Students without computers or internet can attend Devon school in lockdown
Watch Sam Blackledge's report
A school in North Devon has become one of the first to allow pupils with poor Internet connection to attend classes after the Government announced they are considered vulnerable.
The head teacher of Chulmleigh Community College says access to computers is vital for youngsters to continue their education during lockdown.
"Digital poverty isn't just about money, it's about access," said executive head Michael Johnson.
He added: "We have families who don't have as much money as others and perhaps are doubly disadvantaged because they don't have the access, and if they did have the access it wouldn't be great because broadband speeds around here can be so low.
"What we can do is treat those children as vulnerable and invite them into school, and we think that's really important. The children concerned have been away from school for a six month period last year, and now we've got another new extended period. So this is becoming really serious."
Year 10 student Daisy Dickinson said: "I've got my GCSEs coming up so I need to have as much interaction with my teachers as I can, so I need to have all the work and to be able to email them as much as I can."
The Government has promised to get computers to those who need them - but head teachers say this is about more than hardware alone.
Mr Johnson added: "Just simply handing out laptops to children is not necessarily the answer. If you give a laptop to a child who doesn't know how to connect it to the internet, or the internet doesn't work very well, or their parents don't use computers, then you have not solved the problem."
The Department for Education says schools are "well-prepared to deliver remote education", with 560,000 laptops and tablets given to schools already last year, with a further 440,000 now promised.
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