New computers for schools not just a token

St Kevin's Boys School, which caters for 325 boys aged between four and 12 in the Dublin suburb of Kilnamanagh, saved enough tokens last year to claim a new computer under Tesco's Computers for Schools scheme.

"We didn't push it as such," says IT coordinator Mr Gerard Gallery. "We encouraged everyone to bring the tokens in but didn't issue letters to parents or anything like that."

The school had participated in the scheme on three previous occasions, gathering enough tokens each time to qualify for various computer peripherals such as CDs or disks.

Saving the tokens required for a computer represented a significant effort, however, particularly since only about 10 per cent of families with children at St Kevin's would naturally shop in Tesco.

"There was no Tesco store locally," says Mr Gallery. "The nearest was up in the Square [Tallaght shopping centre\] and not many of the parents were shopping there.

"But last year it went extremely well. Most kids here are aware. They simply drop the tokens down to my classroom."

The arrival of the new computer coincided with St Kevin's being sanctioned for an additional resource teacher, a lucky accident that Mr Gallery believes has made "a big difference" to the school's facilities.

"Were it not for this scheme, we would be wanting another computer," he says.

Mr Gallery would recommend the Tesco scheme to other schools but advises a subtle approach that avoids putting pressure on children or parents.

"It's best to be low-key and take everything you can get," he says. "You budget to buy a certain amount of software but it's always nice to get something you hadn't budgeted for."