Safe Start School in Ashton-under-Lyne opened its doors with a mission to support at-risk students who have been disengaged from the education system for a significant period.
Grace Speakman, Deputy Headteacher told us:
“At Safe Start we are an independent trauma-informed school for vulnerable students aged 14-16 years. All our students have been excluded from their previous secondary education provisions and many of our students have had negative educational encounters and suffered adverse childhood experiences, such as domestic abuse, eating disorders, bullying, and criminality. We also have students who are in care and looked after. Our students have very little or no aspirations for their future. We take students from some of the most disadvantaged areas of Manchester and offer them care, education, respect and opportunity.”
A school with limited I.T. capabilities
Grace came to PCrefurb early in September 2021 asking if we could help with the provision of IT equipment for their new school premises. She told us that on reopening for the autumn term they would have 12 pupils but only two desktop computers.
Corporate Donations make a big difference
PCrefurb relies on donations of IT equipment and we were able to create an IT suite for Safe Start School utilising devices from Five Wealth and Mewburn Ellis.
Five Dell Vostro PCs were part of a donation received from Five Wealth in March 2021. The monitors were donated by Mewburn Ellis in September 2021.
All equipment donated to PCrefurb is refurbished at our volunteer workshops under the supervision of technical lead Jay Abbott.
IT Suite empowering children age 14-16
These PCs will enable the pupils at Safe Start School to:
- Access online resources for all areas of learning
- Apply for college places
- Set up email addresses
- Achieve a Level 2 qualification in Digital Skills
- Learn essential life skills in IT
- Apply for jobs
If you would like to support PCrefurb with a donation, more information can be found here.