Digital Device Scheme

Yes. All pupils must have a laptop from September 2026, leased or purchased by parents through the Easy4U Device Scheme.

No. From September 2026 we will require all pupils to have a Lenovo 13W laptop leased or purchased through the Easy4U device scheme. This is because these devices will be school managed devices whilst your child is a pupil with us, enabling us to apply appropriate filtering and monitoring software to the devices, and to use classroom management software to monitor device use in classrooms.

The Device Scheme also ensures that pupil devices are insured, including a full hardware service and accidental damage cover. 

Not necessarily. In the blended learning environment, digital devices are one of the many tools available for use in lessons. Teachers will continue to use their professional judgement to choose when the devices can be used to enhance teaching and learning based on the topic, content and learning activities. This means that devices will be used in many lessons, but not necessarily throughout the entire lesson. We continue to value the importance of handwriting, speaking and listening, and non-digital collaborative and practical work.

Using these laptops in lessons means that a very wide range of learning activities can be accessed, including the use of voice recording, video, digital inking, collaborative documents, data recording and processing, immediate feedback and accessibility features. We have chosen a device with a stylus, which will facilitate the taking of notes when required.

We will continue to use physical textbooks and paper resources where appropriate, but we expect this will be gradually reduced due to the wide range of ways resources can be shared and accessed digitally.

Classroom Technology Solutions has priced the scheme as in the table below. There are two options:

1. Purchase the laptop outright, with a total cost that includes 24, 26 or 48 months’ service, insurance, warranty and licences to run the educational and filtering software required.
2. Rent the laptop with a monthly charge, with the monthly cost including 24, 26 or 48 months’ service, insurance, warranty and licences to run the educational and filtering software required.

 You will need to order your child’s laptop directly from the Easy4U webshop so that you can select the length of rental period that suits you best. The deadline for orders to be guaranteed for delivery to your child in time for the start of the Autumn Term in September 2026 is Tuesday 30 June 2026. We will be providing more information for you about the ordering process over the coming weeks.

With the rental option, you are required to put down 4 times the monthly rental upfront as a deposit. At the end of the rental, you have two options:

1.    Return the device: receive deposit back.

2.    Keep the device: Easy4u retain deposit – This means you will have paid 4x monthly rental more than if you opted for outright purchase over length of contact

There are some elements of the service provided by the device scheme which can’t be satisfied by a retail offering.

The scheme is of a type broadly referred to as Device-as-a-Service. This means that there are multiple components to the service, designed to ensure that unexpected events do not interrupt the learning journey of the pupils. Many of these components require close collaboration between the school and the scheme supplier.

The supplier handles:

• Preparation of the devices prior to delivery to the school
• Delivery to the school and assistance with the deployment of the devices to pupils at the start of the academic year
• Maintenance of a pool of spare devices, kept in the School, so that a spare can be provided immediately to a pupil whose device is broken or lost. This includes an arrangement with the School to handle the transport of devices under warranty or insurance claims between the School and the supplier. This is probably the most important hidden ingredient in the scheme, and the one which is almost impossible to deliver unless the scheme is centralised and school-wide. The logistics operation behind the scenes includes a dedicated delivery driver.

The educational premise for building-in this level of support is that we want same-day replacement of broken devices. This avoids problems arising for both staff and pupils from pupils being unable to participate in classwork or homework.

In addition, we will be installing our full suite of Office 365 apps and educational software that will be used in and out of lessons on each laptop. Our IT team will need to access the laptops remotely on a regular basis through Microsoft Intune, and this will not be possible with other personal devices. We have to ensure that we have control of the laptops to satisfy some of the licencing restrictions.

We have selected the Lenovo 13W as it was designed specifically for school use. It is a laptop with a high specification in a tough case that is very durable. The screen is on a 360 degrees hinge to turn it into a tablet, and the stylus will allow handwritten notes to be taken when required. This is a laptop that is both small and lightweight, which makes it easily portable and ensures it does not take up too much space on classroom desks.

When devices are connected to the school’s Wi-Fi network, their web use is filtered, inappropriate content is blocked and concerns are reported. We anticipate that our filtering software, ‘Lightspeed’ will work on other Wi-Fi networks, for example at home, although we would still advise parents to set clear boundaries and expectations on laptop use at home.

The device has a very good battery life, so a fully charged device will last the full school day. We would encourage pupils to take responsibility of charging their device at home overnight ready for the next school day, but there will be charging stations available for some devices to be rapidly charged simultaneously.

Devices purchased through the Easy4U Digital Device Scheme are fully covered and you will have the option to use a portal to report faults with the laptop rather than contacting the school. There is a £50 excess on each claim payable to the insurance company.

Accessories such as digital pens, chargers and cables are not covered by the insurance.

Yes, our onsite IT Team can support the devices during core school hours for any problems related to the school accounts and applications on the device. The School IT Team will also help with diagnostics around device malfunction and network connection. 

There would be no refund of received payments. However, if the outstanding balance is cleared by the parent/carer they will own the device. This will be covered in the agreement between you and Easy4U.