Laptops for five-year-olds

Elm Grove First School has issued children in year one with laptops to use in lessons and at home.

But the pilot scheme has sparked anger among some parents '“ particularly as they are being asked to pay up to 12 a month over three years for their children to use them.

According to Pauline Warren, the head teacher, however, the scheme is voluntary and children whose parents do not pay will still be given access to the laptops.

A father who has a child at the school, said: "Five-year-old children, who cannot yet read or hold a pen and write their own names, are being forced to use computers which they must carry to and from school everyday. Really, I despair."