Dear parent / carer
Many thanks for supporting our e-Learning programme over the last two and a half years. Our iPad scheme is a success and has improved the way students learn in school and at home. This message is intended to update you with the next steps of our e-learning programme and outline your choices looking ahead.
A recap if you opted into our school scheme:
- Families were offered an 8th Generation iPad to be leased over 30 months along with a case, repair service and warranty.
- Direct debits started between August and October 2021 and will end between January and March 2024, depending on the date of the first payment.
We are now nearing the end of the 30-month lease; these are the options open to you:
- Order a new iPad or Chromebook either via school or privately.
- Continue to use the ‘old’ iPad in school.
- Continue to bring a personal device in from home.
We strongly advise obtaining a new device for your child’s use for the remainder of their time in school. Repair cover ends next month and you will be responsible for fixing your child’s iPad if it breaks – typically £120. We have found that older devices, by the time students reach Year 11, are showing their age and cannot be updated to newer versions of apps and iOS. As apps and the amount of content created by students have grown in size, we are also finding that our iPads are running out of storage space.
We are offering a choice of either an iPad or a Chromebook. Following consultation with parents and Year 9 students, we are pleased to offer either:
- 9th Generation iPad with 64GB storage, a strong case and tempered glass screen protector. More information about the iPad can be found here.
- Lenovo 300e Chromebook with touchscreen and stylus. More information about the Chromebook can be found here.
Both devices run our common apps such as Showbie, Sparx Maths and Edulink. Each comes with Freedom Tech Advanced Repair Service (FTARS) for 30 months from receipt of the device. Freedom Tech will repair or replace a device which has been accidentally damaged or stolen. The iPad and Chromebook belong to parents at the end of the lease term at no additional cost. There is no upfront deposit or excess payment for the first claim.
- iPad: £19.25 a month over 30 months (shorter payment terms and accessories are available, see website)
- Chromebook: £16.25 a month over 30 months (shorter payment terms are available, see website)
To order a new iPad or Chromebook, please follow these steps:
- Go to https://www.tech4learners.co.uk/
- Enter your email address
- Use this username: HHS24 with the password S3cure02!
(Type the password very carefully – don’t forget to include a capital S and the !)
- Choose the device you want, any accessories and a payment term
All orders should be placed by midnight on March 27th. We hope to begin handing out devices after April 15.
Participating families must keep up payments or return the iPad or Chromebook to school. This is a leasing scheme where the school owns the device until all payments have been completed. The scheme is open to all families in Year 9 including those that have previously bought personal devices for use in school. If your child leaves HHS before the end of the lease, you must either return the device to us or pay off the remaining balance as a lump sum.
Why are we offering Chromebooks as well as iPads?
Chromebooks offer a more affordable alternative to an iPad but are just as well suited to use for learning and can run the same apps. Students in our survey also said they wanted a keyboard for extended writing for GCSE study.
Other options
We will continue to support families that bring personal iPads to school or wish to purchase a new iPad for their child independently of the school scheme. Our minimum iPad specification for personal devices is any iPad capable of running iPadOS 17. Families may choose not to purchase a new device and continue to use their ‘old’ one. Similarly, we will support families that wish to purchase a Chromebook for their child’s use in school. We recommend the Lenovo 300e; this is the same model as what we are offering in school. The model number is 82J9000TUK.
The ‘old’ iPad
If the iPad breaks, you are responsible for repairs or buying a new device. Although we have a limited number of spare devices to loan to students, these may only be borrowed during the day. We very firmly believe our scheme is the best way forward for our students’ learning and strongly recommend all families to upgrade in some way.
If you are upgrading your iPad and wish to keep the old one at home for personal use, we will remove our restrictions from it when new iPads/Chromebooks are handed out and provided payments are up to date. We will contact you in late April with information about how to request this.
Financial help
Limited funds are available to support families where there is genuine hardship and parents are asked to contact me in confidence via email if this is the case.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this letter. Please contact me via email if you have any questions: jroper@haslingdenhigh.com
Yours sincerely
Justin Roper
Director of Digital and Systems