Stemgineering with Nick is a trading name for the creative engineering and STEAM activities provided by the Open School of Creative Arts and Well Being CIC. It is run by husband and wife, Nick and Katherine Lockett-Clark.
Nick has been providing LEGO® Engineering classes since 2018 across North Devon and online. Katherine, a creative arts teacher and creative play expert, saw the potential of Nick’s engineering background and talent for working with children, and came up with the idea of LEGO® Sense. These classes and workshops are built around creative engineering ideas with LEGO® bricks. The sessions are inclusive and enriching; inviting anyone to unleash their imaginations and engineering skills on our LEGO® bricks. Nick leads the sessions with a theme or concept and gently guides and encourages participants to problem solve, design, create, fix, and enjoy building!
Nick is a qualified and experienced vehicle engineer, working for Audi for a decade, and continuing to use his engineering skills in vehicle and engine repair today, alongside Stemgineering with Nick! He has many years of experience teaching and facilitating activities for children and young people, as well as being a father to 3 children (2 of whom are home educated) from 5 months to 13 years old. Nick is passionate about accessible and enjoyable education; struggling with dyslexia himself; he understands that mainstream education is not for everyone, and wants to inspire and support everyone in their learning journeys at whatever stage of life they are at.
All Nick’s sessions aim to not only develop creative engineering skills, but to also build self esteem, confidence, and communication skills, and boost mental well being. Our approach is person centred, child led (where we have children participating) and one that facilitates learning and fun, rather than prescriptive teaching. We believe that everyone can benefit from the time and space to create freely, especially with nurturing guidance and a safe environment.
We currently run 4 sessions a week across North Devon and an online class for children and young people. We also provide workshops for adults with mental health difficulties, special needs and disabilities. In addition to this, we off LEGO® Sense sessions in various school settings and for groups such as Scouts.
Whilst LEGO® Sense continues to be our strong focus and is very popular, Stemgineering with Nick offers other STEAM activities such as Recycled Science (science and engineering activities with cardboard and other recycled materials) and Nature Engineering (construction and engineering in outdoor spaces with natural materials). This year we also plan to introduce our Little Builders preschool activities, which will use early years creative play with DUPLO® bricks, wooden blocks and other construction toys and materials.
This year we are also committed to grow our SEND provision. Our current sessions are fully inclusive, but we are aware that some children and adults benefit further from specific aspects, such as quiet sessions for neuro diverse children. There are plans in place to work with special and hospital schools in North Devon and Exeter, as well as continuing our work with Wings in Bideford.
Stemgineering with Nick also offers birthday (and other) parties, corporate events, wedding activities, public event workshops and much more.
We are looking forward to creating more family orientated activities, one off themed workshops, LEGO® building competitions, and working with The Burton at Bideford – providing workshops at the gallery which support the Brick by Brick exhibition. We are also delighted to have been awarded funding from North Devon Council to offer a community warm space for families to eat and play during these upcoming cold months.
You can find our current timetable here, which includes our weekly classes. Feel free to reach out to us with any other enquiries.