Imagine! STEM Club

Imagine! A STEM Club with a difference

Do you imagine how science and medicine could improve the way your body works? Can you imagine how understanding the natural world helps us improve our aircraft, or whether plastics are a good or bad thing? Could you imagine how virtual reality may affect our future lives?

If the answer is YES to any of the above, and you are aged 12-15, then we invite you to Imagine!

National Saturday Club: Imagine! Science and Engineering

Science and Engineering Saturday Club 2024

FREE club starting 27 January 2024 for Year 10 students – apply now

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We are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity that is open for all Year 10 students who are studying STEM subjects.

Under the umbrella of the National Saturday Clubs (NSC), CSES and ARU are running another free Science and Engineering Saturday Club. The club will provide an opportunity for Year 10 students to experience a range of different Science and Engineering topics using the state-of-the-art Super Lab and workshop facilities at ARU's Chelmsford Campus. Each session will explore the science and engineering behind real life activities and problems that can affect our daily lives. In addition to laboratory and workshop sessions there are also visits to science and technology-related organisations. The NSC also organise for us a masterclass with leading industry professionals and a Summer Show at Somerset House in June.

Starting on 27 January 2024, the club will run for 15 weeks. The sessions will take place from 10.00 am – 12.30 pm on Saturday mornings during term time.

Download PDF Invitation letter to parents

Download PDF Invitation letter to teachers

The programme is delivered totally free of charge for up to 30 students, so places are limited and we have only a few weeks to recruit. Please see the attached letters to parents and teachers for more information.

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National Saturday Club: Imagine! Science and Engineering

(For Year 10 Students)

START DATE: 21 January 2023
TIME: 10:00-12:30 (every Saturday during term time)
COST: Free
VENUE: ARU Chelmsford Campus

Register your interest »

The world is changing rapidly. This generation will face national and global challenges. They will need innovative thinking and versatile science and technology skills to tackle them.

Almost all careers will require an understanding of science and technology, as well as creative capacities such as imagination, curiosity and collaboration.

CSES and ARU have teamed up with the National Saturday Club to deliver a 15-week Science & Engineering Club where young people can explore these subjects creatively.

In a university setting, using ARU's state-of-the-art facilities, our Imagine! Saturday Club will give students hands-on experience of exciting and varied topics within science, technology and engineering.

The programme will also give an insight into the diverse education and career opportunities within the STEM sector, with plenty of opportunity to ask questions of practising scientists and engineers.

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Imagine! STEM @ Home

A DIY Imagine! STEM competition during lockdown

We are pleased to publish our Imagine! masterclasses for Essex 2020 online.

Go to our resources section to find out more.

Bridge building competition

The CSES Build a Bridge Competition is now closed and we thank all those who made the effort and took the time to submit an entry. With entries across a very wide age range, judging proved to be very difficult, but the quality of effort throughout and ingenuity applied to the challenge by everyone has been beyond our imagination! Well done to all participants.

Bridge building competition winners announced

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Launch report of Imagine!

The Imagine! STEM Club is a new CSES/ARU event for school students and young people

The inaugural launch of the Imagine! STEM Club took place at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) Chelmsford campus over three days (29-31 July 2019). Over twenty students aged between 12 and 15 attended with an approximate 50% male-female ratio.

CSES Imagine! STEM Club was conceived and planned in consultation with ARU and Essex County Council (ECC) with the aim of promoting STEM learning and career options to young local school students and home-schooled students. CSES Council Member Bob Easby drafted the programme together with Professor David Humber from ARU, who were keen to show off their new £4 Million SuperLab, and Ed Bye, a CSES member who works with Schools and ECC providing specialist STEM support. The interactive practical sessions were delivered in the SuperLab by David Humber, Bob himself and Paul Cotton the SuperLab Manager at ARU, with some additional help and support from some enthusiastic ARU Ambassadors.

Students undertaking urine analysis in the SuperLab

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Imagine! Returns with 2020 Masterclasses

Our hit STEM Club is back with an expanded programme for Essex 2020

Due to the COVID-19 situation, we will unfortunately have to postpone these sessions until the next academic year.

We are very pleased, however, to publish our "Simple Machines and Bridges" masterclass (originally scheduled for May) as a DIY activity pack. See our resources section to find out more.

This is part of Essex 2020 – a Year of Science and Creativity.

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Introducing a STEM Club with a difference...

As part of the build up to our centenary in 2020, CSES, in partnership with Essex County Council (ECC) and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), is launching an exciting new venture to support and encourage young people to consider the importance of science and technology in everyday life.

Imagine! STEM Club will start with a three-day workshop on 29-31 July 2019 in ARU's high-tech Super Lab.

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