Children and staff from Alexandra Primary School were the latest to get to enjoy the facilities at the STEM lab based in Ysgol Clywedog!
The STEM lab, which provides schools with access to a range of ‘Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths’ equipment, devices and project space, was built as part of Wrexham’s Sustainable Communities for Learning program in the local authority rooms at Ysgol Clywedog. The lab is managed by our Schools ICT team.
Children from Alexandra’s years 3, 4, 5 and 6 visited on Thursday, February 29 and they had a great time learning in the STEM rooms, getting to experience a variety of different educational tasks and activities.
The sessions were delivered by our new STEM partner CreativeHUT, with the children rotating across the rooms at various points of the day so everyone got to make the most of the full experience.
In one room, the children were moving Sphero BOLT™ robots by using coding through their iPads to solve the different challenges that were set up.
In the other rooms, the children were learning by using LEGO® Education. Firstly, they used LEGO® to build driving robots with sensors and learnt how to programme them to travel a certain distance as well as using the sensors to stop the robots.
In the next room, the tasks were based around science, building and coding. Again, the children built and coded LEGO® vehicles, and used push and pull forces to move them around. These activities taught them coding and engineering all in one.
“Everything is already here, ready to use”
Amy Pope, Digital Lead for Alexandra Primary School, said: “For our school, digital equipment can be expensive so it’s great to visit somewhere where everything is already here, ready to use. Digital learning is so important, so giving the children opportunities to experience this different type of learning is amazing.”
“A brilliant facility that all Wrexham primary and secondary schools can make use of”
Neil Taylor from CreativeHUT, told us: “As a company we aim to support STEM learning and giving pupils fun, creative and engaging experiences. On days like today you get to see the positive impact it has on children’s learning directly, which is always fantastic. This is a brilliant facility that all Wrexham primary and secondary schools can make use of. It really helps teachers to deliver the curriculum and helps pupils to develop lots of important skills that prepare them for the future.”
“Training sessions for Wrexham teachers”
Cllr Phil Wynn, Lead Member for Education, said: “It’s great to see that the Alexandra pupils and staff enjoyed their visit. The STEM rooms and resources are fully open and available to be booked by schools and we encourage them to take advantage of the opportunity. We will be arranging a number of free STEM training sessions for Wrexham teachers and support staff each year with Creative Hut as well.”
What resources are available at the Wrexham STEM lab?
The STEM lab rooms are located above the reception area of Ysgol Clywedog but are completely separate to the functioning of the school with the following facilities available:
- Two STEM focused classrooms each capable of supporting a group size of 16 pupils (one classroom is set out to support LEGO® Education resources, one classroom is set up as a more flexible project room)
- One computer ICT suite with 16 workstations
- One conference/meeting room capable of supporting groups of up to 16
The following resources / equipment is also currently available in the lab:
- One class set (10 units) of LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime
- One class set (10 units) of LEGO® Education WeDo 2.0
- One class set (12 units) Sphero BOLT™
- One class set (10 units) Crumble Starter kits and five Crumble buggies with sensors
- 15 BBC Microbit boards
- Two 3D printers
How can my school get involved?
The STEM lab is managed by our Schools ICT team, so if you would like to book a visit, or find out more you can email schoolsictprocurement@wrexham.gov.uk
There is no charge to Wrexham schools for use of these facilities when you run sessions yourself.
Schools are able to book the rooms and run their own sessions either directly, or through the Digital Cluster groups in Wrexham where expertise exists in the cluster.
