Coronavirus: STEM Students Join Forces With Companies To Make Hospital Equipment

Students at a Trust in Warrington have combined with local companies to make desperately needed masks and shields for the NHS. Chris Hillidge, Director of STEM at The Challenge Academy Trust, talks about how rising to the Coronavirus challenge could change the way D&T is viewed by politicians.

Make – Almost – Anything is our slogan at Fab Lab in Warrington. I manage the STEM strategy for 8000 students aged 4 -19. A major part of my job is to work with local industry and SMEs so together we can develop unique opportunities for students in the science and technology sectors. Right now, we are making masks and shields for the NHS and this could be a game changer for the status of D&T in schools.

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      string(5787) "they don’t do quite as well as the rest of our students, they are still gaining more than two grades in two years.All of our students do GCSEs: English language, English literature, maths, chemistry, biology, physics and one option, which might be geography, history, sport, ICT or business studies. Unlike most mainstream schools, our curriculum includes regular lessons in employability and our students also do three engineering qualifications: level 2 Design Engineer Construct (DEC), a level 2 BTEC in Engineering and a level 2 practical apprenticeship diploma in Performing Engineering Operations (PEO). This might include preparing and using CNC lathes and milling machines, assembling pipework systems, preparing and using manual Oxy/fuel gas welding equipment, etc.We were delighted by Ofsted’s comments in June 2019: ‘The school’s culture engenders in pupils very positive attitudes to learning. By the end of Year 11, pupils are literate and numerate. They have had first-rate careers guidance and many excellent opportunities to develop high-quality skills, which makes them very employable.’Safeguarding We recruited some excellent people from further education, some good staff from industry, including time-served welders and machinists, but in the early days, some of the vocational staff did not appreciate the difference between working in a school and working in industry. We found that external doors were left open, and on occasions a minority of staff left a group unattended, which was a serious health and safety issue. We set the basic safeguarding procedures in place very quickly. I have to say it took longer to embed them, but we are 100 per cent there now.Social media is another issue. Our learners don’t just get a safeguarding talk from a teacher: they also get young apprentices coming in and talking to them. These are young people who are just a couple of years older than our students. We have had a project management apprentice and others from civil and electrical engineering. They are good role models and young people are more likely to respond to them than to teachers, so when they say, ‘I would lose my job if I put this on my Facebook page’, our students listen.We made sure that young people were involved in developing behaviour policies. We took all the students in small groups into the hall for a session about reasonable expectations. We wanted them to be involved in setting codes of behaviour and reward systems. Then employers came in and talked about their expectations for behaviour in the workplace. Some students were quite shocked to find out how draconian their discipline measures can be, but obviously in the nuclear energy sector there isn’t much leeway for negotiation!Industry LinksAfter a wobbly start, employers have started to engage with us more and we now have about a dozen companies advising us, providing extensive work experience and offering that employer perspective that our students need. They invest heavily in our young people. When students start in Year 10, they all work for an employer for at least an hour every week on a real project and the amount of time they spend in industry increases each year.Morgan Sindall Infrastructure have stood by the UTC through thick and thin. They pay for every student’s uniform, which includes polo shirts, fleeces and safety boots. They also recently took a group for a week’s Outward Bound course. They are closely involved with the school and get to know the students well, so it is not surprising that their last cohort of degree-level apprentices all came from Energy Coast.Employers also provide guidance on local skills shortages and vocational areas we could concentrate on. They may ask us to teach particular CADCAM packages, Autodesk and Health and safety modules so our students are trained in industry-standard skills.Their presence has had an impact on the atmosphere at Energy Coast. Behaviour was poor when I joined, but now students know that they must behave as if they were at work. For example, when they meet somebody for the first time they need to look them in the eye and shake hands. Their behaviour around the college is now exemplary.Employers are familiar faces in the school. One student told me: ‘I have just been for an interview with the man who was in the canteen with you last week’. They know if they are fooling around in the corridor an employer is likely to see them and that it could have a detrimental effect on their future employment. They are also aware that attendance and punctuality are important: 95 per cent is not high enough. Measures of SuccessWe have made huge progress. A new Business Director has taken up post and we have some great new support staff. The school now has 297 students from years 10 to 13 and recently we have started a group for gifted and talented learners from other schools. Now, 20 students come to us at the end of Year 8 for an intensive summer course where they study bridging units in STEM and then join our Year 10s in September. It is pressurised and hard work and they quickly learn that we have high expectations at Energy Coast. 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Leadership

