• What STEM Clubs are
• STEM Clubs Week
• STEM Clubs factsheet
• Powerful Practicals toolkit
• STEM Clubs website
• STEM Clubs evaluation

What are STEM Clubs?

STEM Clubs are a great opportunity for STEM Ambassadors to get involved with schools.  They tend to be more informal, and allow you to cover topics in more depth, or to focus on subjects that aren’t part of the main STEM curriculum such as gardening, film production or rocket clubs.  Our list of STEM Clubs will give you an idea of the breadth of STEM Clubs and hopefully some inspiration about how you could support a local STEM Club.

STEM Clubs find the support from a STEM Ambassador, even just a one-off, can have massive benefits to their club. Teachers appreciate the external support in running their club and providing variety:

we wouldn’t have the club without  the support from the STEM Ambassadors

STEM Teacher

STEM Ambassadors who have worked with STEM Clubs can make a real impact on a STEM Club and provide critical real-life context to the projects and activities STEM Club members do in their clubs. STEM Ambassadors who have worked with STEM Clubs told us:

It is a very enjoyable experience because you know you are giving the students a real insight

into the working world and allowing them to develop a hands on approach

It is demanding but satisfying and enjoyable thanks to the students’ keen responses.

To find out if there’s a STEM Club in your area contact your STEMNET Contract Holder

The first ever STEM Clubs Week will run in February, to celebrate all the amazing work that STEM Clubs do. We’re really excited to have this opportunity to showcase clubs both large and small, and shout about what they do.

We’re inviting all STEM Clubs across the UK to get involved and run an activity at their usual club meeting during STEM Clubs Week. We’ll share their photos and videos online and there will be prizes for the best activities! For more information please see http://www.stemclubs.net/stem-clubs-week-2015/

STEM Clubs factsheet for STEM Ambassadors

In June we ran a survey asking you about support you had offered to STEM Clubs. Many of you were interested in working with STEM Clubs, but weren’t sure what to expect, or even what counts as a ‘STEM Club’.

In response to your feedback, we’ve created a factsheet on STEM Clubs and how you can get involved with some ideas about activities you might want to do with your local STEM Club.

Powerful Practicals Toolkit

Not sure about running an activity?  Don’t forget to try the Powerful Practicals Toolkit. If you want to run an activity but aren’t sure where to start, the Powerful Practicals Toolkit could be a useful resource. It is a series of PDFs based on our extremely successful Powerful Practicals training for STEM Ambassadors. The PDFs can be downloaded on the Resource Bank and cover topics such as choosing an activity, health and safety, planning, and delivery tips.  There’s even a chapter dedicated to the chemical sciences, which was produced in partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry. Everything you need to turn a great idea into a great STEM Ambassador

STEM Clubs website

The STEM Clubs Website www.stemclubs.net has been redesigned and updated. On the website you can find out more about STEM Clubs and browse different kinds of activities that you could do in a STEM Club.

The STEM Clubs programme is currently being evaluated and we have recently received an interim report telling us how great STEM Clubs are and we wanted to share that with you.

Pupils’ involvement in STEM Clubs appears to be particularly effective, with 74% rating their club as either ‘very good’ or ‘good’.

• 55% of pupils say they enjoy science, this increases to 71% for pupils who have had contact with a STEM Ambassador and to 80% for STEM Club members
• 62% of pupils say that they are doing well in science, increasing to 75% who have engaged with a STEM Ambassador and an impressive 84% who are members of a STEM Club
• 49% of pupils who have had contact with a STEM Ambassador and 61% of STEM Club members want a job that involves STEM, compared to 37% of all pupils

One of the biggest things that the children got out of it [the STEM Club] was

to work with the STEM Ambassador. So, them working with the STEM Ambassador and

finding out about his job and the subjects he did in school and how he got where he is,

he’s worked all over the world, it really opened up their eyes to seeing beyond their doorstep.

STEM Club Leader

Katy Sparrow

National STEM Clubs Programme Manager

Follow us on Twitter @STEMClubs

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