School children get home learning boost with donated laptops

Home schooling is set to get that little bit easier for children at St John the Baptist Primary School in Ruyton-XI-Towns – thanks to a generous donation of eight refurbished laptops.

The computers have been donated to the school by 8bits1byte IT Support Services, an Oswestry-based company which is on a mission to support children and schools in the area.

The company has made a public appeal for people to donate unwanted laptops that would otherwise be scrapped or left to gather dust – and then upgrades them as required before adding software to support online learning.

Aden Walker, who runs the firm, dropped in to Ruyton-XI-Towns just before half-term to deliver eight machines that are all set up and ready to go.

Julie Ball, the school’s Executive Headteacher, said: “The vast majority of our children have been working from home since the start of the school term in January.

“Lessons are being delivered online to all age groups from Reception up to Year 6, using Microsoft Teams. It has been very successful in that it has allowed normal teaching to continue and has enabled the children to interact directly with their teachers and with their classmates.

“But we recognise that it is challenging for parents, and that it depends on the children having reliable IT equipment available for them to use - especially so if they have more than one child at home who needs to get online to do their school work.

“This donation is hugely welcome as it means we will be better able to support some of our children and families, by lending them a machine that is safe, reliable and fit for purpose.

“We are hugely grateful to 8bits1byte for their generosity. We of course hope that we can welcome all our children back to their classrooms as soon as possible, but we will now be able to support more of them to keep on learning from the safety of their own homes.”

Aden’s company has now made donations to various schools in Oswestry and surrounding villages over the last few weeks.

“Not all equipment is suitable for re-use,” said Aden. “However we are often able to repair and refurbish one device with spares from another.

“Not everyone can afford to buy a brand new computer, so this is a way we can help.

“We were delighted to be able to go along to Ruyton and hand over eight laptops. We hope they will prove useful in these uncertain times.”

Anyone who has an old computer, laptop or tablet that they would like to donate can find out more about the scheme by going to https://www.8bits1byte.co.uk/recycle/