for laptops far exceeded the allocation.

The council said a particular request by the Hungerford Isolation Group showed how strong the demand was for IT devices.

In response, the council has approved a further £20,000 from their Covid-19 Government grant to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils whose needs were not covered by the DfE scheme can now be met.

Dominic Boeck, West Berkshire’s Executive Member for Education, Children and Young People said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this extra funding to ensure that as many disadvantaged and vulnerable students can now get the devices they need.

“We’re currently working closely with Hungerford Primary School to distribute the laptops where they are most needed and we have identified pupils from many communities across the district who will also benefit from this fund.

“In total, our donation of £20,000 will enable a further 69 pupils in 19 schools across West Berkshire to access learning from home.”

David Mayer, Headteacher Hungerford Primary School added: “What the lockdown has shown us, is that our assumption that technology is readily available in all houses was totally wrong.

“For many children, the only device in the house is mum or dad’s phone or a single tablet.

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"This can be useful, for some things, but not when there are several children all trying to use it at the same time or for doing things such as writing or creating spreadsheets for which you really need a laptop or PC.

“Which is why, over the last 14 weeks, we have lent out 28 of our own laptops to families to help children access the home learning being provided by the teachers.

"These 3 new laptops, generously bought for us by West Berkshire Council will form the basis of our new ‘Technology lending library’ service where parents will be able to have a machine on loan for the time that their child is with us or until they no longer need it."

He added: "This service will be targeted to those families that we feel will most benefit from this offer and who will make the most of it. We’re grateful to the Council for helping us to start up this project.”