We’ve had club cards, Computers for Schools and Jamie Oliver. Now comes the latest gimmick in the battle for supermarket supremacy - ICT learning centres.
The first Explore learning centre has just opened at Sainsbury’s at Springfield, in Chelmsford, Essex. Parents who shop here can sign up their six to13-year-olds to the Sainsbury’s Discovery Club from 3-8pm weekdays, 10am-6pm on Saturdays and 10am-4pm on Sundays. A one-off joining fee is pound;25, standard membership is pound;38 a month and enhanced membership is pound;65 a month.
Members can join the Learning Programme, which concentrates on literacy, numeracy and science with RM’s SuccessMaker, or the Creative Programme, which offers projects involving computer animation, digital photography, Lego robotics, web design and storytelling.
Children spend an hour on their programme and up to 30 minutes surfing the internet in a protected environment. The networked centre is run by experienced teachers and graduates and the maximum staff-to-child ratio is one to six.
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