‘I could have cried’: Headteachers say access to government laptops cut for self-isolating students

Headteachers have been told the number of laptops they can access from the government to support self-isolating students has been slashed. 

After learning the allocation process was changing on the evening half-term kicked off, school leaders in England told The Independent they discovered the number of devices available to them had dropped. 

“I could have cried,” Chris Dyson, the headteacher of Parklands Primary School in Leeds, told The Independent. “What am I supposed to do with 13 laptops?”

He said his school, which had previously been allowed to order more than 60 devices, would struggle to accommodate demand for laptops if a whole year group had to be sent home to self-isolate.

Stuart Guest said his primary school in Birmingham had also seen a “huge reduction”.

He said his school has not applied for any devices to support remote learning to date, as no groups of students have been sent home to self-isolate. 

"Realistically [we] will need to next half term,” the Colebourne Primary School headteacher said. 

“This means that a school down the road, who had bubbles close earlier this half term have had their full allocation, but because we haven’t we will now be disadvantaged."

The Department for Education (DfE) said it had bought an additional 96,000 devices for schools but was "updating our allocation process" amid "significant global demand".

A spokesperson said the move aimed to align orders with the numbers of pupils schools typically have self-isolating. 

The announcement over laptops came shortly after a new legal duty was introduced for schools to provide immediate access to remote learning to pupils who are at home because of Covid-19.

“The day after that became law, the government puts up another barrier to support for the families most in need of support to access that learning,” one headteacher told The Independent.

“As a head, it feels that the demands keep coming but the support is being taken away.”

Islington headteacher Jack Sloan said his school was allocated 38 devices several weeks ago – and this has now been reduced to eight.

Meanwhile, Michael Tidd from  East Preston Junior School, said: “We had previously been told we'd be due up to 17 laptops for disadvantaged pupils, despite having around 40 on roll, and several more families not officially eligible but in need of support." 

The number available to his school has now dropped to three, the Sussex headteacher said.

Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the school leaders' union NAHT, said: “The fact that the government is simultaneously announcing an additional supply of laptops, whilst at the same time reducing each school's allocation demonstrates that it has seriously underestimated the impact coronavirus would have on schools this term.”

"Only this incompetent government could introduce a legal duty on schools to provide online learning for pupils isolating at home and then cut their allocation of laptops the very next day," said Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow schools minister. 

He added: "Ministers need to get their act together to make sure schools and pupils have the laptops and internet access they need to make sure that no child is left behind.”

The DfE said more than 340,000 laptops and tablets were being made available to schools this term to support disadvantaged children, with deliveries expected to total half a million by Christmas.

It has pledged devices for disadvantaged children in years 3 to 11 who do not have laptops and whose face-to-face education is disrupted, as well as any disadvantaged children shielding.

In mid-June, it was revealed just over half of 200,000 laptops pledged in April had been handed out to vulnerable children to help them with their education amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

A DfE spokesperson told The Independent: “As we move into half term, and in the context of significant global demand, we’re updating our allocation process to more accurately align orders with the number of students schools typically have self-isolating, ensuring as many children as possible benefit from receiving a device this term."

They added: “We have already purchased an additional 96,000 devices and continue to work closely with our suppliers to ensure delivery despite the increased global demand.”   

Additional reporting by Press Association