ACE partners with Digital Schoolhouse for library learning programme

Digital Schoolhouse and Arts Council England (ACE) have teamed up to transform five public library services into digital learning hubs. 

ACE provided £75,000 of funding to the Digital Schoolhouse programme, which uses play-based learning to bring the computing curriculum to life in primary schools. 

The new funding will expand the scheme to libraries based in Birmingham, Leeds, Stoke on Trent and London, enabling local communities to benefit from its learning activities. There will be a special emphasis on reaching children from disadvantaged backgrounds to help close the "digital divide" in parts of the country.

Shahneila Saeed, programme director of Digital Schoolhouse. said: “We’re excited to bring the Digital Schoolhouse initiative into libraries for the first time. The funding from Arts Council England will allow us to deliver the benefits of an accessible play-based learning approach to computing in communities across the country, helping to unlock opportunity and close the digital divide across England.”

Sue Williamson, director for libraries at ACE added: “I’m delighted to announce that Arts Council England will be funding a project to align Digital Schoolhouses with public libraries to develop digital creativity, a skill identified through our work with the Durham Commission as crucial for young people to be learning."