Sutton students learn value of textiles with generous handmade donations to hospital

KS3 students visited King's Mill Hospital to deliver their handmade mastectomy cushions and syringe driver bags as part of their textiles work.

Clare Harrison, head of food and textiles at Quarrydale Academy, said: “We chose to make items to show how important textiles as a subject is in the real world.

“Pupils have really engaged with the projects knowing they were going to be used by someone.

“Pupils rotate around all different areas of technology (food, textiles and product design) throughout the year, so we spent around 12-15 lessons making the products.

“We chose to donate to the King’s Mill Hospital as a member of our staff highlighted how important the donations were to the hospital and how grateful they would be for them.”

Students expressed that they thoroughly enjoyed the project because it felt rewarding to help others and learn about the role textiles plays outside of the school gates.

One pupil explained: “It made the projects more fun and made us think about how textiles is used in different ways.

“We feel really proud about the work we have done and hope they help.”

Students handed over the items to Nicola Shanton, breast care nurse; Lisa Rahn, clinical nurse specialist; and Yvonne Lisseman-Stones, also a breast care nurse at the Clinic 14 breast unit.