iPad Summer School to help disabled children get digital skills

Family Fund’s iPad Summer School is a project which has run since 2020 during the school summer holidays. With the help of partner organisation RNIB, this year’s edition will include sessions designed for children with a vision impairment.

The virtual events will run for six weeks between July and August. It is open to any disabled or seriously ill child or young person, as well as their siblings, who have access to an iPad.

This summer, our free virtual sessions will include making a movie, making songs and creating your own comic strip or social story. A showcase at the end enables children to share their project with their virtual classmates, with us, and the trainer too.

Apple accredited trainer will lead the sessions, provided via Sync Training, with a Family Fund team member also on hand, to support families in the virtual setting.

The importance of digital skills

Family Fund has offered digital skills training to parents and carers of disabled children since 2015. Summer school came about following the pandemic lockdowns, a long period without the routine and structure children had been used to. Many could not go to back to school and missed out on lots of chances to learn and socialise. The goal was to help children and young people get back into learning in a fun, creative way using their iPads, in a safe virtual setting.

Last year 81% of parents or carers reported their child or young person’s wellbeing had benefitted from the sessions. They also reported that 71% of siblings and other family members including parents had benefitted.

“Reuben’s attention is awful, he can’t sit still, so I thought it would be good to have something for us to do. If he’s on his iPad, he can focus easier.

“After talking with Family Fund, I realised that I could do the sessions with him, or on another tablet. That meant that if he didn’t feel up to it, I could learn the skills during the session and then teach him later when he felt better”

Alice Serne Services Delivery Team Leader at Family Fund said: “The joy we see from the children in the sessions is amazing, especially when they get to know each other by coming to more than one session and start to chat.

“We know siblings sometimes struggle to get support so we are really proud to help them and the whole family too. It’s a big part of what we do in the service delivery team at Family Fund. We look forward to it every year because we know that children and young people will have an amazing time, and we will too!”