Staff and students at a City of London Academies Trust school have put their design skills to the test and created face shields to help protect frontline workers from Covid-19.
The design and technology team at the City of London Academy Shoreditch Park (CoLASP) have so far made 130 visors, with a commitment to produce 550 units to help meet demand and have been delivering them to local care homes in the area.
The group, being led by Chris Brown, Subject Leader for Design and Technology, has also been in contact with Hackney Borough Council to see if the shields can be used elsewhere.
Mr Brown started looking into making the personal protective equipment after he saw a call to action on Facebook.
He received free material from Technology Supplies and followed instructions from a company called Kitronik, which design face shields.
The face shields are made from Polypropylene (headband) and PVC (shield).
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Mr Brown who has been a teacher at the school for three years said:“Once the materials had been delivered I just needed to work out the correct settings on the laser cutter and get started.
“As we only have a very small laser cutter and we don’t have a circular saw to cut large sheet materials, the initial production was quite slow.
“However, we now have all the materials cut and the laser cutter running fairly continuously to maximise the production of face shields.
“There seems to be a big design and technology community who are all trying their best to help out. And as a school we feel it is the least we can do to help those on the frontline.”
The team hopes to make 100 face masks a day and deliver them to those on the frontline in the surrounding area.
Holly Arles, principal of City of London Academy Shoreditch Park, said: “I am so proud of Chris and the team for their wonderful contribution to those on the frontline.
“As a school community we are immensely grateful to all those who are working hard to keep us safe at this extremely testing time.”
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