Time to end cotton wool culture and get young people out of the classroom

More children and young people will be able to go on educational school trips thanks to new measures slashing red tape and giving teachers more support, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan said today.

The Out and About package, launched this morning and backed with £4.5 million of funding, is designed to give schools much clearer information to organise effective learning outside the classroom activities for all pupils.

It includes a new Quality Badge scheme which will cut paperwork for teachers by helping schools and local authorities to identify organisations that provide high quality experiences and manage safety effectively.

Mr Balls said learning outside the classroom – whether within school grounds, locally and on visits further afield or even abroad - should be part and parcel of every child’s school career.

But he said it was wrong to deny children valuable learning opportunities or wrap them in cotton wool because of risk assessment paperwork or fears over compensation culture.

And he stressed it was time to allay teachers’ fears about litigation over incidents on school trips once and for all.

The Quality Badge scheme is part of a series of measures being launched at the first-ever Learning Outside the Classroom National Conference, at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Kevin Brennan is the keynote speaker.

The full Out & About package includes:

• A new Quality Badge to identify organisations that provide high quality experiences and manage safety effectively - from field study centres and outdoor activity centres to museums and historic houses. The first badges will be awarded next year; and
• Online guidance, advice and training to help school staff plan learning outside the classroom effectively.

Also being announced:

• The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom to deliver the Manifesto Action Plan over the longer term; supported with funding from the Government. The interim board is announced today with the full Council up and running by autumn 2009;
• £2.5million initiative to promote residential schemes for young people funded and run by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation charity; and
• First ever national Learning Outside the Classroom Awards rewarding outstanding provision in schools, colleges and early years providers. Castlechurch Primary School in Stafford is the first national winner, alongside eight other regional winners.

In addition, new guidance for school employers on dealing with incidents on school trips will be published shortly.

Today’s announcements follow the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto launched in November 2006 – the first time a Government committed to increasing the learning outside the classroom to all three-to-19-year-olds.

Over 1,000 organisations, including teacher and headteacher associations, have now signed up to the Manifesto.

Ed Balls said:

“I am delighted that all the teacher and headteacher associations, alongside over 1,000 other organisations and educational providers, now back the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto. Their hard work developing the Manifesto pledges over the last two years will pay off for generations for pupils in the future.

“It is wrong to wrap children in cotton wool as they grow up. Trips and getting out of the classroom should be part and parcel of school life and always form people’s most vivid childhood memories.

“Learning outside the classroom is not some optional extra. It should excite young people, deepen their understanding of classroom subjects and is vital for young people to become independent, confident and motivated.

“The vast majority of England’s eight million children go safely on school trips or learn outside the classroom at some stage. But we know that more can be done to make sure it is an integral part of every child’s education.

“Today’s package makes a clear case for the benefits of learning outside the classroom. It is a massive step forward to making it easier for teachers to take pupils out of the classroom - giving them the confidence and tools to organise outside the classroom environment; cutting paperwork and red tape on visits; and breaking down the fear of litigation.

“It is time that the fear of compensation culture is consigned to history once and for all. The fact is that individual teachers do not get sued because their employer holds public insurance liability and prosecutions for gross negligence are extremely rare – against the tens of thousands of trips that happen day in, day out.

“The bottom line is that teachers and parents should be confident in organising visits outside the classroom and no child should ever be denied educational opportunities because of it.”

Responding to the Learning Outside the Classroom: How Far Should You Go? report published by Ofsted today, Kevin Brennan said:

“We are glad that Ofsted agrees with us that high quality learning outside the classroom is a significant factor in raising standards and improving personal development.

“The Out & About package will mean that learning outside the classroom can be integrated into the curriculum and be well planned and properly evaluated. It will make sure that the best practice is mirrored across the country so young people get the best possible experiences. It’s no surprise that schools do not necessarily know about the Manifesto yet – we have been developing our support package over the last two years with over 1000 organisations and our work promoting it to schools starts today.

“We know that cost is a crucial factor in offering school trips and learning outside the classroom. We have invested heavily in programmes ranging from the trips to Auschwitz to developing school grounds and of course, much can be done literally in schools’ own neighbourhoods. The bottom line is that schools and local authorities should ensure that all children can participate in a full range of activities, particularly those from less well off families.”

