CARING Worcester schools have shown their support for the NHS – with one teacher making masks to protect frontline staff.
Chris Wilson, head of design technology at King’s School in Worcester, created masks from recycled specs which have gone out to GP surgeries, including Henwick Halt Medical Centre. More are already in production.
Meanwhile, Christopher Whitehead Language College has donated a staggering 153 new specs, 211 used specs and various items such as disposable gloves to support doctors and nurses in Worcester.
They have also bagged up 39 goggles, ten unopened boxes of nitrlie gloves, six open boxes of nitrile gloves, one unopened box of vinyl gloves, five packs of opened vinyl gloves and 15 packs of disposable PE gloves.
Mr Wilson reviewed what was being offered by other design and technology teachers and created his own mask from supplies he could easily access.
“I saw many were sharing 3D printer files for the production of masks. There are few schools in the UK which have 3D printers that are designed for quantity production. Such printers are prototyping machines, used for proving design ideas before the money is spent on moulding for mass-produced parts,” he said.
“For me, 3D printing was not the best solution. It would take three or four hours to make a single mask, which might end up being single-use and thrown away and many suppliers have sold out of the materials needed due to a surge in demand.”
He was spurred into action following a request from the practice manager of the Henwick Halt Medical Centre who asked if the school could donate any safety specs.
“I applied a bit of problem-solving to the task and developed a way of turning safety specs into masks. I have posted the process in various national and international design and technology Facebook groups because I felt many teachers who might be unable to 3D print or laser cut masks for one reason or another, might like to copy the design,” Mr Wilson said.
“The response has been enormous! The masks aren’t pretty, but that’s not in the brief. They function well, and are easily washable.”
After delivering 28 masks to the surgery initially, Mr Wilson began production of another 32 masks for distribution across Worcester.
A school spokesperson said: “This approach is a perfect example of where design and technology comes to the fore. It provides a genuine example of what pupils are learning daily in lessons including design problem, brief, client requirement, research, product analysis, user group, design, prototyping, production and evaluation.”
