School in Rye area which helps pupils with dyslexia across Hastings and Rother can now provide more high-tech equipment after winning BT competition

A specialist school at Northiam will be able to update technology to help pupils with special educational needs after being selected as a winner in the BT Tech Factor competition.
Frewen College tech award SUS-190326-081720001Frewen College tech award SUS-190326-081720001
Frewen College tech award SUS-190326-081720001

BT has announced the winners of the competition, with a prize fund of more than £20,000 to invest in IT equipment being shared across ten schools across the UK.

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Frewen College in Northiam, near Rye, was the winner of the special educational needs (SEN) category.

Frewen College is a unique dyslexia school for young people between the ages of 7 and 19, with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, and speech, language and communication needs.

The competition, which is now in its fourth year, invited schools to demonstrate how they would use technology to prepare pupils for the workplace of the future by boosting their digital skills.

Each school was asked to submit a short video to demonstrate how they would spend the funding to benefit their pupils.

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Sally Welch, head of Frewen Prep School, said: “Assistive Technology - dyslexia-friendly software - has made such a difference to our dyslexic students.

“For example, one of our pupils can now dictate his stories so he is able to really enjoy story writing. We will be spending the prize money on more IT, including upgrading our existing computers so we can maximise the effectiveness of Assistive Technology.”

Stacey King, BT Regional Director for London and the South East, said: “Congratulations to this year’s winners, who really impressed the judging panel with some brilliant examples of how schools can utilise technology to enhance learning for pupils.

“At BT we are excited to support an initiative that provides technology funding for a future generation. Investment in IT equipment for schools will enable pupils to develop their digital skills early on, better preparing them for an increasingly digital world.”

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This competition forms part of BT’s long term commitment to boost digital skills in the UK. The BT-sponsored Barefoot computing programme, now in its fifth year, has delivered free classroom-ready teaching resources to over 70,000 teachers across 60% of the UK’s primary schools. By helping pupils develop basic computing skills, teachers are preparing them for today’s digital world and their future careers.