A Strict but Immersive Careers Model is Improving Outcomes for a Cumbrian School

3 Mar 2020

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      string(5596) "Digital Learning ClubAt the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had to shift to remote education quickly. There was very little time to adapt schools found it challenging to deliver the curriculum online to pupils.Many teachers looked to senior management for guidance during these turbulent times. As the lockdowns and social distancing measures saw no sign of ending, it became clear that there needed to be an effective way of bringing people together, enabling them to share best practice and offer support to one another.The NEU joins forces with GuildThe National Education Union (NEU) did just that. 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Digital Learning

Guild's Online Communities Lead The Way In Supporting Remote Education

5 Apr 2021

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      string(5820) "Uvisan cabinets can clean kit and peripherals in less than five minutes How much time will you lose between classes if you are disinfecting all the equipment in your computer room? Think about all the things children touch: headphones, chargers, keyboards, laptops, computer mice, stationery and maybe even musical instruments. When on earth will you get time to teach?As schools reopen, senior decisionmakers in education must explore all the avenues to protect students from Covid-19 outbreaks without compromising teaching standards.The dilemma facing schoolsStudents across the UK have faced an entire year of disrupted education. Vast stretches of time away from the classroom, peppered with short windows of in-person schooling limited by the confines of social distancing, mean that there is considerable catching up to do now schools have reopened for all. But not at the expense of our students’ health.Fumigating rooms and leaving them empty for hours at a time is an unrealistic expectation because of the demands on space. Similarly, quarantining shared equipment for 72 hours between classes is incredibly impractical yet students must be protected from coronavirus and other harmful pathogens. Schools, colleges and universities that are using delicate equipment, such as iPads or filming kit, have found they cannot thoroughly disinfect it between uses as chemicals, moisture and heat will all cause damage over time.As a result, students have had to make do with reduced resources. 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Coli, Salmonella and other harmful pathogens from the food product in less than five minutes.When a surface is exposed to UV-C, an energy transfer takes place which prevents microbes under the light from replicating or from expressing the necessary proteins, leading to the death or inactivation of the organism. Medical grade UV-C lamps will kill 99.9% of microbes in just five minutes.Science laboratories and wastewater treatment facilities use UV-C sterilisation and it has been identified as a water cleaning solution in developing countries.Given its success in treating the products we eat and drink and preventing cross-contamination in labs, UV-C clearly has incredible potential as an infection control measure in day-to-day life. In schools, it can be used to kill pathogens on classroom surfaces or educational equipment. UV-C technology allows entire rooms to be disinfected and ready for the next class in less than five minutes and prevents delicate equipment from being damaged by wet wipes or chemicals.It has been scientifically proven to kill bacteria, viruses, spores, protozoans, mould and yeast, so schools should consider it as a key part of their virus control plans to protect students and staff from coronavirus as well as a host of other illnesses.Breaking a cycle of infectionDigital learning is now central to the education of many students. This year, some institutions have been forced to remove digital learning from curriculums to prevent coronavirus from being spread through shared computer peripherals, headsets and tablets.Similarly, teachers of practical subjects such as science and music will have to find ways for multiple classes to share equipment which do not involve lengthy quarantine periods.There are cabinets on the market that will decontaminate laptops while charging them and keeping them safe – a one stop solution to three common problems, battery life, hygiene and security. The cabinets simply need to be loaded with equipment, firmly shut and put on a cleaning cycle lasting as little as five minutes. With minimal effort, this will result in much more thorough sanitisation than human cleaning can achieve.Schools, colleges and universities with specialist facilities containing fixed equipment, such as mixing desks in production studios, have not been able to use them safely throughout the pandemic because they cannot clean them properly.In these instances, ambient UV-C lamps can be carefully positioned using an algorithm to disinfect an entire room, and the equipment within it, in a matter of minutes. The set up which controls the lights has in-built safety measures that prevent anyone from entering the room during the disinfection cycle,Advantages of UV-C light?UV-C kills over 55% more bacteria than using wipes aloneUV-C light is zero waste, unlike wet wipesIt is more cost-effective in the long runIt will clean toys in just a few minutes and make them safeUV-C light can be safely used on electronics, whereas wet wipes will damage them over timeSaves timeSchools can use equipment and rooms immediately after the cleaning cycle has finished – a matter of minutesUV-C light in actionFumigating the toys in a classroomHazelwood School in Surrey has been using a UV-C disinfection cabinet since the beginning of the school year. The school had to stop using the iPads initially as teachers could not reasonably"
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Digital Learning

How Clean Is Your Classroom .. And At What Cost?

