A Budleigh Salterton parent and his NHS colleagues have come to the rescue of youngsters finding home learning difficult without access to computers and tablets.
St Peter’s Primary School parent Graham Hetherington, a service lead at NHS Digital’s data security centre, has arranged for Surface Pro 4 tablets to be donated in response to a campaign asking for second-hand Chromebooks and tablets.
Headteacher Mr Hitchcock said all children at St Peter’s who are being taught from home now have access to either a computer or a tablet.
Some of the tablets donated even distributed to other schools across the Budleigh and Exmouth area including Marpool and Exeter Road primary schools.
Graham, whose son attends St Peter’s, said his colleague Nik Marshall was able to source the tablets, which were surplus to NHS Digital requirements, through an ‘existing process’.
He added: “The tablets are more than absolutely fit for purpose for use in a school, so it was fantastic to be able to help.”
Nik Marshall, technical services manager at NHS Digital, said: “We normally donate old laptops to charity...we hope the tablets help to ease some of the pressures associated with home schooling and the children benefit from using them.”
Mr Hitchcock said he was ‘blown away’ by the gesture and thanked NIk and Graham for the donation.
Rachel Pattison, headteacher at Marpool Primary School added: “Thanks to the kind donation from the NHS we will be able to reach out to more families to offer the support of providing them with access to a device in addition to those loaned from school and from the Government scheme.
“Pulling together in these challenging times helps support children at home who are having to continue their learning remotely through technology.”
Paul Gosling, headteacher at Exeter Road Primary School, said this donation means every pupils who is eligible for free school meals, has now got access to a computer/tablet.
He added: “It’s taken a few weeks, and hopefully we haven’t got too much longer to go, but it fills in the gaps.
“We’re just so thankful for the generosity of the community – we're lucky to live in such a caring part of the world.”
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