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The 3D–5D Learning Revolution is a sculpture-led STEAM schools programme being developed by Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre through a live research and development phase with partner schools and industry.
During this pilot phase, we are working with three schools in Coventry and Warwickshire – Camp Hill, Keresley Grange and Coundon Court – to test, refine and define a new approach to learning that places sculpture, making and spatial thinking at the heart of education. This work will directly shape the national school offer, due to launch in April, with enquiries welcomed now.
This page introduces the journey, skills and approach at the core of the 3D–5D programme, and explains why schools and industry are central to its development.
What is the 3D–5D schools programme?
The 3D–5D programme takes pupils on a complete creative journey: from research and design through to the development of a site-specific sculptural artwork for their school or immediate environment.
Rather than delivering stand-alone workshops, pupils work collaboratively towards a shared outcome, guided by professional artists and supported by teachers. Learning is embedded in real processes of enquiry, making, testing and reflection, mirroring how artists, designers and engineers work in the world beyond school.
While sculpture provides the anchor, the programme integrates technical, digital, environmental and civic learning, offering an inclusive and highly engaging model for a wide range of learners.
What happens in schools?
Each 3D–5D residency is structured as a coherent project, with pupils moving through a sequence of connected stages.
Research, site and ideas
Pupils begin by exploring their school as a real site — considering space, materials, use, history and potential. Research might include observing how spaces are used, investigating local context, exploring public sculpture, or examining where materials come from and where they go.
This enquiry phase informs the concept for the sculptural work and grounds creativity in place, purpose and relevance.
Design and prototyping
Working like artists and designers, pupils generate and develop ideas through drawing, model-making and small-scale tests. Designs evolve through discussion, feedback and experimentation, introducing pupils to iterative thinking rather than fixed outcomes.
Making and realisation
Pupils move into the hands-on realisation of sculptural elements, learning how ideas translate into material and digital form. Depending on the chosen focus areas, pupils may develop skills including:
– mould-making and plaster casting
– hand-building with clay and ceramic materials
– construction techniques and basic structural thinking
– digital scanning, modelling and 3D printing
– hybrid workflows combining physical making and digital tools
Making is treated as a process of problem-solving and adaptation, where pupils test ideas, respond to constraints and refine outcomes.
Presentation and reflection
Each residency culminates in the presentation of the sculptural work or a resolved prototype. Pupils are supported to talk about what they have made, why they made it and what they learned through the process.
Developing oracy, confidence and the ability to articulate creative and technical thinking is a core part of the programme, helping pupils recognise the value of their ideas and skills.
A menu of focus areas — shaped with schools
The programme is not led by curriculum targets. Instead, schools select from a menu of focus areas, which shape the project and learning journey. These include:
Hands-on sculptural and technical skills
Casting, mould-making, construction, materials and form
Digital and mixed-reality making
3D scanning, digital modelling, 3D printing and physical–digital translation
Environmental and sustainability learning
Urban mining, material reuse, net zero thinking and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Civic and social understanding
How sculpture functions in public space, inclusion, use and community impact
These strands can be combined in different ways, but all lead towards the shared aim of developing a meaningful, site-specific sculptural outcome.
Why this work is being developed with schools and industry
The 3D–5D programme is being developed with schools, not for schools. By working closely with teachers, pupils and industry partners during this pilot phase, we are able to test:
– what works in real school settings
– how artists and teachers collaborate most effectively
– which skills and approaches have the greatest impact
– how traditional making and digital technologies can be integrated meaningfully.
Industry partners contribute insight into materials, tools, technologies and future skills, helping ensure the programme is grounded in real-world practice and relevance.
Learning from this phase will directly inform the final programme structure, resources and delivery models for national rollout.
What’s next?
This pilot research phase runs 1 Oct 2025 – 31 March 2026, with the full 3D–5D schools programme launching nationally in April.
Schools, trusts and partners are welcome to register interest and make early enquiries now, ahead of the formal release of the programme offer.
Funded through Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the Department for Culture, Media & Sport’s Create Growth Programme. Delivered in partnership with The Futures Trust, and working with three participating schools in Coventry and Nuneaton — Coundon Court, Keresley Grange and Camp Hill. With further support from the Higgs Charity and Penta Patterns.
