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.

TO PLACE A BOOKING CLICK HERE

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.)

TO PLACE A BOOKING CLICK HERE

CLASS AGE RESTRICTIONS - Please do not be offended if your child can not attend a class because they are not old enough... yet! We want the children to be safe, sometimes the activities are only suitable for older children. We are not insured for children under the age of 5 years. We want the children to be successful as well as independent. There are classes aimed for 5 & 6 year olds every day. These classes have teachers with experience of KS1, more helpers, the right height of furniture, shorter activities which change more frequently and break out activities such as Lego, painting and train tracks. We hope you understand.

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.