Pupils at Hermitage Park Primary in Leith are sitting comfortably while learning from home, thanks to Hibernian Community Foundation’s donations of multi-purpose lap desks.
Depute Head Teacher Lisa Black explained: “Hermitage Park Primary is a Hibernian Community Foundation partner school. The foundation is keen to help us remove any barriers to learning our pupils may face.
“When I approached them to share my concern that many of our pupils did not have a desk space for home learning, they were keen to help”.
Lisa was troubled by survey findings from ‘The second wave of the Understanding Society COVID-19 survey’: “I read that over 30% of children lived in homes that did not have enough desk space for them to undertake home learning. This percentage increases to almost 40% for children living in low income households.
“Many of our pupils were working from their bed. Whilst this is not ideal, the lap desks give them a hard surface on which to work. This has benefits for their learning as well as their physical health promoting better posture,” Lisa continued.
“It also tackles the issue of overcrowded homes as pupils can carry their desk to any convenient spot and work at a place which suits them”.
They are already proving a hit with pupils who say their home learning has improved since getting a lap desk:
“My handwriting is better because I have something to lean on” says P6 pupil Brandyn.
“I like the pockets as I can organise myself and that makes me feel less stressed” says Jenna P7.
P7 Abdul’s mum is a fan because he says, “I don’t leave all my work scattered on the floor!”
Lisa concluded: “We appreciate the challenges families face when undertaking home learning.
“This helps us to improve the physical environment for our pupils and we are grateful to Hibernian community foundation for their continued support.”