CHILDREN attending a Wirral primary school have had their 'learning experience enriched creating a myriad of opportunities' thanks to new IT, according to their headteacher.

Church Drive in Bebington is the first school in the Liverpool City Region to benefit from a full fibre connection delivered by LCR Connect – a new 212km digital network capable of delivering the fastest internet speeds in the country.

LCR Connect is a joint venture led by Mayor Steve Rotheram, between Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which owns 50% of the venture, alongside ITS Technology Group, and NGE, who are delivering the full fibre network across the six local authority areas.

The network, on track to be completed by the middle of this year, is designed to significantly improve connectivity for businesses and will support internet access for schools, and other organisations, making the city region among the best-connected areas of the UK.

One of seven schools that form Oak Trees Multi-Academy Trust, Church Drive Primary is achieving 100Mbps speeds through its broadband connection, nearly three times faster than the service it has replaced for download and more than ten times faster for the upload. This ultrafast service is being delivered and managed by local IT service providers Hi-Impact and Exa Networks.

Headteacher Joanna Jones said: "As a school, we are very keen to make the best use of technology to enhance and improve the learning opportunities for our children. Access to a fast, reliable internet connection has now become a vital part of the curriculum.

"This new broadband service has transformed the enjoyment and ease of access to the many online resources and opportunities that enrich the day-to-day learning of our children.

"It also means that our teaching staff no longer have to implement ‘plan B’ which was a regular occurrence when our old broadband service couldn’t keep up with demand.

"Added to this, the children can now make effective use of the laptops and tablets that were generously donated to the school during the COVID-19 lockdowns.”

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said: "We're putting our communities at the cutting edge of digital connectivity with state-of-the-art infrastructure that will give them access to the fastest internet speeds in the entire country.

"It's helping to attract new jobs, businesses and investment into the region and, best of all, LCR Connect is half-owned by the us, which means that we can continue to pump the returns back into the local economy and reap the benefits for years to come."

Claire Delahunty, joint venture partner ITS Technology Group’s ambassador for LCR Connect said: "Connecting Church Drive Primary School to LCR Connect is a significant milestone for this substantial infrastructure project. It is the first of many schools and colleges set to benefit across the Liverpool City Region."

Alan Thompson, managing director of education IT specialist Hi-Impact said: "We are proud to look after the IT needs of more than 100 schools across the city region including Church Drive Primary School.

"Church Drive Primary School’s previous online experience was not fit for purpose because of the lack of access to full fibre infrastructure in the Liverpool City Region – that is why this new network is so exciting for schools."