8 Apr 2021

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      string(5628) "Online learning at home became the new normSo here we are at the end of 2020, an unforgettable year. When I joined TeachingTimes  as  Commissioning Editor of Digital Learning magazine in March we were just beginning to go into lockdown. At that stage we were expecting it to be a temporary measure. No one could foresee that exams would be cancelled, that online learning would be the main method of teaching for so many months, that we would have online schools such as Oak National Academy or that so many companies would generously offer their resources and services free of charge.We have received hundreds of emails and press releases that use the adjective ‘unprecedented’. That word needs to be banned in 2021 because everything is unprecedented. All the old ways have disappeared and, while it has been a shock to the educational system, it is not entirely bad news.Facing up to inequalitiesWe have been forced to confront realities that we have ignored for so long. One is the Digital Divide. We have long known that we cannot take  for granted access to computers and the Internet. There has always been a significant minority who have been digitally excluded. That was not ‘unprecedented’. Sadly, schools tell us that it is a case of too little too late with the government rollout and there are many children who still do not have adequate access. But at least it is now on the agenda, the subject of court cases and attracting attention from some influential supporters.The exam systemIt is also making us re-evaluate exams and the role that technology can play. There have been questions over many years that we over-assess pupils in the UK and that, unlike other countries, we have two sets of school leaving exams: GCSEs at the age of 16 and A-levels at the age of 18. Exams are big business, taking a sizeable slice of the schools’ budget each year but they also generate revenue for the UK from many overseas countries. Nevertheless, this pandemic has encouraged changemakers and thinktanks to question their role. High stakes, end of phase exams require children all to be in the same room at the same time with an invigilator. Now, we do make special arrangements for   candidates  who use assistive technology as their regular way of working but really there has been remarkably little change to the system since the 1950s and some would argue that the abolition of course work was a backwards step.Earlier this year TeachingTimes reported on technology for exams and looked at what was happening internationally, particularly in New Zealand and Egypt. We found that the UK was lagging behind other countries.Things are beginning to change. With improvements to Artificial Intelligence we now have technologies which could let candidates do exams at home, in the workplace, in a hospital or in a prison. The BBC reported at the end of November that Machine Learning, an advanced form of AI, could be used to detect cheating. Its could  also mark multiple-choice exam answers automatically. All students would need was a laptop, a WebCam and an Internet connection. This could be a significant step forward.For this to happen, we will need to make even greater efforts to bridge the Digital Divide. But, given that we are so wedded to the concept of exams, this may be the very impetus to get government to address the Digital Divide once and for all.Schools no longer just buildingsThis time last year we were living in a fool’s paradise.We had every reason to assume that there would be no major changes to the schoolsystem: that children would get up and travel to school, that they would spendseveral hours there, engaged in face to face teaching and learning, that they wouldbe set homework and follow a rigorous national curriculum.Those certainties no longer hold true. What we have seen in the course of a year is that schools may be brands rather than buildings. Think Oak National Academy for one. One in eight children did not return to school in September and we have seen a massive increase in online tutoring. Whole year groups have been out of school and totally reliant on online learning while hard pressed class teachers have been doing two jobs, both  teaching their regular classes and running sessions for children working from home.Pupil engagement has become a major issue Last year, lack of engagement might have been seen as adiscipline problem where children were not making good progress in class. Thisyear it has often been used to describe pupils refusing to turn on thecomputer, refusing to do work.Following their own interests, instead of the National CurriculumHowever, while the government threatens parents withfines and talks repeatedly about ‘Learning Loss’ and ‘Catch Up’, a new breed oflearning is evolving.Pupils are using the technology to learn new skills andto find out about topics that have nothing to do with the National Curriculum.They have been exploring Black History in greater depth,  becoming more informed about environmentalissues and taking back a measure of control over their own learning.Gamification of learning has been  a frequent theme as software developers adapt their products to ensure that  they can be used by families, assess prior learning and set suitable and meaningful challenges.Some pupils are making better progress through not attending school. Although much of the evidence is anecdotal, it seems that children experiencing long-term anxiety, learners with health problems, ASD, and young people in danger of exclusion are"
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Blogs

