The National STEM Learning Centre and Network supports the teaching and learning of science, design and technology, computing, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in schools and colleges throughout the United Kingdom, from primary level to post-16.

GCSE Computing – The Teacher’s Unofficial Guide This guide, which supports the OCR GCSE, covers how to teach the course. Separate sections look at: • Written examination • Practical investigation • Programming project It is not officially linked to the exam board, but they have ‘adopted’ it as their official,...

Help encourage your child's STEM skills, passion and talent with this parents' guide to engineering careers.

This activity is designed to build on understanding of programming commands and what they are used to do in a program. It requires learners to show a...

This activity is a space-themed coding project for learners, combining six to ten hours of STEM linked learning. These lessons use Scratch game creation to explore space and interplanetary missions.

This Barefoot Computing resource builds on the ‘Maths quiz with selection’ learning activities which should be undertaken first.

It involves improving an existing Scratch maths quiz and adding score-keeping using...

This resource consists of eleven worksheets explaining how to use some basic commands in the programming language Scratch. Each sheet explains how the appropriate blocks are set up in Scratch, an example of their use and a number of exercises for use in the classroom. The commands covered are: • IF uses a variable...

This one-page help sheet offers a comprehensive introductory guide to Scratch, great for teachers new to the platform, or those who are unfamiliar with some of its features.  

In this Rapid Router activity, children progress from block-based programming to the textual environment of Python. In doing so they learn about the nature of text-based coding, including the need for precise syntax and how it is structured.

The progression is handled gently, with code compared in both...

A useful handbook for setting up a student-led STEM club, with exemplars from three schools.

It is increasingly recognised that giving students opportunities to act as ambassadors and mentors for STEM subjects outside of school can be of great benefit to the individual, their institution, and to the broader...

In this activity, learners will test their product against the design criteria and suggest possible improvements.

The work that engineers do affects billions of people. It is creative and hands-on. It is about solving problems, designing things and improving things. As an engineer, you could tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems - from dealing with cyber security and maintaining clean water and energy supplies to...

In this activity students take on the role of Earth observation scientists submitting a request for an image they would like for their research. This gives them the opportunity to consider the possibilities of pictures taken from orbit (and the limitations) and to write scientifically for a specific audience. It...