Fund launched to bring 3D printers into classrooms

A PROGRAMME to bring more futuristic 3D printers into state school classrooms is to be extended.

Three-dimensional printing is already an established technology used for prototyping and manufacturing products across a range of industries but is a new concept in schools.

Last year the Department for Education funded a project to allow 21 secondaries, including one in Yorkshire, to trial the use of the printers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Archbishop Holgate School in York was one the schools which took part in the pilot scheme which saw the technology used in the teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), along with design and technology.

Now the Department for Education is extending it by setting up a £500,000 fund so up to 60 teaching schools can buy 3D printers and train teachers to use them effectively. The funding is being made available to schools which have been given Teaching School status – which allows them to carry out their own training and staff development.

The DfE said it is the latest stage in the Government’s programme to improve standards in hi-tech subjects. The new curriculum for computing will ensure primary school pupils learn to write computer programs while computer science will also be included in the EBacc from next year. The new design and technology curriculum, backed by inventor Sir James Dyson, specifically mentions 3D printers and will see pupils taught about advanced skills, including robotics, so more are prepared for jobs in the engineering industry.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “3D printers are revolutionising manufacturing and it is vital that we start teaching the theory and practice in our schools.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Teaching schools will be able to develop and spread effective methods to do this. Combined with our introduction of a computer science curriculum and teacher training, this will help our schools give pupils valuable skills.”

A report into the pilot project said that so far in the UK, the technology had been restricted largely to design and technology classes but that there was “considerable potential for them to be used within a range of STEM subjects,

The new funding covers the rest of this academic year and 2014-15.

Related topics: