A club, explained in pictures

Young Makers
in the Docks

Children make things with their hands, with real materials and real tools, and build ideas of their own.

The shape of it

One school. One university. Children going between them.

A primary school in Newham runs a new club. Twice, everyone goes to the university down the road instead, families included.

Their school The university
Gallions Primary School in Newham, and the University of East London at the Royal Docks.

Autumn 2026

Six days, in three parts.

Two Saturdays are for the whole family. The four Thursdays in between are for the children on their own.

Saturday 26 September

Come and design with us

Family session

At the university, 12pm to 2pm. Three small makes go on the table, and everyone tries them.

Thursdays 1, 8, 15, 22 October

The after-school STEAM club

Children only

At school, straight after the bell. One hour each week. Sixteen places, booked through the school’s club.

Saturday 24 October

Show and tell

Family session

Back at the university, 12pm to 2pm. The children show what they built, and make a bit more.

Found on 1 September

There is a gate in front of the free part.

The four Thursdays sit inside the school’s own club. That club is thirteen sessions, and parents pay for nine of them. To reach the free four, a family joins the paid thirteen.

Any family at the school Book and pay for the other nine The four Thursdays free, and sixteen places no gate The two Saturdays free, and open to anyone
The money exists to reach children who are missing out. A family that cannot pay for nine sessions never reaches the four that were paid for on their behalf. Decided on 3 September: we go with it. Which makes the two Saturdays the only route to the number of children the funding promises.

Four names on it

Who does what.

Institute of Imagination

Runs the club. Brings the makers, the materials and the tools.

University of East London

Lends the rooms on both Saturdays. Its students come and help.

Gallions Primary School

It is their club, not a visiting one. They bring the children and the room.

Royal Docks Trust

Pays for it, which is why it is free. £15,000, confirmed.

And two more schools have asked

Britannia Village Primary School and Royal Wharf Primary School both asked to take part on 1 September, with approval already given. Nobody has replied to them yet.

The bit that is easy to get wrong

The children try. We choose.

On the first Saturday three small makes go on the table. What the children love is the evidence. The decision is made afterwards, by us.

THREE ON THE TABLE everyone has a go WE PICK ONE One thing to build for all four Thursdays
Nobody outside the Institute of Imagination knows there was ever a choice. A family is invited to come and make things, not to pick a syllabus.

Four ideas, three get a go

What they might make.

Each one is a different way to spend the four Thursdays. One of these four will not make it onto the table, and which one is still open.

Cardboard Lab

Cutting, joining, folding. Then cubes, domes and towers.

Motion Lab

Levers, ramps and rubber bands. Then marble runs and machines that move.

Drawing Robots Lab

Small robots given instructions, until they draw for you.

Robot Lab

Make it roll. Give it an engine. Give it a brain.

Where it has got to

What is nailed down, and what is not.

Settled

  • All six datesAgreed with the school and the university
  • The rooms at the universityConfirmed available for every date
  • It is the school's own clubNot a visiting club running alongside theirs
  • The flyer for parentsOne A4 sheet, built, with everything on it
  • The funding£15,000 from the Royal Docks Trust, confirmed
  • The club arrangementAccepted on 3 September. The four sessions run inside the paid club.
  • Nobody pays anythingNot the school, not the families

Still open

  • What the club costs a familyAnd whether our four sessions are charged for at all. The school has not said.
  • How the Saturdays reach 100 childrenThe club holds 16 and its list is the school’s. The two Saturdays are the only route to the rest.
  • What time the club startsThe flyer prints 3.25pm. That came from an email about different dates.
  • Which three makes go on the tableOne of the four labs loses its make on 26 September
  • Who staffs each SaturdayFacilitators and volunteers, counted separately
  • The evaluation planDue tomorrow. It does not exist in any source.

Thursday 3 September 2026

Twenty-three days until the first Saturday.

The flyer went to the school on Tuesday, and came back with the gate on it. That is now a decision for the boss, and four other things carry tomorrow’s date.

Buying materials on 11 September comes fifteen days before the makes are chosen. Either the shopping does not depend on the choice, or the choice is narrower than it looks.