A SHAW school is pioneering a method of helping pupils who cannot attend stay in the classroom.
For Kingsland, on Kershaw Street, has recruited three robots that can bridge the gap.
The establishment for children and young people who cannot attend mainstream school because of medical needs hopes the technology can change the face of education for those who cannot have home tuition or leave home because of mental or physical illness.
Developed by Norwegian company No Isolation, the AV1 telepresence robot takes the child’s place in the classroom and serves as their eyes, ears, and voice, maintaining a sense of belonging and helping them to stay connected with their classmates.
Children can see everything that the robot can see through a small camera fitted on its head and their real voice can be projected out into the classroom, or just to their friends, by adjusting the volume through the AV1’s speaker.
Expression in its eyes can be changed to neutral, happy, sad or confused and their head flashes when the pupil wants to ask a question.
Teachers place them on a classroom desk while the student controls them remotely – and the robots have proven to be a ‘revolutionary’ move for Kingsland.
One student even requested that her robot could join her friends for lunch so she could chat to them and remain in their inner circle.
Sal Qureshi, head of Kingsland School’s Laurel Bank site in Shaw, said about the robots: “We are the only school in Oldham to have these. It’s revolutionary and you can see that with the impact on our students.”
Referring to another students’ success story, she added: “He wasn’t attending school at all and he wasn’t leaving the house.
“He finds it really anxiety inducing to leave the house and started 100 per cent on the AV1 robot.
“Now I’ve managed to get him to the library so he has some face to face tuition. We will aim to increase that because it’s always better than being at home.”
Phil Pye, the teacher with responsibility for online learning and AV1, commented: “One of the students wasn’t attending because of a medical need.
“With the robot, her attendance is 99 per cent, and that was a technical glitch and she came on in the afternoon. It wasn’t 100 per cent because of the glitch.
“With this particular child it has worked really well and we are looking at her transition back to school in Year 10.”
Students have six to eight-week placements with the robots initially but depending on their needs they may keep it for longer.
One Laurel Bank pupil said: “I like it here because it’s small. There are about 30 pupils here.”
Another added: “I’ve been here since November and it’s better than mainstream.
“The classes are smaller and less rowdy and there is lot more help if you need it.”
A third commented: “They support you with your mental health and there’s space to go to chill out and rest your mind.”
A parent praised about the support for his son: “He came to the point where he was a non-attender and we couldn’t get him to school. For about five months he was out of school due to severe anxiety.
“He was undiagnosed at that point as autistic. It was a struggle and we were trying.
“We got him referred to here and he loved it from day one. The change in him was amazing.
“In his first week, we saw the difference it made because of the size of the school and the kids being on a similar wavelength.”
Kingsland headteacher Emmett Patel said: “Children across our sites come in with undiagnosed and certainly unmet and unexplored special educational needs.
“We want all the children to leave here and to go on to be successful. Every child is on a bespoke plan and part of that is a child’s voice and a family’s voice.”