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BOT-TER BELIEVE IT
Our children with cancer send ROBOTS to school in their place – they can chat to friends and even visit the zoo
SEATED at her school desk, eight-year-old Amelie Bowling beams as she raises her hand and answers the teacher's question correctly.
It's a smile that stays plastered on her face as she plays happily with her friends, eats lunch beside them, and learns exciting new things in class.
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But unlike her classmates, Amelie isn't actually AT her Luton primary school - instead, she's sent in a ROBOT to act as her eyes, ears and voice.
The youngster, who has leukaemia, controls the device from home using an iPad, on which she can view and listen to a live stream of her lessons.
At the touch of a button, she can put up her hand, glance at her friends or change her robot's face to match her emotions - happy, sad, or confused.
If she wants to ask a question, she can press a button and the robot’s head will flash. It’s a bit like putting your hand up
Darren Bowling
She can also answer questions, or whisper to her classmates, through the machine - all without risking her health by attending school in person.
“Amelie has zero immune system," explains her dad, Darren, 36.
“If she wants to ask a question, she can press a button and the robot’s head will flash. It’s a bit like putting your hand up. It’s awesome.”
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Amelie, who fondly calls her device AmelieBot, is among hundreds of seriously ill children who have been sending robots into British schools.
While millions of youngsters have been learning from home for the first time during the Covid pandemic, these brave kids are used to it.
From Maths lessons to VIP zoo tour
The robots, called AV1, have allowed them to juggle gruelling hospital treatment with maintaining their education and treasured friendships.
Some youngsters have gone on to achieve top GCSE and A-Level results.
And they've even been able to go on days out - from getting up close with the meerkats at London Zoo to joining a class trip to watch Star Wars.
"It was just like being in the cinema with my friends!" gushes nine-year-old Fynle Jones, from North Wales, who is recovering from a brain tumour.
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72k kids missing out on childhood
The robots, dubbed a "lifeline" by parents, are the creation of , a Norwegian start-up founded to reduce involuntary loneliness and isolation.
In the UK, there are around 400 in operation. They are available to buy (from £2,779), or to rent for short periods of time (from £222 a month).
But No Isolation warns that more than 72,000 youngsters across the nation are missing out on their childhood due to long-term illness. This means that, in normal times, there is an empty desk in every sixth classroom.
Honestly, it transformed our little lad’s life. Without it, his mental health would have undoubtedly suffered
Phil Jones
Of course, in recent months, children like Amelie and Fynle have seen their learning impacted by the schools lockdown - just like their classmates.
Yet speaking to us before the closures, their families described just how much the robots have helped their kids during their devastating illnesses.
“Honestly, it transformed our little lad’s life," says Fynle's dad, Phil, 58.
“Without it, his mental health would have undoubtedly suffered."
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From 'chatty and strong' to shock diagnosis
For "bright as a button" pupil Amelie, her journey to getting AmelieBot began in June 2019, when she was diagnosed with cancer aged just six.
"She was a popular little girl, chatty, confident, strong, very outgoing," says dad Darren, an IT consultant. "She was on the school council, bless her."
After Amelie's diagnosis - which Darren describes as a "massive smack in the face" - the little girl spent four weeks in hospital undergoing treatment.
But once back at home, she was far from out of the woods.
Battling exhaustion and at risk of a deadly secondary infection, Amelie received her robot through a Department for Education (DfE) AV1 trial.
It meant that, when she felt well enough, she could learn from home - with her parents collecting any work sheets from school a day in advance.
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"The robot goes to school and sits in her space," says Darren, who also shares sons Henry, nine, and Reuben, two, with wife Charlotte, 36.
"Amelie can control it from an iPad. She loves it.
"Before the pandemic, she always asked to go to assembly.
"The teacher would literally carry the robot while it’s being streamed to assembly, and then plonk [the device] down so she could be in it."
The teacher would literally carry the robot while it’s being streamed to assembly and then plonk it down so she could be in it
Darren Bowling
At lunchtime, Amelie would wolf down her food at home, while her friends did the same beside her robot. And at playtime, they all hung out together.
"She can get quite lonely," says Darren.
"So that kind of thing, for me - you can’t put a price on it.”
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Before the latest school closures, AmelieBot would 'sleep' in the teacher's cupboard at night, on charge. It would then be switched on the next day.
"The school ring and say, 'oh, AmelieBot’s on!'," says Darren.
"They don’t say, 'the AV1’s on', or anything like that.”
Last year, Amelie regularly used the robot for school while shielding at her Bedfordshire home. If she didn't feel up to talking, she could mute herself.
One-way video feed
She could also press a button to signal if she was taking a break. And because the live-stream is one-way, she didn't have to appear on video.
This particular feature is something 18-year-old cancer patient Charlie Bullick says is so important for poorly children and young people.
"It was definitely a good thing for me because most of the time I looked shocking," says Charlie, who used a robot to attend his A-Level classes.
