Educational Kits

Work backwards from what the curriculum asks. Grade 7 to 9 technology needs a kit that produces a working model for the PAT. Grade 10 to 12 physical science needs apparatus and chemicals for prescribed experiments. Electricity work sits across both. Buying by grade first saves you from a kit that is technically fine but aimed at the wrong year.

Kits vary on what they assume you already have. Some project kits include the battery, some do not. Some expect glue, a craft knife or a soldering iron at school. Read the contents on the product page and compare it against what is in your storeroom, then order the gaps with the kit rather than a week later.

Technology project kits are assessed individually, so a learner usually needs their own. Circuit kits and apparatus are shared, and a set between three or four learners works well in a normal period. Group sharing cuts the cost, but it also cuts the hands-on time, so weigh that against the size of your class.

Some of what you buy gets used up and some stays in the cupboard. Chemicals, glue and bulbs are consumable. Meters, motors, pulleys, switches and leads last for years if they are stored properly. Spending a bit more on the durable side and less on the consumable side usually works out cheaper across a few grades.

It depends on the range. A ChemStart kit holds the apparatus and chemicals for a full term of Grade 10 to 12 practicals. A technology project kit holds the parts for one build, so a crane kit has the pulleys, cord, dowels and base board for that crane. Electric circuit kits carry bulbs, holders, switches, leads and a battery holder. Every listing has a contents list, so check that before ordering for a class.

The technology project kits are the ones built for the PAT. They cover the briefs schools set most often: mine shaft headgear, hydraulic cranes and excavator arms, bridges, cellphone towers, alarm circuits, traffic lights and sensor lights. Each kit is one project for one learner. If your school runs the same brief across a grade, order early, because these move quickly between July and September when most PATs are due.

Yes. The ChemStart range covers Grades 10, 11 and 12, with a separate kit per grade. Each one is put together around the prescribed experiments for that year, so a teacher is not buying chemicals and apparatus line by line. They suit a school setting up a practical programme from scratch, or one that needs to top up a lab that has been running for years. Ask us about quantities if you are equipping more than one class.

Yes, and most schools do. Tell us the kit and the number of learners and we will quote on the set. Stock on the project kits moves quickly in the third term, so give us as much notice as you can, especially if a whole grade is doing the same brief. For anything not on the shelf we will give you the lead time upfront rather than let an order sit.

Partly. The apparatus in a ChemStart kit is reusable and the chemicals get used up, so those are replaced each year. Electric circuit kits are built to be reused term after term, apart from bulbs and batteries. Technology project kits are usually consumed by the build, because the learner glues and assembles the model and hands it in for assessment. Motors, pulleys and switches can often be recovered afterwards.