Over the past three years, the mining company has invested nearly a quarter of a million dollars into filling the gap between what local schools need to keep up with the times and what equipment they actually have.

From providing Wifi access points across schools to class sets of tablets; Singleton Public School (SPS), King St Public School, Singleton Heights Public School, Broke Public School, Jerrys Plains Public School and Mt Pleasant Public School are now connected to the information highway.

Glencore’s community relations manager Craig Strudwick saw the benefits of his company’s foresight on Tuesday while visiting SPS.

Mr Strudwick, accompanied by the school’s acting principal Jonothan Russell, met and conversed with a group of Year six students.

The pupils were using a class set of tablets and explained how they encourage self-directed learning.

Year six teacher Robyn Dibben said they are a great tool to use in conjunction with traditional teaching methods.

“They really engage the students,” she said.

“The tablets allow them direct their own learning and become more independent learners.

“This is important as next year they are heading to high school.”

They are also useful for younger students as there are some great apps that teach basic numeracy and literacy, she said.

Mr Russell said the school owes Glencore a massive “thank you”, especially with the introduction of the new national curriculum.

Information and communication technology competence has been identified as one of the seven general capabilities that are important for life and work in the 21st century.