COMMUNITY
CH A R ITY
A sense of (re)purpose WITH AN ALARMING SCARCITY OF PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR THE NATION’S HEALTHCARE WORKERS, THE SCHOOLS’ DESIGN TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT STEPPED UP TO THE CHALLENGE.
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e regularly remind students of the hazards associated with social media, but the platform also allows for the rapid and free sharing of ideas, which has proved to be the stimulus for significant social, political, technological and economic changes. What started as an informal online collaboration among DT teachers and enthusiasts rapidly spiralled into an urgent response to a life and death situation, with surprisingly far-reaching consequences.
Opportunity in crisis
Late March, during early weeks of the spread of Covid-19, there was a sudden and unforeseen need for specific protective equipment that could provide far more effective protection than goggles and masks. The despatch of our surplus PPE to healthcare centres was undoubtedly helpful, but the real need was for a substantial physical barrier between the faces of healthcare workers and the compromised environments that they were working in. Cue: the ingenuity and innovation of design and technology teachers within our sector.
Design 138
Over several days, visor designs were shared and critiqued online, until prototypes were generated in what became a real-life case study in ‘iterative design’, precisely the kind of challenges that our students are confronted with every year, although this time the timescale was shorter, and the stakes far higher. The relative slowness of 3D printing meant that laser cutting was needed. Over ten days, 137 separate design iterations were envisioned, trialled and discarded as being impractical or unworkable, until version 138 rolled off the laser cutter. With its reduced number of component parts, the speed with which sheets of polypropylene could be precisely cut, and its ease of assembly, this was the most sustainable.
Demand and supply
The first 200 visors, made in the first 24 hours, were despatched to intensive care units (ICUs) and accident and emergency units in the region, with an 44
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immediate and overwhelmingly positive response. The subsequent media wave saw further demand coming in instantaneously from many dozens of health and emergency organisations, all requesting visors. By early April, after just over week of production, the school received orders for more than 12,000 visors from an enormous range of organisations including local paramedics, emergency services, police, pharmaceutical agencies and GP surgeries; from regional ICUs and emergency departments; and from hospitals and healthcare trusts all over the country. At the height of the demand, the school was receiving around 100 requests for the protective equipment per day; dealing with the soaring demand became as big an occupation as the production of the visors themselves.
Collaboration and coverage
By the end of the first week the School’s design had been shared with more than 100 DT departments nationwide, with other manufacturing centres adapting the designs based on their own facilities and materials. Further refinement, and the great response of assembly-line teaching staff, meant that production at Stamford School, thanks to the many generous donations of materials from suppliers who rallied to the call, rose to the astonishing levels of more than 1,000 a day. Media interest was extraordinary too, catching colleagues in the department entirely unawares. There was no end of fascination as to how a school had contributed to the protection of many thousands of the nation’s healthcare workers. The way that the department rose to the challenge was showcased on regional television and radio – East Midlands Today and Look North – and on national television with crews from Channel 4 and BBC’s Panorama filming the production of the face visors and interview staff. Needless to say, the objective was never to turn the school’s DT Department into a mini industry of protective clothing manufacture in the fight against the virus. Instead, it was to plug the three-week long gap between the outbreak and spread of the virus, and the ability of the Government to meet demand. Requests for the school’s visor designs came from many large manufacturing companies, the UK Government and the World Health Organisation too. A word of huge thanks to the teachers who, throughout the Easter holidays, were in the school undertaking this enormously impressive and immeasurably beneficial task. Thanks to those that kept the department supplied with the vital materials, several of them using their own equipment, to cut and deliver component parts, or driving hundreds of miles to donate the much-needed polypropylene and PVC sheets to keep production going. The school deliberately chose not to support this enterprise through any direct appeals for financial support, or crowdfunding. Instead, by refocusing our existing skills, repurposing the machinery at our disposal, and through the generosity of suppliers and material donors, we hope that we were able to make a positive difference to the lives of some very significant workers, at a very difficult time. MR N GALLOP & MR S NEWTON
CH A R ITY
Fun Raising LOTS OF INNOVATIVE, ENJOYABLE SCHEMES WERE DREAMED UP TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITIES THIS YEAR.
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lthough our charitable activities have, sadly, been curtailed by lockdown, there have been many stories about families donating materials for scrubs and for facemasks, and about families sending parcels (including chocolate) directly to key workers in the NHS. Boys have told us about the cakes they have made, and the chats with grandparents and uncles and aunts. We have also been delighted to hear that Arran McIlfatrick raised £503 for Macmillan through his own ’26’ challenge. Over 26 days, he ran 111.28km (4.28km per day) and did 676 press-ups (26 per day)! Charity representatives have also regularly discussed their experiences of lockdown through our regular meetings, which we hope have created a continued sense of endeavour and community. The chosen Stamford School causes this year were mental health, cancer and the environment, with the specific causes including the World Wildlife Fund, MIND/Young Minds and Movember. Together with Stamford High School, it was also decided to continue our support of Stamford Foodbank and of the Evergreen Care Trust. From now on, Stamford School and Stamford High School will also jointly host 20 children from the Friends of Chernobyl’s Children, Helpston branch, for a day’s activities in the summer term. This means that we shall be able to welcome not just a larger number of children, but girls as well as boys. All foodbank and clothing collections are also now jointly run. Turning back to successes this year, a very good start was made with collections for Stamford Foodbank and for the Friends of Chernobyl’s Children. Form and individual achievements included a Christmas quiz, run by George Tamblyn-Smith, a raffle by Archie Douglas, and a treasure hunt by Frank Gyamfi-Yeboah and 8CRH/8LJM. There was also a fundraising Kahoot and a fundraising
penalty shoot-out. A brand-new initiative, involving boys putting their spare pennies into form jars, was also proving very successful. Other new ideas are in the pipeline for next year. Beyond that, highlights have been the concert with the Irish Guards’ Band and the school bands, which raised more than £1,500, of which £1,100 was donated to Dementia Care, Stamford Hospital. The Sixth Form also helped at the Evergreen Care Trust Dinner Dance fundraiser in October. Louise Marsh, founder of the Evergreen, wrote in praise of students. She said thank you for “providing such lovely young people to volunteer from the school. They did the school proud and were a joy to meet.” Su Fletcher from Evergreen also reported back on the complimentary remarks made with regards to the students’ “hard work, cheerfulness and just what they brought to the evening as a whole. With little instruction they got on what was not an easy task in selling to a ‘tough’ crowd.” My warm thanks go to David Wisdom, Matthew Fraser, Caroline Allison and Elizabeth Guttridge-Smith. In addition to these, I’d also like to thank the Sixth Form for organising fundraising tournaments, and the Year 12 woodwind and brass musicians for the £112 they raised for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. Ben Briggs, Andy Kot, Thomas Mollett, Sophie Newport, George Chaplain and Charlotte Wren busked in Stamford High Street, together with Mrs McCrae. Last but not least, this year’s Movember – in which just Year 13 participate for their chance to grow a moustache – raised £700. Particular thanks go to Aran Anand for raising over £200, and to James Pridgeon and Charlie Foster for raising more than £100 each. Finally, a huge thank you to all families, students, colleagues and other supporters. MRS H CHEW AND MRS A SPARSHOTT
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