Coronavirus West Berkshire: Mary Hare School staff help make 5,000 pieces of PPE

Drive was response to call from Wallingford School for assistance

Staff at a Newbury school have been hard at working making face shields for carers.

Mary Hare School answered a plea of help from Wallingford School, which had raised plenty of money for materials but needed a hand making the personal protective equipment (PPE).

Design and technology teacher Michelle Flannery said she was delighted to help Wallingford fulfil the order for 5,000 pieces of PPE from local hospitals and care homes that had flooded in.

She added: "It is an absolute pleasure to be able to be involved in a project that is supporting our local heroes who are putting themselves at risk on the frontline."

Ms Flannery, who is also head of Years 7 and 8 at Mary Hare, said the school was using its state-of-the-art 3D printer to help make the masks and face shields.

The equipment, which was also being made by staff at St Bartholomew’s School in Newbury, has now been sent to more than 20 local care homes and hospitals, including the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading.

Mary Hare, which is the largest school for deaf children in the UK, is also continuing to run a timetable for pupils on a virtual basis in all subjects, including spoken French lessons, a GCSE physics lesson studying the solar system and a cooking challenge.

School principal and chief executive Peter Gale said: "I have been really proud of Mary Hare at this time.

"I do believe that we have worked very well together."