Learning Outside the Classroom website has loads of information, click to find out more
This information is on their website but you can access their very useful downloads from here.
Should you wish to download this pdf as a PowerPoint presentation then you can do so by clicking here.
Download the PDF Planning Learning Outside the Classroom within the School Curriculum to find out more.
There are three further PDFs to download which may help with different aspects of this planning:
How does learning outside the classroom contribute to the Extended Services agenda?
How does learning outside the classroom contribute to the Early Years Foundation Stage?
How does learning outside the classroom contribute to Youth Matters and the 16 - 19 Agenda?
The Manifesto for Learning Outside the Classroom partnership has created this resource with the help of many experts and practitioners in learning outside the classroom. The resource is designed to help professionals working with young people aged 0–19 to provide high-quality experiences.
Our vision
We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances.
Out and about guidance
Welcome!
This guidance has been drawn together with the help of many experts and practitioners in learning outside the classroom. The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto was launched in 2006, following extensive discussions with a wide range of stakeholders and a public consultation. Since that time, many schools, individuals and organisations working with young people in both formal and non-formal settings have given their support to the Manifesto and its principles.
Our aim is not only to make clear that learning outside the classroom has significant learning benefits for participants but also to explore how it can be successfully delivered so that more young people develop their knowledge, understanding and skills beyond the classroom walls in a wide range of settings such as schools, children's centres and youth projects.
What is Learning Outside the Classroom?
At its simplest, it is when young people move outside their immediate and accustomed environment to learn from first-hand experiences. For many learners that environment will be the classroom, but it may also be the village hall where the playgroup meets, a pre-school nursery, a youth club, a specialist facility for young people with learning disabilities and specific educational needs, or a further education workshop. Wherever young people learn, from the ages of 0 to 19, the principles of learning outside the classroom has a part to play as an integral element in that learning. All young people should experience learning outside the classroom and its benefits, not as a bolt-on to learning but as a central aspect of their learning experience. Read more here: What is Learning Outside the Classroom?
The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto aims are as follows:
· To improve training and professional development opportunities for schools and the wider children and young people's workforce;
· To provide all young people with a wide range of experiences outside the classroom, including extended school activities, integrated and targeted youth support, early years work and one or more residential visits;
· To better enable schools, local authorities and other organisations working with young people to manage activities safely and efficiently;
· To make a strong case for learning outside the classroom, so there is widespread appreciation of the unique contribution these experiences make to young people’s lives;
· To provide easy access to information, knowledge, expertise, guidance and resources;
· To offer learning experiences of high quality;
· To identify ways of engaging parents, carers and the wider community in learning outside the classroom.
Why go outside? When you go outside the classroom you have the opportunity to transform learning and raise achievement. Learning outside the classroom allows participants to learn in context, to learn by practical engagement, and to learn by personal discovery. They can acquire new skills, work collaboratively with others and develop a better sense of themselves and their potential. Give it a try!
Learning Outside the Classroom Curriculum Planning
This section deals with planning a whole curriculum, and follows from deciding what you want to achieve through planned progressive and regular experiences for all young people and developing a LOtC policy.
The case has been made for learning outside the classroom as an essential way of learning. This means that every learner should be given these compelling learning experiences frequently. Just how frequently will depend on a range of circumstances, but it should be remembered that the richest resources for learning lie just outside the classroom — starting in the school grounds and within walking distance of every place of learning. Learners should not have to wait for a week or more before they access what is for many their preferred way of learning!
As well as being continuous, a learning outside the classroom curriculum needs to be progressive. It needs to build on the experiences and skills developed in the early years by providing activities more suited to older learners as they mature. As within the classroom, learning outside the classroom should be closely linked to the curriculum.
Who is it for?
Learning outside the classroom is not an addition to the curriculum but should become integral to it and a regular part of teaching and learning. To make sure that happens, it is important to build learning outside the classroom into the development of schemes of work and into curriculum planning at every stage. This section and the accompanying PDF documents outline that process. It is for anyone engaged in promoting learning outside the classroom within schools, youth projects or early years settings. In particular, it needs to be read by curriculum planners.
What might a school Learning Outside the Classroom curriculum look like?
As an essential part of learning, every learner needs frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom experiences. Changes to the curriculum are giving schools greater flexibility to tailor learning to their learners’ needs. The school curriculum is now seen as the entire planned learning experience. It includes classroom lessons, but also the events, routines, visits and activities that take place out of the classroom and beyond the school. This approach also applies to those making provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage, the extended day, for the 14-19s and provision for youth work. This section will help you plan a continuous and progressive Learning Outside the Classroom curriculum for all young people.
The example of a Learning Outside the Classroom curriculum below might help you start thinking about planning!
Issues of frequency, continuity and progression are best approached from a whole school/key stage or whole programme approach to curriculum planning. The following steps may help in assessing the situation, planning your curriculum and evaluating achievements. They are built around three curriculum questions:
1. What do you want to achieve?
2. How will you organise learning?
3. How will you know when you are achieving your aims?
To shape your thinking about planning, it may help to reflect on the ‘Beehive’ concept curriculum as you consider how to build on your current provision for learning outside the classroom. The suggestions are intended only as prompts to show how you could begin planning frequency, continuity and progression. The 'Beehive' concept can be used as a starting point for meetings of staff when planning Learning Outside the Classroom.
Click on the image below to enlarge the ‘Beehive’ concept curriculum (this version is accessible to screen readers):
Or click on the image below to see a pdf version which can be printed:
Should you wish to download this pdf as a PowerPoint presentation then you can do so by clicking here.
Download the PDF Planning Learning Outside the Classroom within the School Curriculum to find out more.
There are three further PDFs to download which may help with different aspects of this planning:
How does learning outside the classroom contribute to the Extended Services agenda?
How does learning outside the classroom contribute to the Early Years Foundation Stage?
How does learning outside the classroom contribute to Youth Matters and the 16 - 19 Agenda?
