Educademy Complete STEM Club Solution

Frequently Asked Questions

Please find below the set of most frequently asked questions we receive from our prospective customers.

How many sessions are there?

We prepare 12 new sessions for each term. While it’s up to the school to decide on the number of sessions we strongly recommend to order all 12. If for example you are planning to have 11 sessions in the upcoming term, the 12th session pack will be perfect to start the next term. 

Every term we offer a new set of sessions, so the children continuing the club will have different sessions every time.

There is also an option to order 6 sessions every half-term.

How long should each session / project run?

Each session is planned to run for an hour and the aim is to finish the project within one session. This means we will prepare some of the supplies in the way to make sure children can finish their project on time. For example one of the sessions this term, an articulated hand, requires a lot of knot tying. We know from our experience children struggle with it. Therefore in the session supplies all the knots are already tied. 

Is there a maximum (or minimum) number of pupils?

We provide session packs in the following configurations:

• 10 children and 1 instructor (a teacher / LSA / or any adult designated by the school to work with the children),

• 15 children and 1 instructor,

• 20 children and 2 instructors,

• 25 children and 2 instructors,

• 30 children and 2 instructors.

There is also an option to customise the supplies to suit different configurations. However, as these require extra time and attention throughout the assembly and shipment process, the effective price per child per session increases. Please ask us for a detailed quote and will explain the costs involved. 

How many staff would be required?

We recommend no more than 15 children per each adult present at the club. For a club of up to 30 children we advise 2 members of school staff. If only one person is available to supervise, we recommend the capacity of the club to be reduced to no more than 15 children.

The club is designed in the way that any teacher or TA/LSA/HLTA or in fact any person cleared to work with children can run the club. We will provide all the training. This also includes any kind of emergency training, when for example a new person has to take over running of the club on a short notice.

What’s the target age group?

The STEM club is designed for KS2 children (between age 7 and 11). From our experience we see the following split between year groups:

• Year 3 - these children are the most eager to participate and try. They will happily cut, paint and do whatever is necessary to complete the project. We find children in this age group to be capable of performing the majority of the tasks we have planned for the session. Some of them will require a little bit of help with more complex tasks like e.g. tying a knot.

• Year 4 - children in this age group generally are very similar to Year 3, though may be a bit more distracted

• Year 5 - is often a bit of a paradox. Year 5 children are very eager to participate in the discussions. They are even more capable of doing the tasks, but sometimes are reluctant to try. We found this age group requires the most encouragement. In places where we were running the STEM club for a long time we saw some children, who in their Year 3 were happy to do many tasks, suddenly claim they cannot do that in Year 5. We never had a problem with persuading them and they always succeeded in their attempts. 

• Year 6 - is actually composed of two groups. One falls into the same category as Year 5 while the other shows amazing advancements. We saw many Year 6 children excelling in performing STEM club tasks. They are capable of building their own project very quickly and then to help others as well. 

What’s included in price?

The price we quote covers the following:

• Plan of sessions for the whole term.

• All the supplies required for all the sessions for the selected number of children (plus two sets for each teacher, plus spares).

• Delivery of the supplies.

• Detailed written instructions for each of the sessions.

• Training for any number of your staff. This also includes any kind of emergency training, when for example a new person has to take over running of the club on a short notice. While the default training method is over the zoom, we also offer pre-recorded training videos.

• Slides for each session (if you have access to a projector and you’d like to use it).

• Preparation of e-leaflets to distribute among parents.

The only thing not covered in the above is:

• A member of the staff to run the club. While there is an option for us to collect additional charges from the parents to cover this cost, all the schools we are working with at the moment either pay for the member of staff from their own budget or the member of staff is an unpaid volunteer.

Is there a minimum time commitment e.g. 3 terms?

No. We strongly believe in delivering outstanding value. Every term we plan a new set of sessions and we are confident the quality of our work will convince you to continue. There is no contractual commitment. 

On the other hand, we offer you an opportunity to lock today’s prices by ordering future term supplies early. 

Will the training be online or in person and how many training sessions over the year?

We provide both pre-recorded videos and life training sessions. By default all the life training sessions are done over the zoom. This way we are flexible in the schedule to accommodate already busy schedules of the school staff and ours. 

We organise one 1-1.5 hours long training session per half-term, during which we’ll cover the most important general aspects of the Educademy Complete STEM Club Solution and projects in the upcoming half-term. 

Some schools opt for videos only, some for both the videos and the life training session. We are able to do that partially because we offer ongoing support. Every time you need our help, please drop us an email and we'll schedule a zoom meeting to discuss. In other words, there is no limit to the number of meetings. We are always there to help.

What does a session look like? 

The overall session plan is as follows:

• Each session starts with a discussion of the science principles behind the project selected for this session. The idea is to guide the children with the right questions instead of telling them outright. We strongly believe this gives children an opportunity to share their knowledge with their peers and through that learn to value scientific knowledge.

• The main piece of every session is a project. And whatever children make, they take it home with them. We always try to strike a delicate balance between a challenge and feasibility of the construction for the children. That’s why in the supplies pack you’ll find certain elements already pre-cut / pre-drilled / pre-tied etc.

• While we guide the children through the construction, we use this opportunity to discuss engineering aspects of it.

• In every session we try to allocate some time for children to customise their creations, e.g. through colouring them.

• Each session ends with some kind of a testing and, of course, “well done” stickers.

We also provide online slides (presentation) to accompany the session. From the feedback we gathered we know many teachers find them very useful in running the sessions.

