Nurturing the next generation of creative techies with Arti-Techs Club
Tuesday 23rd July 2024
After a long day at school, there’s a space at the Science Oxford Centre where local young people can explore their creativity through technology, where they can let their imagination run free and see how technology can help their ideas come to life. It’s also a space where they can connect and make friends. This is the Arti-Techs Club, run by Science Oxford’s Technology Projects Officer Sarah Townson.
A showcase
On Tuesday 2nd July, at the last of the 10 weeks of Arti-Techs Club of the summer term, students invited their families to the Science Oxford Centre to see some of the activities and projects they had been working on over the term.
The club’s format gives students, aged 11 to 14, the freedom to explore ideas, learn and develop skills at their own pace through a variety of hands-on activities, including robot building, coding, clay modelling, cardboard engineering, 3D printing projects, game designs and more.
Club leader Sarah says,
We provide lots of options for students to work on a range of projects. They can choose based on their interests what they want to work on and how far they want to take it. We also do our best to accommodate their ideas we hadn’t planned for. It’s up to them.
With creativity sparked and the opportunity to use technology and tools that students may not otherwise have access to, ideas can turn into something tangible. This term, students built remote-controlled robots with unique and inspiring designs (see feature image), a 3D-printed motor-driven fan, a light-up pendant also incorporating 3D-printed parts, and more.
A parent of one of this term’s participants said,
[My son] has really enjoyed the unstructured format and this has encouraged his creativity. He has loved coming every week and really looks forward to it. The staff are absolutely fab and can do so much with him where I wouldn't even know where to start!
Through the work put into projects over the term, we are pleased that a number of students have been awarded a Bronze Crest Award. Congratulations!
Developing creativity and skills
Through the club, Sarah has nurtured many young people, aged 11 to 14, to develop their tech skills and creativity since it began in January 2022. It was started with support and funding from Oxford City Council’s Youth Ambition Grant and continues to be a free offering to young people in the local community due to support from The Oxford Trust.
Sarah has seen students grow in confidence as they progress through the sessions, as well as develop social, problem-solving and practical skills. She says,
The highlight for me has been seeing the same young people come back week on week, and really growing into themselves in their projects, and becoming more independent, more outgoing, making friends and really working well together. It’s been lovely to see that transformation.
Growing up and growing on
Many students continue in the club from term to term, some having participated for over a year and some as long as two years. It might be a sad farewell to those who leave the club when they outgrow it, but there is a lot for these students to look forward to as they continue to engage with Science Oxford and further nurture their interests through other activities of the STEM Careers Programme.
Watch a short video to learn more about the Arti-Tech club
If your child will be in Years 7-9 in September, and you would like to apply for a place in future terms, please visit: https://scienceoxford.com/whats-on/arti-techs/
Feature image: Two students proudly display their remote-controlled robots built during Arti-Techs Club this term.
