Generous gift for returning school children

Pupils at Snettisham Primary School were in for a pleasant surprise when they returned to school this week following lockdown after the school received a grant of £9,000 to buy new laptops.

The generous donation came from local education charity the Hall’s Exhibition Foundation, which was established after the closure of the Hall's Grammar School, and supports the educational needs of people aged between 11 and 25 who live in the village.

“We approached the Hall’s Trust after realising that many families simply didn’t have the number of devices required to easily manage home learning. Our aim was to prevent families being digitally excluded,” said Louise Jackson, executive head teacher of Snettisham Primary.

“We knew that even though we had loaned equipment and devices, many families still shared one laptop or mobile phone. As the charity supports people 11 and above, we were hoping for a small donation towards the older pupils in the school, so to get this much from them is amazing, and will make a real difference to the lives of so many children.”  

Snettisham Primary is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, which runs 11 schools in the borough, and Ms Jackson said the donation would not just help the school’s current cohort, but those in years to come as well.

“Usually families have to apply individually for funding, so this grant to the school is very generous,” she said. “It means all our pupils in Year 6 can be loaned a personal device for home/school use, and the devices will remain in the school for the Year 6 group when they leave. We couldn’t be happier.”

Returning to school after so long away could take some getting used to, but Ms Jackson said the new additions to the classroom would help everyone get back into the swing of things.

“The children and their families have worked so hard at home, it will be wonderful to have them back,” she said. “We’ve really missed having them, so these will be a fantastic welcome back present.”