£700! There are laptops out there for less than half that! How, when the world is struggling to pay for bare neccessities are schools telling parents to spend £700? Outrageous!

Parents of year 7 pupils at Arnewood were forced to buy them computers last year too. This is a council run school not a private school where such equipment might be expected. What's wrong with writing out lessons in an exercise book Mr Hummerstone, or can't you teach writing?

Giving our age away here but we both remember when we used to go to the local library to do our studies and we did our homework with good old fashioned pens and paper

Hmm, maybe if Ferret had had a laptop when he was a nipper he might know the difference between 'there' and 'they're', and if dancingdog had been similarly equipped he might say 'those computers' instead of 'them computers' and wouldn't sound so ignorant!!!!
And don't say, 'who's this posho preaching grammar to us?' because I'm not posh. Everyone should aspire to speak decent English, not just the rich. We need to give educational standards a right kick up the backside, raise the standard right across the board and let EVERY kid know that he or she can get a good job if they work hard. Maybe then we'll be able to break the public school stranglehold on the best jobs and top Government positions. Perhaps the teachers at Arnewood have realised that their pupils are going to be left behind if they don't manage to learn I.T. at a young age. If there isn't enough money in the budget coming from government, then the money has to come from somewhere else. If I was one of these kids' parents, I'd break my back to get them the laptop. If the government won't pay for it, the parents have to. Notice that most of the children of our so called Labour Government are educated at private or public schools rather than the state sector...

Hmm, maybe if Ferret had had a laptop when he was a nipper he might know the difference between 'there' and 'they're',
I doubt it - a computer's spell check can't tell the difference, and, in any case, you can add words to the computer's dictionary if you think it isn't already there.

I used to have to go through the dictionaries on all my class computers at the end of each day, removing the words the pupils had added because obviously the pupil could spell and whoever compiled the dictionary in the first place couldn't.

But getting back to the article, a memory stick is only useful if what's on it can be read by a programme on the home computer.

As for £700 for a laptop - ridiculous! One's suitable for school projects are only about £300, and who is going to buy the software for them - I bet it isn't the school!!

Its a pity this discussion has concentrated on price. Clearly the school could have done a little more research although they may have felt restricted by BECTA guidelines when it comes to equipment choice. All praise to them though for trying to get their students equipped with laptops. They can make a huge contribution not only to standards of presentation but also to self confidence. Its high time all schools did this and support was put in place to help parents with the purchase or leasing of computers. Sadly this could well be another area where this country is left behind by others less resistant to change.

wots is it 8.46 got piles or summatt painful innit.

Charlie wrote:
Hmm, maybe if Ferret had had a laptop when he was a nipper he might know the difference between 'there' and 'they're', I doubt it - a computer's spell check can't tell the difference, and, in any case, you can add words to the computer's dictionary if you think it isn't already there. I used to have to go through the dictionaries on all my class computers at the end of each day, removing the words the pupils had added because obviously the pupil could spell and whoever compiled the dictionary in the first place couldn't. But getting back to the article, a memory stick is only useful if what's on it can be read by a programme on the home computer. As for £700 for a laptop - ridiculous! One's suitable for school projects are only about £300, and who is going to buy the software for them - I bet it isn't the school!!

There are plenty of programs - including many free ones - that are capable of reading and writing text and images from/ to memory sticks.
If the school are using proprietary software for file handling, that's yet another reason to question the wisdom of their actions.
In this day and age it really isn't necessary to spend £700 on a 'schoolwork' computer.
But not all parents will be computer 'savvy', and will trust the advice given to them by 'responsible' authorities. If that 'advice' is to spend £700 on a computer, then it's outrageous!

P.S. interesting to see that some of the early posts in this thread (mine included) have been deleted. Hmmmmm....

Johnzo wrote:
Hmm, maybe if Ferret had had a laptop when he was a nipper he might know the difference between 'there' and 'they're', and if dancingdog had been similarly equipped he might say 'those computers' instead of 'them computers' and wouldn't sound so ignorant!!!!
And don't say, 'who's this posho preaching grammar to us?' because I'm not posh. Everyone should aspire to speak decent English, not just the rich. We need to give educational standards a right kick up the backside, raise the standard right across the board and let EVERY kid know that he or she can get a good job if they work hard. Maybe then we'll be able to break the public school stranglehold on the best jobs and top Government positions. Perhaps the teachers at Arnewood have realised that their pupils are going to be left behind if they don't manage to learn I.T. at a young age. If there isn't enough money in the budget coming from government, then the money has to come from somewhere else. If I was one of these kids' parents, I'd break my back to get them the laptop. If the government won't pay for it, the parents have to. Notice that most of the children of our so called Labour Government are educated at private or public schools rather than the state sector...

No offence, but for someone who is preaching about grammar, perhaps you should realise that a "kid" is a baby goat.

Johnzo .. Your hard work glad i dont work alongside you !
Ps also forgot this is the daily echo . No freedom of speach ? As some posts have be deleted !

Quote Storm at school’s call for parents to buy computers


Reply Anyone who has has or gets an AOL Broadband account can if they go to 02 at Christchurch pick up a magazine which allows them to have a FREE Lap Top even the top Toshiba makes are FREE with the very latest Vista Software.

So why buy one?

I do seriously believe this should be investigated by writing to your local MP.

Parents have already had to purchase Computers and expensive Software not to mention the extortionate price one has to pay for ink.

Children have to use more than one computer at home when they have more than one child .

Hence UK Gov have made fortune out of the parents, what with Internet etc.

The gullible (or very clever) headmaster says this is a non-profit scheme which will not benefit the school financially. If these laptops are being sold to pupils at more than £600 it's going to be a very profitable scheme for someone. Buying in bulk, today's prices are in the range £300-£400.

surely this school has heard of the computers for schools promotions by tesco!
can't they collect these tokens?

the school my two sons go to has furbished 2 complete pc suites 18 pc's in each through it!!!

