Since the coronavirus outbreak, Public Health England has put in place enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) recommendations for a range of health and social care contexts.

However, the British Medical Association reported concerns from health care workers about PPE shortages, with nurses saying staff on some wards had no protective equipment.

Examples of PPE include aprons, gloves, surgical masks and eye protection.

One way independent schools are helping is by turning their design and technology (D&T) departments into PPE production lines.

Which independent schools are making PPE for the NHS?

Below are just some of the independent schools manufacturing PPE for health workers. There are many more doing their part across the whole of the UK.

England

North East

• Royal Grammar School Newcastle – using 3D printers to make visor parts, first 40+ visors have been collected by GPs, year 11 student producing four face screens a day using own 3D printer

Yorkshire and the Humber

• Ashville College – given Harrogate District Hospital 200 pairs of safety glasses from science lessons
• St Peter’s School – initially made five sample face masks for the approval of York Teaching Hospital Trust, given go ahead to produce more
• The Grammar School at Leeds – in full production mode with three printers making six masks an hour, donated over 330 pairs of protective goggles
• Bradford Grammar School – making full visors in DT, donating science safety goggles, thousands of disposable gloves donated to local GPs, opticians, care homes, etc.

West Midlands

• Denstone College – D&T team produced 50 visors initially, since been approached by five hospitals, GP surgeries, carers, nursing homes and funeral directors, currently out of polypropylene but more coming soon
• Bromsgrove School – producing face shields, 290 pairs of goggles delivered to County Hall for distribution

East Midlands

• Stamford Endowed Schools – started manufacturing 200 visors a day, now producing over 1,000 a day
• Oakham School – have made around 1,800 face shields and distributed them to NHS and local key workers
  Fundraising page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TimWeston4
• Uppingham School – head of D&T has been using a laser cutter to create masks
  Donation page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/clive-simmons
• Oundle School – D&T staff making PPE for front line NHS staff
• Repton School – DT department laser-cutting polypropylene headbands with acetate/PVC visor shields for local NHS hospitals, 100 gone to Derby Royal Hospital Hand Unit

South West

• Wellington School – D&T department producing facial visors using 3D printers
• Millfield School – laser cutters being used by staff, students and volunteers, have made 130 masks so far
• Cheltenham Ladies’ College – head of engineering has made 54 face shields by laser cutting and eight by 3D printing, as well as hands-free door openers
• Monkton Combe School – 3D printing protective masks
• Taunton School – machines operating 24/7 making visor clip components
• Plymouth College – 250 face shields made so far, request for 350 more from local NHS
• Prior Park College – DT department producing approx. 500 units per day, continuing over Easter, back orders of nearly 1,000 and increasing on a daily basis, produced and delivered over 1,500 visors
• Bryanston School – making protective face masks using 3D printers for local GPs and frontline NHS, D&T teachers making masks from scratch from home, demand increasing every day
• St Edward’s Cheltenham – IT infrastructure manager and D&T staff made over 50 3D printed protective visors so far and counting
• Sherborne School – producing visors for healthcare workers, now using 3D printers to produce prototype ventilator hose adaptors for NHS
• King’s College Taunton – working on a 3D print prototype door handle for Bournemouth Hospital, creating face shields
  Healthcare workers can order face shields via the 3DCrowdUK website
• King Edward’s School, Bath – making visors, first 100 masks have gone to The Avenue Surgery in Warminster
• Wishford Schools – making protectivehttps://www.3dcrowd.uk/ masks, kitted out three doctors’ surgeries with more to come
• Dauntsey’s – 250 masks have gone to frontline workers, more ready to go, the team produce about 100 a day
• Godolphin School – manufacturing face shields for Salisbury General Hospital
• Truro School – were able to make 90 re-usable shields in a day, distributed to surgeries, care homes and hospitals across mid-Cornwall

