Hampshire School wins trip to the BT Tower

Youngsters at Weyford Junior School in Bordon, Hampshire, will get a glimpse of the high life later this month as a result of the school winning a national competition.

They have won the chance to visit the BT Tower and meet TV presenter Jake Humphrey on Monday March 13, as part of a major BT scheme to extend the coverage of superfast fibre broadband.

Thirty pupils will be able to see for themselves the famous revolving floor with a bird’s eye view of London at the top of the BT Tower, be shown behind the scenes at the iconic building and given an insight into how BT is bringing superfast fibre broadband to homes and businesses across the UK.

Allison Jenkins, head of teaching and learning at Weyford Junior School, said: “Both pupils and staff were thrilled to hear the news of their competition entry. The visit will clearly help to develop their understanding of this vital area of technology within such an amazing setting.”

Leli Sibanda, pupil at Weyford Junior School, said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, we’re all really excited.”

The competition, run by BT’s Community Fibre Partnerships scheme, was open to schools in England, Scotland and Wales.

Bill Murphy, BT’s managing director for next generation access, said: “Congratulations go to Weyford Junior School. We hope they have a great day and enjoy the tremendous London sky-line views from the BT Tower. High-speed fibre broadband takes learning one step further in bringing learning to life at school and at home. We would encourage any schools with less than 24Mbps internet speeds to get in touch to see if they are in any high-speed fibre broadband plans. If they’re not, our Community Fibre Partnerships team can help them look at options available.”

The scheme has a £2 million fund for distributing grants to community fibre partnerships. Eligible communities can apply for match funding of up to £20,000 towards the cost of a new local superfast fibre network as long as the technology is capable of serving the local school.

Among the schools and communities having already benefitted from the funding are Ditcham Park School and the village of Ditcham in Hampshire, where the teachers are excited about the new opportunities superfast fibre broadband will bring to their online capabilities and IT growth.

More than 200 communities across the country have so far signed up to a co-funded Community Fibre Partnership, delivered by Openreach, BT’s local network business, with many already enjoying the benefits of superfast broadband. The availability of these new grants will encourage even more communities to work with Openreach on bringing high-speed connectivity to their town or village.

BT’s long-term ambition is to help and inspire young people in the UK to make the most of technology through initiatives such as the BT Tech Literacy Programme.

Communities interested in making an application should register their interest

Register

Register your details to be told when you can get superfast broadband and for updates where you live

Register now

UK Gigabit Voucher Scheme

Funding towards the cost of installing ultrafast broadband in rural areas – find out if you’re eligible

Check eligibility

News

Read the latest news from the Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme

View news