"I had as much hair as a baby gosling.”
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Charlie, from Brixton, south London, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 17 after falling ill during the 2019 summer holidays.
At the time, he was half-way through his A-Levels - so he sent an AV1, funded by the charity, Chartwell Cancer Trust, to his boarding school.
Living "with a sick bucket" at his family home, the teenager admits he threw up within 10 minutes of using the robot for the first time.
You definitely don’t want to be watched, so having the robot as the thing that people focus on - and not your actual face - is good
Charlie Bullick
"You definitely don’t want to be watched, so having the robot as the thing that people focus on - and not your actual face - is good," he says.
Incredibly, Charlie achieved an A* in Politics and an A in an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), despite his illness and 2020 exam cancellations.
Today, he is still undergoing chemo, but is enrolled on a chef course and looking forward to studying politics at York University from September.
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As for Charlie's robot, it is going to another child in need.
Looking back now, the teen admits he didn't make the most of all of the device's "interactive and fun" functions because of his older age.
“It’s clearly designed to take away the intimidation," he says.
Yet he adds: "For me, it was just a way of being present.
"Even if I just sat in the lesson and listened to the discussion going on... I was staying engaged with the subject rather than letting it slide.”
HOW DO AV1 ROBOTS WORK?
WHEN children can’t attend class in person, an AV1 telepresence robot can take their place - acting as their eyes, ears and voice.
The "life-changing" device is the creation of No Isolation, a Norwegian start-up founded to reduce involuntary loneliness and isolation.
It is aimed at children and young adults with long-term illnesses.
Dubbed a "distance learning avatar", the robot has a camera that can live-stream lessons to its user - despite them being at home.
This video stream is encrypted, and there is no data storage. Both recordings and screenshots of live footage are prohibited.
The robot - which has an internal SIM card and WiFi capability - is locked to a single iPad or tablet which the child uses.
The youngster must enter a private four-digit code every time they want to connect. They can do so via a dedicated AV1 app.
During lessons, the pupil can 'raise' their hand by pressing a button in the app, which causes a white light on the robot's head to flash.
They can also speak quietly to their friend by choosing 'whisper' mode. Or they can press a button to signal they want to be a passive listener.
On, No Isolation says: "We designed AV1 together with schools, with privacy and safeguarding in mind."
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Boy's Star Wars outing
Schoolboy Fynle knows exactly how fun the robots can be. His AV1, which he's dubbed FynBot, is no stranger to thrilling days out, nor dressing up.
“Fynle’s a massive Star Wars fan," says dad Phil, who lives in the Welsh town of Ruthin with wife Nerys, 47, daughter Freya, 12, and Fynle.
"Two of his best friends carried it to the cinema to watch the new Star Wars movie with the class. They dressed the AV1 in this little Star Wars outfit.
"It was absolutely incredible.”
Two of his best friends carried it to the cinema... they dressed the AV1 in this little Star Wars outfit. It was absolutely incredible
Phil Jones
This summer, FynBot was even given a personal tour of London Zoo, which included visiting the lions and stepping inside the meerkat compound.
"The zoo experience was just amazing - to see all the animals and I was able to ask the zoo keepers questions - it was superb," Fynle tells us.
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Brain tumour battle
The Year 4 pupil was loaned his robot by UK charity after being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour aged seven in May 2019.
He was left temporarily paralysed and unable to speak after undergoing 13-hour surgery on the tumour, which was nearly the size of a tennis ball.
But thanks to FynBot, the youngster managed to keep on top of classwork and see his friends - who couldn't visit him at the time in case of infection.
"It was brilliant to see everyone through the screen," says dinosaur-mad Fynle, who is now in remission. "I felt really lucky and special."
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Before Christmas, Fynle had started going back to school in person.
And dad Phil says: "He’s already started to catch up and that’s completely just down to the AV1. Otherwise, he’d have missed so much stuff."
He’s already started to catch up and that’s completely just down to the AV1. Otherwise, he’d have missed so much stuff
Phil Jones
On the day we spoke to Amelie's dad Darren, the little girl had also gone into school, for an end-of-term party - which she was determined to attend.
Sadly, she fell ill during the bash and had to be brought home.
Today, Amelie is undergoing "maintenance" cancer treatment and has a new AmelieBot - loaned to her by SpecialEffect after the DfE trial ended.
And for her parents, the device relieves at least one of their worries.
“Our biggest concern - not just with the pandemic but the cancer as well - is it shouldn’t hamper her education," says Darren. "I wouldn’t want it to.”
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The mental health benefits of the robots can't be underestimated, either.
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“FynBot has kept him motivated, upbeat, emotionally sane to be honest," Phil says of son Fynle, who dreams of becoming a paleontologist.
And Fynle himself says: "When you are poorly, FynBot makes you feel so much better. Just seeing your friends really cheers you up."
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