The Academy of Cuxton demonstrates how strategic planning of learning outside the classroom can enhance curriculum delivery and student engagement through their award-winning CARE Package programme.
With government reviewing its Curriculum and Assessment, and also developing an Enrichment Framework, it seems timely to shine a spotlight on planning learning outside the classroom (LOtC) so that it can support both Curriculum and Enrichment goals at the same time.
LOtC offers a wealth of benefits for children and young people. From enhancing physical and mental wellbeing, to building confidence and resilience, and inspiring careers and life choices, high-quality LOtC experiences play a vital role in extending and enriching the curriculum and learning.
Whether it’s exploring a local park, taking part in a cultural tour abroad, or engaging with history during a museum workshop, LOtC can bring learning to life in powerful ways. With the right planning, schools can make the most of these valuable experiences, ensuring they excite and engage and help students to thrive.
What does effective, high-quality enrichment through LOtC look like in practise and how can planning ahead improve impact?
At The Academy of Cuxton in Kent, the answers to these questions are being demonstrated through their committed, whole-school approach. The school recently achieved the Gold LOtC Mark to recognise its commitment to giving students regular access to LOtC experiences that support learning, wellbeing, and personal development.
For example, the school established their CARE (Cuxton’s Agreed Real Life Enrichment) Package. The purpose of the package is to enrich learning and to provide experiences that children might not ordinarily have. It covers 54 planned educational visits that the children experience from the age of two to 11, including field trips, places of worship and historical venues.
Headteacher Charlotte Aldham-Breary, explains more: “There are many benefits of planning such experiences: we can ensure that no visit is repeated; parents and children know what to expect in future years, helping with financial planning; visits can be tweaked on a yearly basis according to the previous evaluation; and to ensure a variety of subject areas have LOtC experiences planned, not just history and geography.
“There is an expectation of staff that the CARE Package is organised in a timely manner and is embedded into the termly planning cycle, as either a hook for learning or consolidation of what has previously been taught. Staff have commented on increased levels of engagement in learning as a result of the LOtC experiences, as well as increased recall of knowledge around the topic taught. Children tell us that they love the activities provided and that it helps them improve their learning of different curricular areas.”
Within the CARE Package, KS1 and KS2 children all visit a variety of religious places of worship varying from the local church, and nearby cathedral, to a mosque and a gurdwara.
Charlotte said: “As a result, the children have an increased understanding of the importance of respecting different cultures and religions. By visiting the religious places of worship, what has been taught in the classroom comes to life in engaging way. This has helped our children retain a good level of knowledge from one year to the next, particularly in relation to how different religions worship and ultimately what they believe in.
“Staff and parent volunteers have commented on the exemplary behaviour of pupils during such visits, with children engaging in activities that they wouldn’t necessarily experience outside of school.”
Charlotte Aldham-Breary.
“We are incredibly proud of our CARE Package and how it brings learning outside the classroom to the forefront of the fantastic education we provide. It ensures that our children experience a broad and balanced curriculum through learning outside experiences, which are embedded into daily learning so that our children appreciate how to look after and enjoy their immediate surroundings, community and the wider world.”
Learning Beyond programme
Here at the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, we offer different levels of support for schools through our Learning Beyond programme. These levels include Membership, LOtC Mark Direct, and Mentoring. The LOtC Mark is a framework designed to support and celebrate schools and educational settings who provide experiences beyond the classroom across their whole curriculum, indoors and out, on and off-site, near and far.
The LOtC Mark Direct and Mentoring pathways give schools and educational settings a LOtC Progress Tracker. This provides a framework to help schools review, plan, develop and evaluate their provision to meet students’ needs and specific learning objectives.
As demonstrated by The Academy of Cuxton, by embedding LOtC within daily teaching practice and school culture, LOtC can help open a world of possibilities for young people – preparing them for the wider world and helping deliver an education that prepares them to thrive in life and work.
To find out more about the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, visit www.lotc.org.uk.
