Tech4Teachers – Berrymede Infant and Junior School.

The coming together of Learning Foundation, DPA and Currys Plc to help the digital divide with delivery of a teacher support scheme providing devices + equipment for 1,000 teachers in schools with high pupil premium numbers.

Case study: Berrymede Infants School

Why is closing the digital divide so important?

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immensely negative impact on education of all children, but the children have not all been affected equally. Children from the poorest backgrounds struggle the most and access to digital technology has been the main factor contributing to this divide. The issue of digital exclusion needs to be addressed in order to give all children equal educational opportunities.”

How will this programme help you?

“Teachers are the backbone of our education system. It is crucial that they are equipped with the latest technology which allows them to efficiently plan and teach both face to face and online lessons. “

Joanna, Alberta and the rest of the team delighted to receive the free laptops from Currys

How did lockdown impact you and your school? What challenges did you face with homeschooling?

“The main challenge of home schooling during lockdowns was the lack of appropriate equipment and internet access among our pupils and staff. The school prioritised the children and ensured that those who were in need were provided with a laptop. However, it meant that we did not have enough equality equipment to give out to staff to allow them to teach from home. As a result, many staff members still had to come to school to deliver online sessions.”

Curry's Laptops for Berrymede Junior

What size of school are you?

“We are an infant school situated in the heart of a council estate. We are in an area of high deprivation and 30% of our pupils receive Pupil Premium. We have three forms in Reception and two forms in year 1 and year 2. We employ 8 full time teachers, 7 classroom assistants and two SEN assistants who support our pupils with SEND. There are currently 166 pupils on roll.”

What are you most looking forward to about the programme?

“We are grateful for the programme as it has allowed us to equip all our teaching staff with new , fast computers. Everyone is now able to plan lessons more efficiently, participate in online training sessions and teach from home if the situation requires it again.”

What plans will this tech allow you to realise?

“This equipment has allowed the teaching staff to participate in online training directly from home which has been particularly helpful in the case of twilight sessions that finish in the evening. Some staff members who are in the process of gaining additional qualification can be more efficient with faster technology. The staff generally feed back that the computers are very fast which makes lesson planning a lot faster.”

What the teachers at
Berrymede Infant and Junior School
say:

“The new laptop from Currys is much faster than the old laptop I had. Faster laptop increased my productivity and efficiency and now I can complete all my tasks quicker or complete more tasks in the same amount of time. That means better / more resources for the children.” – Mrs Oleniacz, Year 1 teacher

“Thank you very much for providing me with the computer in December. It has made it much easier for me to check my staff mail regularly so that I am promptly updated with any changes and can communicate with other staff members. I have also used my computer to plan Phonic sessions for my phonics group which makes me more efficient with my lesson planning.” – Mrs Bansal, HLTA

“My new laptop has helped tremendously in being able to efficiently plan and prepare for my lessons. The speed and accessibility of the laptop is next to none. It will also help me to access home lessons with ease if remote learning is reintroduced.” – MS Fordos, SEN TA

“Receiving the laptop will support my working from home as currently I am sharing the laptop we had at home with my two daughters. This means now having my own will give me more freedom to log on when I want and not have to wait until my daughters have finished using the home laptop. The laptop is lighter and more compact than our home one so more convenient to move around and work remotely.”

“I am very grateful for receiving my computer from Currys because I do not have a computer or laptop at home. If as a school we had to do remote learning from home, I am now able to use this new computer.  It will make a big difference as the new computer compared to the one I use at school is a lot faster and it has newer technology.” – Ms Sonia, HLTA 

“Thank you for the computer. It is easy to use and icons are well displayed. The  computer is very fast.  This is helping me a lot- I can complete my jobs faster.” – Ms Welsh, HLTA