Meridian Trust is delighted to announce that the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom has awarded a range of Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards to its secondary and special schools.
The Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Mark is a quality assurance scheme that supports and celebrates schools and educational settings who provide meaningful experiences beyond the classroom across the whole curriculum, indoors and out, on and off-site.
The success of these achievements is a testament to the Trust’s commitment to providing learning experiences that reach out beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
Dr Anne Hunt, Chief Executive of the Council for LOtC said: “Learning outside the classroom is well evidenced to deliver multiple co-benefits to learning, health & wellbeing, skills, and socio-emotional outcomes, as well as building much needed connections between schools and their communities near and far. It can help break down barriers and address inequalities. It also provides some of the most memorable experiences in our school life.
Achieving the LOtC Mark reflects Meridian Trust’s commitment to ