Our Specialist Day Camps
Northwood
Our camps are structured by Vanessa McSween. A Design, Technology and Engineering specialist, with over 27 years of experience of teaching children of all ages and a wide range of subjects. She believes strongly in hands on, engaging learning and is passionate about the importance of STEM in preparing our young people for life in a modern and developing world.
We have a friendly team of teachers and assistants who know that to get the best out of the children, they have to be happy, safe and confident to have a go, even if things do not go according to plan the first or tenth time. Pastoral care is important to us.
In addition to our dedicated teaching staff, we have a huge number of young people who are passionate about STEM Den. They have loved coming to classes when they were younger and now want to share their expertise by supporting our classes. We are hugely grateful for the time, inspiration and confidence they give as they support us.
We are Ofsted registered and were last inspected in December 2023. All our staff are DBS checked. We comply fully to standards for First Aid Training. All our staff are safeguarding trained.
Easter holidays - April 2025
Monday 7th April - In this collaborative problem solving challenge the Easter Bunny is having dreadful trouble delivering all the chocolate eggs. STEM Den needs some help from lots of children who enjoy programming and problem solving. Mrs Butler-Cox is back with her amazing Sphero Bolts to help with the job. Expect to do some creative workshop building with reclaimed materials in this session.
Also available to book on this day - Textiles Camp with Mrs and Miss Miller.
Tuesday 8th April - Put all that Maths and digital Art into practice while designing and making a beautiful sublimation printed lantern to take home. Learn about nets, creating circuits and digital innovation using IPads.
Also available to book on this day - Textiles Camp with Mrs and Miss Miller.
Wednesday 9th April - A day of two halves. Design and sublimate your own mug to take home with you, using extra special digital software on the IPads. Enjoy being creative in our Forest School session with Miss Daly. Learn which knots work best to join branches together to make a beautiful frame to take home and use specialist tools under close supervision.
Thursday 10th April - A second day of two halves. Try your hand at VEX robotics, at whatever level you are at, and enjoy the beautiful woodland with hands on activities including den building with Miss Daly. (KS1 children will use Mind Robots, VEX 123 and/or Lego WeDo.)
WAITING LISTS - In the case that we are fully booked you can ask to be placed on a waiting list.
Please email: stemdennorthwood@gmail.com
In the subject heading put your child's surname and the week number you are looking for. In the body of the email please specify the dates you are looking for, as well as your child's full name. You will be emailed from this address if a place becomes available, make sure our mail does not end up in the junk.
USING TOOLS - One of the reasons STEM Den is so special is that we teach children to use tools to help them build, innovate and problem solve. The tools we use can cause injury if used incorrectly. All of our children are taught to use the equpiment safely and they are supervised when using the tools. Children are expected to behave appropriately when using tools. Parents/guardians who take up a place at STEM Den understand and agree to their children using the tools and equipment for each activity. There are risks involved, which are outweighed by the many benefits. If you have any concerns, please talk to us.
For further information please read our terms and conditions.
To place a booking CLICK HERE
St. John's School, Potter Street Hill, Pinner, HA5 3ZF
Please note: Two week's notice is required for a refund for cancellation.
If you are a STEM Den 'regular' and have completed the activity already on offer on the day you would like to attend, then please do email Mrs McSween as quite often we can tailor the program to accomodate your specific needs. If you are building a portfolio for a STEM or DT&E scholarship this could be you!
What are the Science Crest Awards all about?
Plan, carry out and evaluate your own STEM based investigations to achieve a Nationally Recognized Award. Children aged between 5 and 10 will need 8 investigations all stamped off in their book, Children aged 10 and above take an all day challenge. Click here to find out more.
VEX robotics kits will be available every day on request, depending on availability. There are two different levels of kit depending on age and experience. We have VEX GO and VEX IQ. For our younger students from Rec to Year 3 we have VEX 123 or Educational Lego kits are ideal to start the journey of programming. For our youngest students aged 5 to 7 we suggest this is taught in small bitesize chunks around half an hour long. Click the link to find out more.
Our LEGO, SPHERO BOLT, CRUMBLE and VEX kits are to be used within the camp only and cannot be taken home. You might like to buy a CRUMBLE kit. They are available from Redfern electronics to purchase for around £25 and can be used for hundreds of other project ideas. Software for this is a free download. For more details click here.)
Email if you have a topic you'd like to explore: stemdennorthwood@gmail.com
We may make changes to our program from time to time without notice but do our best to stick to the plan as much as possible. Adaptive teaching allows us to tailor the sessions to accomodate the children being taught, Please do not be surprised if our advertised plan of action changes its course.