2020: The Year When Digital Learning Came Into Its Own

2 Dec 2020

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      string(5659) "placed away from home (in care, hospital orcustody, for example), they have the right to a regular check oftheir treatment and conditions of care.Article 26    (social security)Governments must provide extra money for the children offamilies in need.Article 27    (adequate standard of living)Every child has the right to a standard of living that is goodenough to meet their physical, social and mental needs.Governments must help families who cannot afford to provide this.Article 28    (right to education)Every child has the right to an education. Primary education mustbe free. Secondary education must be available to every child.Discipline in schools must respect children’s human dignity.Wealthy countries must help poorer countries achieve this.Article 29    (goals of education)Education must develop every child’s personality, talents andabilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect forhuman rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own andother cultures, and the environment.Article 30    (children of minorities)Every child has the right to learn and use the language,customs and religion of their family whether or not theseare shared by the majority of the people in the countrywhere they live.Article 31    (leisure, play and culture)Every child has the right to relax, play and join in a wide range ofcultural and artistic activities.Article 32    (child labour)Governments must protect children from work that is dangerousor might harm their health or education.Article 33    (drug abuse)Governments must protect children from the use of illegal drugs.Article 34    (sexual exploitation)Governments must protect children from sexual abuse andexploitation.Article 35    (abduction)Governments must ensure that children are not abducted or sold.Article 36    (other forms of exploitation)Governments must protect children from all other forms ofexploitation that might harm them.Article 37    (detention)No child shall be tortured or suffer other cruel treatment orpunishment. A child shall only ever be arrested or put in prison asa last resort and for the shortest possible time. Children must notbe put in a prison with adults and they must be able to keep incontact with their family.Article 38    (war and armed conflicts – see ‘Optional protocols’)Governments must do everything they can to protect and care forchildren affected by war. Governments must not allow childrenunder the age of 15 to take part in war or join the armed forces.Article 39    (rehabilitation of child victims)Children neglected, abused, exploited, tortured or who are victimsof war must receive special help to help them recover their health,dignity and self-respect.Article 40    (juvenile justice)A child accused or guilty of breaking the law must be treated withdignity and respect. They have the right to help from a lawyer anda fair trial that takes account of their age or situation. The child’sprivacy must be respected at all times.Article 41    (respect for better national standards)If the laws of a particular country protect children better than thearticles of the Convention, then those laws must stay.Article 42    (knowledge of rights)Governments must make the Convention known to childrenand adults.The Convention has 54 articles in total. Articles 43–54 areabout how adults and governments must work together tomake sure all children get all their rights, including:Article 45UNICEF can provide expert advice and assistance onchildren’s rights.Optional protocolsIn 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted two optional additionsto strengthen the Convention. One protocol required governmentsto increase the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forcesfrom 15 years and to ensure that members of their armed forcesunder the age of 18 do not take a direct part in armed conflict. The other protocol provides detailed requirements forgovernments to end the sexual exploitation andabuse of children. It also protects children frombeing sold for non-sexual purposes –such as other forms of forced labour,illegal adoption and organ donation.R RActivity 13b – Rights of the child P4C enquiry.docActivity 13b instructionsThe VictoriansActivity 13b: Rights of the child P4C enquiryKey words: P4C, Philosophy for Children, philosophical enquiry, critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, collaborative enquiry, PSHE, empathy, social issues, global education, history, Victorians, child labour, workhousesKey stages 2-4DescriptionStudents discuss the plight of children in Victorian times and compare the way in which they lived to the rights and protection children have today.Curriculum focusHistory, critical thinking, creative thinking, PSHE, philosophical enquiry (P4C)MaterialsA summary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Available in this activity’s ZIP file, courtesy of Unicef)Included in this resource pack:Activity sheet 13b – The workhouseActivity sheet 13c – Child labourActivity sheet 13d – The plight of climbing boys, 1818Activity sheet 13e – The Huskar Pit disaster, 1838Activity sheet 13f – Evidence of child labour (Images and children’s testimonies)GroupingsWhole-class enquiryProcedureNB: This activity is best conducted after having completed Activity 13a. If students have not completed the activity, Activity sheets 13b-13f will give them some background on life as a Victorian child.Start the enquiry by asking the pupils what they know about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Do they know what rights children have? Can they name any?Now ask"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Activity 13b: Rights of the child P4C enquiry

10 Dec 2014