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Although the main Becta Home Access programme has now closed to new applications, there are still plenty of grants for free computers available for learners who qualify for the Assistive Technology scheme. These grants are for a child that has severe disabilities or a statement of Special Educational...

I’ve just read on the Home Access website that the programme has been re-opened, after it closed in mid-June. The reason is that there are some parents who’ve not returned their grant application forms. Limited funding is still available for the Home Access main programme due to some families choosing...

Becta have updated the Home Access website to say: Last call for application packs to be sent to eligible families... The Home Access has been very successful with over 200,000 grants awarded. Based on current application return rates it is unlikely that we will be sending...

When the Home Access Programme was first announced by Becta, in January 2010, there were six suppliers on the scheme, where parents could spend their grant cards. And Becta have recently announced an additional four suppliers. Which means that your parents have ten different suppliers they can turn to...

I’ve mentioned a few times that the Becta Home Access scheme has started rapidly, and that you need to encourage your qualifying students to take up their grants quickly, before they all go (the simple qualifying criteria is Year 3-9 pupils who have Free School Meals. But read all the small print here...

I’ve been at the NAACE Conference this week (more to come on that later today), and this morning Terry Piggott from Becta talked briefly about the Home Access Programme. Up to yesterday, 77,058 grants for free computers and internet connections had been issued to parents – which is nearly a third...

I read earlier in the week that Becta have had more than 180,000 enquiries for the Home Access programme, and have sent out 132,000 application forms for the free grant. Quick summary: Disadvantaged children (think: who qualify for Free School Meals) in KS2 and KS3 can get a free computer and broadband...

At BETT we issued a press release on parental views towards ICT , at home and at school. This was suppored by research done during December 2009 and surveyed 500 parents of secondary-school age children, so it is recent, and it will be representative. I’ve held back on publishing it on the blog...

European Safer Internet Day is coming up very soon – it’s two weeks today – and a wide range of organisations are encouraging all schools to run an activity to link in to the event. Whether that’s an assembly, a message in the school newsletter or a parents talk, there are a pile of resources waiting...

Part six of the series of Top 10 ICT Money Saving Tips for schools , based on my BETT 2010 presentation. Okay, the first five tips have concentrated on the idea of you making a ‘switch’ in the way that you do things. Tip 1, on virtualisation, is saving Wootton Bassett School over £80,000 over...

Is your school working on programmes which extend access to learning through ICT at home? You might be interested in nominating yourself for the Home Access Awards , being run by the e-learning foundation. The criteria for the awards doesn’t necessarily assume that you are running a widespread programme...

You may remember that in January, I wrote about the DCSF’s Home Access Programme – providing free home computers for students from disadvantaged families - and reinforcing to all families the importance of access to an Internet-connected computer to support learning. Just in case you missed , here’s...

According to government research for the DCSF, 90% of pupils have computer and internet access at home. Even amongst primary school children, it was 88%. The research was part of the “Parental Involvement in Children's Education” report , published in 2007, and page 25 gives the statistics for Internet...

Phew, what a day. 6 months of planning, 90 people to co-ordinate with, and suddenly, it arrived. The first day of BETT. As I mentioned earlier in the week, we had a number of exciting things at the show, including a demonstration of the Surface, and a netbook Wall of Cool. I’ll have a few pictures to...

Keeping up on the Home Access Programme ? Am I making sense so far? Wondering what’s next? Asking what exactly we’re going to do about it? Wonder no longer! Along with a number of other companies, we’ve been involved in the Ministerial Task Force for the Home Access Programme over the last year and a...

I was just starting a blog post to update everybody on the Home Access Programme, and the latest news. But then I stopped. I wondered “Well, do people know what the Home Access Programme is?” – and a couple of quick phone calls to schools and I realised that there’s a big gap between what most people...

This post refers to the pilot of the Home Access Programme, for 2009, which has now finished. There's now an updated blog post all about the Home Access Programme Suppliers for 2010 , which is much more useful to you! A little earlier I got my “Dummy’s Guide to the Home Access Programme” done,...