Anne Fine - creator of Mrs Doubtfire - launches revolutionary educational resource at Forest of Teesdale School, Co. Durham
2nd May 2001
Prize-winning author and creator of the children's classics Mrs. Doubtfire, Crummy Mummy and Me and Diary of a Killer Cat, Anne Fine, was at Forest of Teesdale Primary School, Co. Durham, on Thursday 29th March 2001 to launch an award-winning educational service from Espresso Broadband plc which delivers weekly 'feeds' of bandwidth-hungry video-rich educational resources to schools via satellite.
Logging on to their new 'Espresso for Primary Schools' service, Forest of Teesdale pupils will enjoy a wide range of engaging and interactive classroom materials covering the whole curriculum, including the latest addition; a series of 6 'Author Modules' - one for each school year - in which Anne Fine, who lives in Co. Durham, is filmed in nearby Barnard Castle talking about her books and offers school children advice on how to become an author. Anne is joined in the modules by other best-selling writers including Dick King-Smith, who answers questions on 'The Sheep-Pig', Allan Ahlberg, who gives an insight into his books 'Cops and Robbers', 'The Jolly Postman and Other People's Letters' and two of his poems 'Please Mr Butler' and 'The Supply Teacher', and Shirley Hughes, who talks about 'Lucy and Tom at the Seaside' for Reception classes.
Pupils will also benefit from access to Espresso's use of contemporary TV programmes and news footage, which are re-dubbed for greater relevance to the national curriculum and bring current affairs from around the world, such as the Middle East peace process and the Indian pilgrimage, 'Kumbh Mela', into the classroom.
"With just 15 pupils, Forest of Teesdale is the smallest school in Co. Durham. Having a visitor like Anne Fine understandably got the children very excited", enthused Forest of Teesdale's Head Teacher, Carol Connolly. "We are situated in a very remote location - 15 miles from the nearest town of Barnard Castle - and ICT is vital to broadening the horizons of the children that attend the school, most of whom live on remote farms. With the click of a button, they can now access high quality, tailored video footage of events from around the world - it really is incredibly eye-opening for them."
Espresso avoids the frustration of download delays by utilising satellite technology to deliver weekly feeds of 'bandwidth-hungry' information to schools. A satellite dish and Espresso box - costing £1875 - are required to receive and store the information. For the average Primary School a subscription fee starting at £5 per pupil is payable yearly. Espresso for Primary Schools can be ordered through the website, www.espresso.co.uk.
For further press information or paper versions of this release please contact:
Espresso Marketing, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6 9RL
Tel: +44(0)20 8237 1200
Fax: +44(0)20 8237 1201
Email: info@espresso.co.uk
