CHILDREN from a West Cumbrian primary school have been using their digital skills to help pensioners with their IT needs.
KABS, the parent committee of Broughton Primary School, set up to advance the education of pupils in Great Broughton, has launched a new initiative to 'bring the generations together' to make the most of digital opportunities - thanks to a grant from the Fibrus Community Fund.
Pensioners enjoying a community lunch at Little Broughton village hall were delighted when pupils dropped in to offer them some tips and demonstrate how they use tablets for their schoolwork.
Among those to get some advice from the youngsters was Linda Taylor, who picked up some useful tips she’ll be using at home.
“I’ve really enjoyed seeing the children and how interested they are in their work. The pupils showed me how to delete things to free up space because my devices are often full up,” she said.
Grace Sewell was also impressed with the impromptu tech lesson too, adding: “Everything the children taught us was very interesting. I didn’t realise you could now do so much on electronic devices. It’s a great way of learning for the children too and it was nice to see how enthusiastic they were.”
The pupils enjoyed the session too as they spent time demonstrating various apps and features on their iPads.
Nine year old Penny, said: “The iPads are so fun, we are really lucky to have our own iPads at school.
“I showed the ladies an app called Notes. There is a voice button and it helps you with spellings if you are writing letters which they said would be useful.”
KABS committee member and school parent Emma Lankester is delighted to see the project taking shape. She said: “Thank you to Fibrus, this is going to make such a difference to our community in many different ways.
“We now have digital champions in the school who will be meeting the older community who might not be as confident with the internet or have the same knowledge about new technology."
A £1,750 grant from the Fibrus Community Fund funded iPads which will be used in lessons to ensure each child has an iPad available to them.
They will also be used for community digital projects such as helping older people with technology and for delivering internet safety education events for parents and carers.
The Fibrus Community Fund was set up by the Full Fibre broadband provider last year to address digital poverty in the communities it serves across Cumbria and Northern Ireland.
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