This is utterly ridiculous. I appreciate that in our advancing world children need to be taught to use computers, but surely that is why there are I.T lessons??

I only left school 6 years ago and very few students had their own PC's but we all had very good (legible) handwriting, a good grasp of the English language and could spell(without needing an electronic dictionary that is not always correct!).

Students should be taught the fundamentals and have specific I.T lessons. It is not the responsiblity of the parents to fork out the money for what the school chooses not to provide.

Johnzo wrote:
Hmm, maybe if Ferret had had a laptop when he was a nipper he might know the difference between 'there' and 'they're', and if dancingdog had been similarly equipped he might say 'those computers' instead of 'them computers' and wouldn't sound so ignorant!!!! And don't say, 'who's this posho preaching grammar to us?' because I'm not posh. Everyone should aspire to speak decent English, not just the rich. We need to give educational standards a right kick up the backside, raise the standard right across the board and let EVERY kid know that he or she can get a good job if they work hard. Maybe then we'll be able to break the public school stranglehold on the best jobs and top Government positions. Perhaps the teachers at Arnewood have realised that their pupils are going to be left behind if they don't manage to learn I.T. at a young age. If there isn't enough money in the budget coming from government, then the money has to come from somewhere else. If I was one of these kids' parents, I'd break my back to get them the laptop. If the government won't pay for it, the parents have to. Notice that most of the children of our so called Labour Government are educated at private or public schools rather than the state sector...

It would seem that it is OK to point out faults with other peoples grammar, but then you go and say "If the government won't pay for it, the parents have to." Surely the correct grammar is "will not pay" instead of wont..?? And as somebody else has already quoted "A kid" is a baby goat.
So please do not find faults with others when it is quite clear, that you are still unable to grasp the basic concepts of the English Language...... And I had never had a laptop or PC when I was younger and only got a C in my GCSEs, yet after years of having my English mixed with some Canadian and American, I still know the difference between can't and cannot and won't and will not, and they said that you cannot learn anything at Portchester...lol

Kid is an acceptable, if informal, term for a child. Won't is an acceptable contraction of will not.
I'm gratified that attempts to find fault with my English have amounted to nothing more than petty pedantry.
Sorry, Ferret, I didn't mean to insult you, I was just trying to make a point about social mobility.

What is, perhaps, a little more worrying is the fact that the post from Ferret you refer to has been mysteriously deleted (along with others).

I cannot believe the Echo deletd the post for poor grammar, but then --- why?
If I recall, as the first post of this thread, it made a perfectly sensible comment on this apparently outrageous proposal.

I'd rather read poor grammar than have someone else decide, arbitarily, what I should and should not read.
Shame on you Echo!

Sorry, but I do not find the word "kid" an acceptable, informal term for a child in that context. It really was not being pedantic, just opinion, like yours.

Anyway, back to the point of the story, £700 is a lot of money for a laptop these days. I am sure that the children who's parents cannot afford one, may feel left out, however, I can't see that there will be very many people taking up this "offer"

Johnzo
Ha eat your own words .
thank you andy jolly and roger

Like i said in the first post that got deleted .
What a rip off , this had got to be a scam ?

Ferret37 wrote:
Johnzo Ha eat your own words . thank you andy jolly and roger

anytime my friend, and also it is not just posts from here that are being deleted, loads are going missing from the cherries posts also.....i wish i had a job like that just go around deleting everything and getting paid for it...wow what a job....or did i mean jobs-worth, still the school or government should supply the laptops.... what they do in Canada is all the big local companies like mine donate both new and used euipment to local schools and unis to help them aswe like to invest in to the future as one day they may come and work with us. Maybe someone like JP Morgan would like to do the same

I hope Mr. Hummerstone is not teaching ecconomics (or maybe he is!).
If the school is not making a profit, then who is?

Posted by: laurie marsh, australia on 10:49am

Quote I hope Mr. Hummerstone is not teaching economics (or maybe he is)!.

Reply Well said Laurie .

I remember meeting a husband and Wife team in Christchurch (Dorset) who told me that thier school in London had thrown out into large skips a load of £2,000 High Spec Computers along with the monitors, printers, etc.

As that is just one school, what about all the others, are they throwing these computers paid for with Taxpayers money into the BIN?

No wonder our UK Taxes are so high.

laurie marsh wrote:
I hope Mr. Hummerstone is not teaching ecconomics (or maybe he is!).
If the school is not making a profit, then who is?

My daughter is at Ringwood School, the uniform there is almost impossible to buy anywhere except the school shop, where co-incidentally, we pay through the nose, and the school gets funds.
It's my guess that the school have "suggested" where to buy these laptops and they'll get a fairly hefty wack out of it!?
Shame on you schools who have the parents by the short & curlies!!

Posted by: 2Much, New Forest on 7:34am today

Quote It's my guess that the school have "suggested" where to buy these laptops and they'll get a fairly hefty wack out of it!?

Reply Well said 2Much .

You might well be right in what you say.

However I have been in touch with CarPhone WareHouse today and thier manager in Christchurch assured me that if anyone needs a New Lap Top they only have to come to his shop and take out an AOL Broad Band Account and the LapTop is complements of AOL.

The Managers Name is Anthony, just as to speak with him direct.

Signed
Carl Barrron
Chairman of
agpcuk
Action Group for the Protection of Communities UK

PS

My prior post Posted by: Carl Barron, Dorset on 1:53pm Sat 13 Sep 08

Anyone who has or gets an AOL Broadband account can if they go to 02 at Christchurch

Was incorrect. I should have stated it was 'CarPhone WareHouse'.