1. Why LOtC? Learning outside the classroom is highly motivating. Learning in the school grounds, the locality, visiting sites further afield and residential experiences all stimulate interest, curiosity and passion for ‘doing’. These activities broaden young people’s horizons, enable them to develop new skills and build relationships. They make young people more engaged with learning and therefore more likely to do well.

2. What’s in it for teachers?  For teachers, learning outside the classroom can support areas that are difficult to cover in the classroom. Teachers value its inspirational quality because it enables young people to understand better — for example, what is the point of learning how to do a survey for geography if you never actually do it?  Learning outside the classroom capitalises on and develops different learning styles, particularly kinaesthetic. Experiencing something — as opposed to hearing it described or reading about it — can also help improve young people’s recall and reflective skills, as they can relive the event in their heads.

3. Motivation and behaviour.  A positive view of the world and high motivation are the keys to positive behaviour. A young person who is not motivated is unlikely to concentrate and learn effectively. Research evidence shows that learning outside the classroom can have a powerfully motivating effect on young people and a beneficial impact on behaviour.   Places like museums provide new visual and sensory experiences  It suggests that such experiences are especially motivating for young people of all abilities who are not motivated by classroom learning. Those whose behaviour might deter teachers from taking them outside of the classroom are often the very young people who benefit the most.

4. LOtC  Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) is the use of places other than the classroom for teaching and learning. It is about getting children and young people out and about, providing them with challenging, exciting and different experiences to help them learn.

5. LOtC The ‘places’ where learning happens can have a significant effect on how a young person engages with a subject or an idea. Learning outside the classroom can happen at almost any time and almost anywhere – outdoors or indoors: in the school grounds, on the high street, in the local park, in museums and art galleries, on mountain tops and rivers.

6.  The 2014 national curriculum for science states that, at Key Stage 1, “Most of the learning about science should be done through the use of first- hand practical experiences.” At Key Stage 2, “Pupils should use the local environment throughout the year to identify and study plants and animals in their habitat; and how the habitat changes throughout the year.”The geography and history curricula also contain references to fieldwork and local studies, all of which point to the importance of LOtC.

7.  Learning outside the classroom should be built into planning for all learners, every week and all year round. It is a powerful tool that is proven to raise attainment, bolster social, emotional and personal development and contributes to the health and well being of children and young people.

8. Where does LOtc take place?  This can include:   School grounds  Local woods, parks or nature reserves  Street & townscapes  Places of worship & sacred spaces  Museums, theatres, galleries & music venues  Libraries & archives  City farms & community gardens  Farms & the countryside  Zoos & botanic gardens  Heritage & cultural sites  Field study & environmental centres  Cultural, language & fieldwork visits  Remote wild & adventurous places  Expeditions abroad

9. School grounds  play areas — for problem-solving/team-building games and activities  habitats such as playing fields, hedges, meadows and ponds — for field study and science  school garden or growing areas — for science, sustainability and food education  whole site — for orienteering, outdoor literacy (e.g. storytelling) and practical numeracy activities, visual and performing arts (e.g. murals, sculptures, mosaics, music and drama)  paved areas— for D.T. and outdoor experiments  wooded areas— for Forest School activities  playing fields — overnight camping experiences  playground equipment and climbing/traversing walls— for adventurous activities.

10. The built environment  The built environment is made up of historic and contemporary buildings and the spaces between them, including parks, streets and housing.  Learning about the built environment is learning to see the value of well designed spaces and the relationship between the natural environment and local community.  We can learn about the built environment in the school grounds and immediate environment, as well as in our cities and streetscapes.

11. Heritage sites  The term ‘heritage site’ is a broad one, including museums, libraries, archives, science and exploratory centres, monuments, religious or public buildings, gardens or parks, archaeological sites and historic houses.

12. Arts and creativity  Different art forms include the visual arts and crafts, music, dance, drama and theatre, literature, film, broadcast and digital media.  Within each of these categories are many more sub-groups: music might refer to western classical, world music, jazz, rock and pop, while the visual arts and crafts includes photography, painting, drawing, print-making, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, textiles — and more.  Artists can operate in any art form, not just the visual arts.

13. Farms  Farms are as varied as the food we eat, providing opportunities for learning both in a formal context and as an opportunity for enhancing the social and emotional aspects of development.  They may focus on livestock or arable production, or a combination, and be self-contained units or part of huge estates.  There are also a number that have developed as community and city farms.  These may be working farms, or smaller organisations that form a part of a community which can be visited by schools.

14. Field studies  Learning outside the classroom in the natural environment can encompass a range of places or habitats.  These can include: school grounds, local parks, allotments, wasteground, hedges, walls, gardens, nature reserves, woodland, country parks, farmland, zoos, botanic gardens, quarries, cliffs, coastal areas, ponds, rivers, moorlands and mountains.  Of course, very few, if any, of the places listed are actually natural; the majority, if not all, of the UK environment has been directly or indirectly affected by man in some way or another.

15. Adventurous activities  Climbing — for example rock climbing, abseiling, ice climbing, gorge walking, ghyll scrambling, sea level traversing, high- and low-level ropes courses  Watersports — for example canoeing, kayaking, dragon boating, wave skiing, white-water rafting, improvised rafting, sailing, sailboarding, windsurfing  Trekking — for example hill-walking, mountaineering, fell-running, orienteering, pony trekking, off-road cycling, off-piste skiing  Caving — for example caving, pot-holing, mine exploration  Challenges and skills — for example archery, quad bikes, assault courses, mountain boarding, initiative exercises.

16. Expeditions  It involves a deliberate element of challenge or adventure and requires specialist skills for its safe management.  The environment that these expeditions take place in may include mountains, deserts, jungle, forests, rivers and sea.  Expeditions help to develop self-esteem, self- confidence and independence. They also provide opportunities for young people to experience other cultures, meet other people and develop new friendships and thus broaden their horizons and knowledge.

17. Study, sports and cultural tours  They can give young people an unparalleled window on the world. Every type of content is possible — cultural visits, historical and language studies, a series of concerts performed by the school choir, a visit to a partner school or youth project abroad, sports tournaments, activity holidays and ski courses, to name but a few.

18. Sacred spaces  Visiting sacred spaces is primarily associated with learning in religious education where young people engage with living religions and meet members of faith communities to learn about their beliefs, rituals of worship and celebrations.