Our University of South Wales Hub Coordinator, Laura Roberts, recently attended Herbert Thompson Primary’s Cwtch group to deliver a series of exciting and interactive lessons with a small group of learners who require an ‘alternative curriculum’ in a different environment due to a range of additional learning needs and low engagement with education.

The group, made up of Year 6 and Year 4 males, has been part of a 12-week plan to incorporate a range of STEM activities to ignite pupils’ interest, develop their skills and challenge their ideas and creativity using a range of resources and approaches.

So far, we have covered computational thinking, computers and coding and we introduced the group to Scratch Junior where they have had the opportunity to learn about algorithms transferring their understanding to create a range of instructions using coding to perfect the accuracy of their choices. We also completed a LEGO robotics challenge using LEGO Education SPIKE Prime alongside the app to follow a series of visual instructions to build and program a range of robots using accurate algorithms.

Teacher Miriam Pullin from Herbert Thompson Primary School said, “The areas covered so far have been exciting and challenging for the pupils (and adults!). Working with Laura has allowed us the opportunity to use quality resources to create and develop a wide range of STEM skills. Laura has kindly trusted us to retain some resources and equipment in between her visits to practice and consolidate our skills before the next session. We have been very grateful for this. Pupils have definitely developed their inner confidence and have achieved success which supports their self-esteem. We are looking forward to moving to our next project after Easter of science busking/kitchen science experiments and science communication.

“We all look forward to our Technocamps session each week and seeing Laura who has been patient, calm, humorous, generous and knowledgeable to teach us new skills and develop our understanding. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Technocamps to enhance pupils’ learning experiences working with knowledgeable, experienced staff using quality resources.”