shankhill primary school

SHANKHILL PRIMARY SCHOOLCHILDREN WIN PARLIAMENTARY AWARD FOR INTERNET

Shankhill Primary School yesterday won a prestigious parliamentary prize for their work on the internet. They received the £1,200 prize at a ceremony in parliament with Rory Stewart MP. Rory also gave them a tour of parliament.

The prize was in the North-West section of the Make IT Happy competition. It celebrates the excellent and inspirational work that the UK’s primary schools are doing to promote and teach children and their families about using the internet.

The pupils from Shankhill, a primary school at Hethersgill with only 45 children, have been helping eleven adults to learn about Desktop Publishing, teaching them how to print posters and also make Christmas cards on their computers.

The £1,200 winnings from the competition – over ten times the school’s annual IT budget – will be used to benefit the school’s future use of technology. Shankhill junior teacher Catherine Armstrong said: “It’s been absolutely wonderful. It’s been brilliant for the community because people have been learning skills which they can use, and it’s good for the children to learn new skills as well.”

Rory said: “This is an inspirational group of young children. Their work suggests how much we can benefit from faster broadband for Cumbria and reminds us how young people can lead the way. I very much hope that their success will encourage many more schools to set up similar programmes in and around Penrith and the Border.  Shankhill Primary School has been educating older members of their community for almost five years; they have been running community workshops and helping people to learn about the internet. As part of our wider broadband initiative, this is a great example of how cross-generational the internet’s appeal is. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind, and Shankill are setting an amazing example to the rest of our constituency. I am incredibly proud of them.”

Rory also took the children into parliament to watch a packed debate, where they were able to see the Prime-Minister and most of the senior members of the cabinet.

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