Margate Rotary Donates £15,000 for local school children

Margate Rotary Club has responded to a request for help from the Coastal Academy Trust’s (King Ethelbert School, Hartsdown Academy, Dane Court Grammar School ,Royal Harbour and Cliftonville Primary School), Chief Executive, Ms Kate Greig for laptops to help pupils learn from home.

The devices are necessary because of the large number of families now working from home; all requiring a working connection to their school-often at the same time. This has placed an unenviable strain on many families and individual pupils who are desperate not to fall further behind in their coursework knowing that their assessed work grades will suffer.

The Chromebooks are likely to stay with pupils for up to two years to enable pupils to bridge the inevitable educational gap that Covid has caused to many of our young people

Whilst secondary school pupils have been the focus of the initiative, primary schools have also been supported. The Trust has identified those in most need across our area.

The Club have already collected 36 unwanted IT devices and have agreed to provide £15,000 of funding in order to purchase Chromebooks specifically designed for educational purposes. These, will then be loaned to pupils.

Seventeen schools are set to receive these much-needed devices in time for the half term break as a result of Margate Rotary’s supportive action.

The photograph shows, Margate Rotary Club President Jeremy Voizey; Vicky Willis, Headteacher of King Ethelbert School and Rotarian Pat Buckley with one of the new Chromebooks