Smiles that say: We’re so happy with our laptops
PUPILS were delighted to get their hands on new Mail Force laptops after months of sharing a tiny mobile phone screen with their siblings.
Children who struggled with online learning because of limited resources at home are returning to school today – but they need to catch up on the months of schooling lost during the pandemic.
So youngsters were jumping for joy when the Mail Force van made a delivery to the Langley Academy Primary and Langley Academy Secondary schools in Slough, Berkshire.
After being handed ten Microsoft Surface Go 2 devices, Tracey Bowen, head teacher of the primary school, said the donations will help narrow the academic gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
‘We can’t thank the Daily Mail and its readers enough for this life- changing opportunity,’ she said.
‘This has put smiles on the faces of the children and their parents who have struggled during lockdown.
‘I know the impact it will have on their lives. It will finally allow the kids to do their best. They have walked into school with the biggest smiles on their faces, thanks to you.’
The 49-year-old added: ‘Some kids have had to use one device between multiple family members which has meant a lot of children haven’t had access to online learning materials.
‘We can already see the gap between the children whose parents can afford the technology and their classmates.’
Tilly Darienzo, eight, has had to rely on her mother’s mobile phone to take part in lessons – and has had to share it with her three-year-old sister. She said: ‘I am so excited to have my own laptop and do all of my work because most of the time my sister gets her own way!’
Meral Begu, 44, was struggling after the computer her three children were sharing during lockdown stopped working a few weeks ago. Her sons Mohammed, nine, and Muadh, eight, and daughter Kanita Kelmendi, six, had to take it in turns to use their mother’s smartphone.
Miss Begu said: ‘Thank you so much for this. It will help them all so much because it has been so hard for them to study and to learn.’
Mohammed added: ‘I am so happy with this new laptop because it will help me at school. The old one broke and it has been hard to focus on that small screen and do all my work.’ The
Department for Education has already provided 119 laptops to Langley Academy Secondary, which has around 1,200 students, and 47 laptops to Langley Academy Primary, which has almost 600 pupils. Schools across England
have now placed orders for some 10,000 Mail Force laptops, with hundreds more destined for other parts of the UK.
Heads can also claim free Vodafone SIM data cards to hand out to pupils struggling to afford the cost of getting online. Each 30Gb card provides enough data for about nine weeks of learning. Mail Force has teamed up with Vodafone to make thousands of SIMs available free of charge.