Our Specialist Day Camps
Northwood
Our camps are structured by Vanessa McSween. A Design, Technology and Engineering specialist, with over 24 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 are Ofsted registered and were recently 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.
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 doesn't end up in the junk box.
To place a booking CLICK HERE
St. John's School, Northwood HA63QY
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!
Our next camp will be in May Half Term.
Tuesday 28th May
KS1 - A selection of STEM based practical challenges all based on the story, ‘Dear Zoo’, by Rod Campbell.
KS2 & 3- West Africa STEM challenges - Learn about the importance of gold and build a sluice to try to extract the gold from the rocks and soil. Design and make a Djembe Drum.
Crest Award Stamps will be awarded for these challenges. Don’t forget your passport if you already have one.
Wednesday 29th May
Today, we video link to the people and animals of Imire, the fabulous conservancy in Zimbabwe, which protects the all important species white rhino. Be prepared to ask questions and find out about the conservation work going on.
Read more here: https://www.imire.co.zw/volunteer/
KS1 - African inspired Escape Room with fun logic puzzles to solve & arts and crafts intended to develop STEM based skills such as measuring, marking, cutting and joining.
KS2 & 3 - Build your own rhino enclosure, thinking about what they need to keep them happy and safe. Use Crumble programming to make an alarm which sounds when the enclosure fence is cut by poachers.
Please note: Rhino enclosures can be taken home. Crumble kits stay at Stem Den.
Crest Award Stamps will be awarded for these challenges. Don’t forget your passport if you already have one.
STEM Den will be making a donation to Imire on this day. If you woudl like toi make a donation, please click here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/vanessa-mcsween?utm_term=AbzzmjA9d
Thursday 30th May
KS1 - Bottle Flip Science Enquiry, followed by fun arts and crafts using plastic bottles.
KS2 - Fidget Spinner Science Enquiry followed by making your own fidget spinner to take home.
Crest Award Stamps will be awarded for these challenges. Don’t forget your passport if you already have one.
Summer Dates for your diary - Booking Sheets will go up soon!
Week 1 - July 15th - 19th
Week 2 - July 22nd - 26th
Week 3 - July 29 -31st (3 days)
Week 4 - August 20th - 22nd (3 days)
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, 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.
