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Milly Stokes

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Milly Stokes

4:00 pm 7:00 pm

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Hundreds more laptops ensure students are fully equipped to work remotely

Written by on 17/03/2021

Lancashire County Council has secured a further 1,000 laptops for schools to ensure that all students have the technology they need to be able to work remotely.

An extra £650k for the new hardware brings the council’s investment in laptops for schools to £1.47m. In total the council has secured 3,350 laptops for schools with this funding.

Lancashire schools welcomed back all students earlier this month, with measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus. However schools must be able to support remote learning in cases where students are asked to self-isolate due to a confirmed case in their bubble.

The council’s Education Improvement staff have been working closely with schools throughout the pandemic to identify where they need more resources in order to tap into extra help available from the Department for Education.

Around 25,000 laptops have already been distributed to Lancashire students over the past year, including 2,350 already bought by the county council, along with generous donations from BAE Systems and Homeserve.

County Councillor Phillippa Williamson, cabinet member for children, education and schools, said: “Our schools have been doing a fantastic job throughout the pandemic to ensure children can continue to receive their education whether in school or at home.

“Where students have had to work from home, a great deal of work has gone into securing laptops and home internet connections for those students who need them, and schools have been able to access these through a number of national and local schemes.

“It’s great that schools have been able to welcome more children back into the classroom earlier this month, however with the new requirement from the Department for Education to provide a minimum amount of learning for all children who are at home, it’s important that they have the technology needed to do this if necessary.

“We recently asked schools to let us know if they had any further requirements, and the extra 1,000 laptops we have now secured will ensure they are fully equipped if cases in individual schools mean children again have to learn from home while isolating.

“This additional commitment to supply laptops will be hugely welcomed by schools and families as it will ensure that learning can continue in or out of school.”