THE Oldham joint secretary of the National Education Union Nigel Yeo has welcomed the launch of a £1million "Help a Child to Learn" appeal which aims to supply basic materials such as pens, paper, card and crayons for those pupils who do not have these remote learning essentials in their homes.

In addition to laptops and routers, remote education requires families to have the "basics", including pens, paper, pencils and revision guides.

Mr Yeo said: “Our Help a Child to Learn campaign is driven by the level of need NEU members see in their pupils.

"The sheer scale of child poverty and its effects on children’s learning is heart-breaking.

"It should not be necessary, in 2021, to supply pupils with the very basics they need to participate in remote learning, but it is necessary and this campaign will rise to the challenge.

"This practical help, given to the most disadvantaged children and young people, will go some way towards alleviating their feeling of being left behind.

"With public help, and in addition to the £1m pound contribution from the NEU, we will grow this fund to support more schools and even more pupils."

Both the Department for Education and Ofsted have stated that for remote education to be effective, it has to comprise some elements of students working on their own, using materials at home, offline. Access to these practical learning materials makes a big difference to the quality of learning and pupils’ wellbeing, the union says.

This fund will deliver vouchers to schools so that they can continue to support pupils through purchasing the learning resources they need, in the way schools think will have the most impact on pupil learning and engagement. These vouchers will be offered to schools with the greatest number of pupils on Free School Meals

The NEU says it welcomes donations to the Help a Child to Learn appeal from anyone who wants to take down the barriers and help children thrive.