PARENTS have backed a high school scheme in which they will fund the roll out of iPads for pupils.

All Haslingden High School pupils in Years Seven, Eight and Nine will be equipped with mini iPads after parents joined a borrowing scheme.

Parents who have agreed to fund an iPad will pay £10 a month for 30 months and will own the device at the end of the agreement.

Families unable to afford the cost have been supported by the school, which has joined forces with a charitable foundation which funds technology in schools.

The scheme with charity the E-Learning Foundation provides the opportunity for every student under 14 to have their own iPad.

Headteacher Mark Jackson said the scheme followed 12 months of close consultation with parents as to how they wished to proceed.

He said: “We will provide the opportunity for every student to have their own iPad for use both within school and at home.”

A small minority, around 40 pupils, of Year Seven to Nine pupils, whose parents have opted out, will still have access to iPads in school, but will not take them home. The vast majority of younger pupils will use the iPads as their own personal device.