Provision
Asquith goes big on new technology
Nursery group Asquith is set to invest £1.8m to bring interactive learning into nurseries to make technology fun.
Chief executive Andy Morris with Asquith nursery children
The chain has also introduced fingerprint scanning and password entry systems for parents as part of a 'supersafe' child safety and security initiative.
Mobile phones have also been banned from all Asquith nurseries to make sure no-one can take photographs of children on the premises.
The programme has been launched at the group's Bolton David Lloyd nursery, at a cost of around £60,000, and will also be introduced the group's Dulwich nursery next month. If successful, it will be expanded to Asquith's other 82 settings.
Chief executive Andy Morris said, 'Our research tells us that a five-year-old in 2010 is as know- ledgeable about technology as a ten-year-old was a decade ago. Kids know how to use technology, and it is our role to help provide learning stimulus at our nurseries. Parents have an obligation to help small children read and write - but now they must add the latest technology know-how to the list.
'Children live in a world where fingerprints and iris scanning will be commonplace, so it's our job to make sure that they know all about "wow" technology at the earliest possible opportunity.
'As well as simple digital cameras, programmable toys and interactive whiteboards, children can paint electronically on large touchscreen monitors, but they will still have access to big rolls of paper on the floor to scribble with crayons and pencils,' Mr Morris added.