 

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
Notes To Editors

1. The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto was launched in November 2006, making eight specific pledges to expanding access to educational opportunities outside the classroom for all three to 19-year-olds.

2. The full details of today’s announcement is:

• Out and About package launched:
o Advice, guidance, resources and training modules to support schools, colleges, early years providers and youth groups provide learning outside the classroom opportunties. It will be available at www.lotc.org.uk
o The package aims to breakdown barriers to pupils getting out and about without compromising on the safety and wellbeing of young people – with ‘how to’ guidance, including planning learning into the curriculum and information on where to go and who can help.

• The Quality Badge brings together a number of existing schemes that cover safety primarily; puts the emphasis on the quality of teaching and learning provided (of which risk management is a part); and offers a quality standard for sectors that hitherto have not had a scheme at all (e.g. museums and galleries, field study centres). It will go live in January 2009 and is currently being piloted. The first badges awarded in January 2009, with the new Council for the Learning Outside the Classroom acting as the awarding body and assessing each organisation against quality and safety criteria. Organisations can register their interest now online with details available at: www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk/

For lower risk activities, such as in churches or theatres, there is an online self evaluation, registration and payment system with sample quality assurance visits – Route 1. For higher risk activities – Route 2, there are 5 Awarding Bodies (School Travel Forum (STF), Expedition Providers Association (EPA), Farming (CEVAS managed by Farming & Countryside Education - FACE), Natural Environment (Field Studies Council) and Adventurous Activities (AAIAC). These bodies run schemes already and are revising them to include the Quality Badge criteria. Both routes have exactly the same quality criteria, they differ on safety criteria and requirements. DCSF has just appointed a contractor to manage the Quality Badge scheme – details to be released soon, once contract signed.

• Council for Learning Outside the Classroom to be launched in March 2009. The interim board is announced today chaired by John Stevenson, Director of the Group for Education in Museums. The independent body will take over implementing the Manifesto; decide on membership criteria; recruit its members and elect a permanent Board and Chairman.
Other members of the interim Board: Fiona Forrest (Arts Council); Lindsay Newton (Assistant Director of Children’s Services, Dudley); Ian Park (Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel); Phil Revell (National Governors’ Association); Patrick Roache (NASUWT); Tony Thomas (Field Studies Council); Randall Williams (AVIUS).
The interim council has been developed from the Learning Outside the Classroom National Advisory Group, set up after the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto was published in November 2006. It represented all the key players from the school workforce, governors, parents, young people and local authorities; the ‘providers’ of learning outside the classroom are grouped into 8 sectors – arts and creativity, built environment, heritage, natural environment, sacred spaces, adventurous activity, farming & countryside, school grounds and early years
• The Paul Hamlyn Foundation launches a £2.5million residential experiences initiative – which will support groups of schools developing long-term residential learning programmes, through existing centres and providers.

3. The first ever national Learning Outside the Classroom Awards are announced today. The awards celebrate schools which have used learning outside the classroom in imaginative and innovative ways including: providing opportunities for informal learning through play; reducing behaviour problems and improve attendance; stimulating, inspiring and improving motivation; providing challenge and the opportunity to take acceptable levels of risk; and improving young people’s attitude to learning.
Full list of winners is below. For more information about the winners please contact Collette O'Leary at Band & Brown Communications 020 7419 7000.

North East Regional Winner
Durham Community and Fyndoune Community School aka Durham Federation, Durham

North West Regional Winner
St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School, Liverpool

Yorkshire & the Humber Regional Winner
Harrogate Grammar School, Harrogate

South East Regional Winner
Moulsecoomb Primary School, Brighton

South West Regional Winner
The Manor School, Melksham, Wiltshire

East of England Regional Winner
Thameside Infant School, Grays, Essex

London Regional Winner
Woodberry Down Primary School, London

West Midlands Regional Winner
Castlechurch Primary School, Stafford

East Midlands Regional Winner
Eastfield School, Leicester

 

Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, mail to:info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

Press Notice 2008/0219 (Previously known as 2008/0219)