LEIGHTON Park School is continuing with it's face shields initiative and are now creating 'fun' masks for primary school teachers to wear while working.

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Members of the school, in Shinfield Road, have been creating shields for front liners tackling the coronavirus outbreak since March.

With a recent flurry of orders from prep and primary schools preparing for the return of their pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 this week, the latest inspiration to hit the team in the DT workshop has been face shields toppers.

The group were conscious that many of those seeking face shields for their staff were schools working with younger children.

Although the shields are transparent and the wearer’s face is clearly visible, it may be that some pupils would find them unusual additions to their teachers’ wardrobes.

By adding a brightly-coloured, laminated face shield topper to the headband, the face shield becomes a fun feature, akin to dressing up - an activity which many children adore.

The face shields team are sharing the link with schools interested in adding the toppers to their PPE collections.

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Although the government guidelines do not specify that face shields are mandatory for school staff returning to work either in the classroom or in a support role, many senior leader teams are keen to ensure their staff are confident and feel protected.

The face shields, thought up by the school’s partnership hub, Safer Vision, are part of their efforts to reassure those staff who are anxious, without worrying the children.

So far, Safer Vision has received requests for more than 6,000 face shields from almost 120 primary and prep schools.

Clare, who works at Winnersh Primary, said: "Thanks so much for organising the masks – we really appreciated them", while Sam Brasier, administrator at Farley Hill Primary, said: "Thank you so much for supplying us with face shields." Charli Pyle, office manager at The Ridgeway Primary School, said: “Thank you so much, it has been so wonderful seeing the community pull together like this – we really do appreciate the effort everyone at Leighton Park (including all the fabulous volunteers) for trying to help us keep our staff safe in these uncertain times."

If you would like to learn more about the face shields hub partnership, it was featured in episode three of Ross Kemp’s BBC One documentary series ‘Britain’s Volunteer Army’, and can be seen on iplayer here until June 17.

The partners involved in Safer Vision, in addition to Leighton Park School, are Denefield School, Prospect School, Bulmershe School, Reading Blue Coat, Luckley House School, Holme Grange School, Forest School, Brackenhale, Edgbarrow School, Waingels College, Garth Hill College, Ranelagh School, Little Heath School, Hurst School, St Joseph’s College, Reading College, Shiplake College and the Maiden Erlegh Group together with the University of Reading and commercial organisations Neal’s Export Packaging Ltd, rLab and Designworks, Windsor.