South East

• Abingdon School – making PPE visors, first batch of 200 distributed to local Abingdon surgeries, another 200 in the production line
• Elstree School – delivering aprons, gloves and masks by minibus around London
• Cranleigh School – design engineering team has been providing Perspex for creation of visors, over 100 goggles and 850 pairs of disposable gloves donated to Cranleigh Medical Centre
• Guildford High School – producing visors
• Tonbridge School – making protective masks
  Step-by-step manufacturing information: https://make-more-masks.com/
• Woldingham School – making protective face visors using 3D printers and donating goggles from science lessons
• Sutton Valence School – produced equipment for five GP surgeries and a special educational needs school
• Caterham School – making visors, science goggles and masks delivered to GPs
• The Oratory School – Design Lab have produced and fitted protective screens for reception areas at three surgeries, producing 16 face shields a day
• Cottesmore School – delivered PPE to a East Surrey and Sussex hospital
• Frensham Heights School – making face shields, staff sewing scrubs, washbags, hats and headbands
  If you need PPE, or want to help, visit: https://www.frensham.org/supportnhs/
• Headington School – producing protective face shields for Oxford
  The school is looking for more acetate sheets
• Eton College – D&T department creating visors for local hospitals, science department donated unused PPE supplies to local surgery
• Benenden School – making face shields for local frontline workers

East of England

• Royal Hospital School – face shields being produced, intend to make 200 over next couple of weeks, first batch sent to GP’s surgeries, local pharmacies, care homes and community health care workers in Ipswich
• Norwich School – now produced over 2,000 visors, delivered around 100 pairs of goggles and 30 boxes of gloves from the school’s science department
  The school has made available instructions, CAD design files and construction guidelines
• Ipswich School – made more than 150 visors for local healthcare workers, more being made
  Any local GPs who require more equipment, and schools with laser cutters which would like to have the design files, should contact the school at media@ipswich.school
• King’s Ely – head of D&T spending Easter break making face shields, recipients have included a hospital, GP surgeries, a pharmacy and a care home
• Queenswood School – onsite staff making masks for local care homes, stitching NHS-grade scrubs, current target is 1,000 masks and 30 sets of scrubs
  Donation page: https://bit.ly/Queenswood-PPE

Greater London

• Dulwich College – producing 150+ full face visors a day, distributed to hospitals, surgeries, care homes, hospices and latterly pharmacies, five 3D printers supplied by James Allen’s Girls’ School, distributed 650+ pre-existing eye protection
• Merchant Taylors’ School – making visors using five 3D printers
• Godolphin and Latymer School – have supplied 135 pairs of protective lab goggles to care homes in Hounslow
• Kingston Grammar School – made 100 PPE visors in the first day
• Latymer Upper School – using 3D printers to make visors, already created and delivered 90 visors, orders for 500 units from GP surgeries and hospitals
• Hampton School – initially started making component parts for face shields using 3D printers, now using laser cutters to mass-produce face shields for frontline workers, donated 350 safety goggles to NHS
• St Paul’s Girls’ School – donated 150 full eye cover safety goggles to a hospital, sending nitrile gloves and 25 pairs of safety specs to a care home, also sending nitrile gloves, overshoes and 50 safety specs to local services
• St Margaret’s School, Bushey – donated goggles, gloves and protective face shields
• St Dunstan’s College – making face masks and visors for the NHS using laser cutter

Scotland

• Kelvinside Academy – have made over 500 protective face visors at onsite NuVu Innovation School using 3D printers and laser cutters, which have been donated to local hospitals and care facilitates
  The school is looking for donations of 3-4mm acrylic sheets dimensions: 1000mm by 600mm, A4 acetate 200 microns and Scotch magic tape. If you can help, please email david.miller@kelvinside.org or call the school switchboard on 0141 357 3376
• Dollar Academy – made over 100 visors which have been distributed to local GPs and hospitals
  Able to respond to additional requests for visors on their Facebook page

Wales

• Rydal Penrhos – now using six 3D printers to make 100 sets of protective masks per day for NHS staff and keyworker facilities across the region
  The school is looking for a second 3D printer and donations so they can increase production. Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/sarah039s-campaign-for-rydal-penrhos-limited

We have been inundated with schools manufacturing PPE – you can find many more on Twitter by searching terms like #PPE