CREATE Education are members of the Design and Technology Association’s Blueprint 1000 initiative. They are dedicated to supplying and supporting 3D printing in education.
They are currently offering 3D printers as part of their Loan Scheme to ensure availability within schools. This enables access to a 3D printer and the necessary filament and materials for the duration of the loan period, so schools can trial the products for free. The loan is offered for a period of 5 weeks to allow for completion of projects and integration and embedding within lessons and into the curriculum.
3D printing, additive manufacturing, has many curriculum benefits, spanning across a range of disciplines and encourages practical skills such as problem-solving, CAD, creative coding and design.
There has been an increasing demand for 3D modelling, design and technical skills within industry. 3D Printing is transforming how industry creates items, prototypes and final products and parts. However, these skills aren’t currently being employed in all schools which has contributed to a skills gap in this area. To close this gap, bringing these into schools at an early stage enables pupils to get hands on with the technology and machinery.
Secondary schools have already integrate 3D printers into classes however, Primary schools can also benefit from their use within lessons. The earlier it can be introduced to students will enable a more detailed and comprehensive coverage of the topic. This will give primary pupils the edge when transitioning into secondary school and beyond.
The technology really engages children and incorporates the fundamental design and making processes in the Design and Technology curriculum. This opens design opportunities for pupils to create items with very complex geometries and let their imaginations run wild.
There have been a number of feedback sessions which have been facilitated by the Design and Technology Association to connect schools and CREATE Education to discuss how the technology is being received within their school. Feedback has been incredibly positive of the scheme so far and each wave of the program has derived incredible benefit from the program.
Katy Richards from Hillocks Primary Academy states, ‘We are absolutely loving having the 3D printer in school. It is opening up lots of new opportunities for the children.
We have only used it with our Year One children at the moment but they have taken it in their stride. Some of the children were wanting to deviate from the simple design that we showed them and with support from the adults, managed to create some really individual products.’
Michael Noonan, Head of Technology at Queen Elizabeth School also made use of the scheme and explains, ‘We thoroughly enjoyed and developed during our remote robotics season and are indebted to our very generous support from CREATE Education!
The next level 3D printer we were provided with supercharged our mission to qualify and achieve new best scores en route to the VEX World
Championships, and we developed invaluable knowledge relating to rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing which will benefit us enormously in our future career aspirations as Engineers!’
We have had an incredible uptake of Primary Schools taking part in waves of the scheme. CREATE Education have created a guide to provide Primary Schools with an overview of how 3D printing can be utilised within a Primary school setting across all ages, levels and curriculum areas. This can be accessed via their website. There are also a range of handy resources which can be accessed via the CREATE education website.
If you would like to find out more about the loan scheme please email: amelia.wright@data.org.uk.