Please have a look at our introductory video to find out more.

What sessions are available?

Every term we prepare a new set of projects to cover new STEM areas and make it interesting for the children who continue to attend the club over multiple terms. For example for spring term 2023 we planed the following sessions:

• Animate a Roaring Tiny Rex Puppet (Living Things - Dinosaurs / Levers and Linkages)

• Greenhouse - Geodesic Dome (Living Things - Plants / Shapes and Structures)

• Spin Drum (Sound)

• James Webb Space Telescope Model (Earth and Space)

• Rubber Band Helicopter (Air Resistance / Gravity / Working of a Wing)

• Paddle Boat (Buoyancy / Elastic Potential Energy)

• Mother's Day Special: Chromatography Flowers (Properties and Changes of Materials)

• Gravity Powered Toy Car (Gravitational Potential Energy)

• Friction Experiment (Friction / Gravity)

• Jelly Fish in a Bottle (Compressible / Gasses / Incompressible / Liquids / Buoyancy)

• Pinhole Camera (Light)

• DIY Battery (Electricity)

In general we try to provide as diverse a mixture throughout the term as possible. Email us or request a callback to find out what’s planned for the future terms.

Can I choose the projects/activities?

Not yet. At the moment, to keep the prices affordable and each term projects deliverable within our current team, we have to use the economies of scale and therefore we can offer only the projects prepared for this term.

What do sessions cover?

Let's start with the topics/themes we cover based on KS2 Science Curriculum:

• Working scientifically

• Living Things - especially Animals, including humans

• Materials and their Properties - especially Properties and changes of materials

• Physical Processes:

  • Forces (The force of gravity and gravitational potential energy; The effects of air and water resistance and friction; The working of levers, wheels, pulleys and gears, inclined planes, wedges and screws)

  • Magnets

  • Electricity (What is it; Current and voltage; Sources of electricity; Conductors, insulators and semiconductors; Electrical circuits parallel/series; Electromagnetism)

  • Light (What is light; Shadows; Reflections; Spectrum of white light (natural and artificial)

  • Sound (What is it; Vibrations; Pitch change)

  • Earth and space

• History of science and famous scientists

On top of that almost every session includes some basic maths (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division, measurements and geometry). 

Design and technology is an integral part of every session. First we encourage children to come up with their own design, then we refine it till it matches our project goals. Then the children make the actual model according to the design. Finally we evaluate the outcomes and how we can improve. During all the stages we encourage children to share and enhance their technical knowledge, in particular:

• As part of the formal/informal design stage of every project, and even during the construction, we ask children how to strengthen, stiffen and reinforce their structures.

• We have sessions designed for children to understand mechanical systems (for example gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages)

• We have sessions designed for children to understand electrical systems (for example parallel and series circuits incorporating switches, bulbs/LEDs and motors)

How do we organise the club in the school?

The path to get the STEM club up and running is as follows:

1. The school decides they are happy with our offering and would like to have the STEM club.

2. The school decides who from the members of the school staff is going to run the club.
   (This can be a teacher, a TA/LSA/HLTA or any or any person suitable to work with children)

3. The number of people running the club determines the capacity (we recommend 15 children per one adult present).

4. The school decides the following details:

   • The day of the week the club will run;

   • The dates it will run in the nearest term/half-term;

   • Whether the parents are going to pay for the club (in case you’d like us to prepare the e-leaflet/flyer);

   • Whether the STEM club e-leaflets/flyers should use school branding.

5. The school requests a quote.

6. We provide the school with the quote.

7. The school accepts the quote.

8. We will prepare e-leaflets for you to send out to parents (this sometimes happens in parallel with the quoting process). 

9. We will prepare and deliver all the supplies.

10. We will train your staff.

11. We will provide online materials (additional training videos and session slides to use during the sessions).

12. We will keep in touch with you and people running the club and help with any issues that may arise. In particular, if a sudden change of the person running the club is required, we’ll perform emergency training. 

Scheduling considerations

We operate on a term/half-term schedule:

• We collect orders at least a month before the start of the next term/half-term:

  • STEM Club autumn term - we have to have the order confirmed by the end of the preceding school year

  • STEM Club autumn 2nd half-term - we have to have the order confirmed by 1st October

  • STEM Club spring term - we have to have the order confirmed by 1st December

  • STEM Club spring 2nd half-term - we have to have the order confirmed by 15th January

  • STEM Club summer term - we have to have the order confirmed by 1st March

  • STEM Club summer 2nd half-term - we have to have the order confirmed by 1st May

• Orders are confirmed by an acceptance of the quote by the school’s finance department (the invoices are sent out on the date of the expected delivery with the usual 30 day payment conditions for the schools located in the UK).

• We deliver orders in the 1st days after the school reopens after the summer holidays and in the last days before any other school break.

• We run the training approximately a week or two before the date of the 1st club session.

• We provide a new set of projects every term. And since they are all made to order, we are unable to process orders which do not follow the above schedule.

Do you have any testimonials or reviews I can check?

Yes, certainly we do. Please see what teachers write about us below:

See all our testimonials and reviews

What to do next?

I hope the above gives you a good overview. Please feel free to email us any questions you may have after reading this.

Have a question? Need help?

Email us or request a callback and we will be delighted to help.

Other ways to contact us

If you prefer to talk, please call us on 01256976700. Alternatively please email us at enquiries@educademy.co.uk. You can also send us a traditional letter to:
Educademy
Bluebells, Sapley Lane, 
Overton, Hampshire, RG25 3LJ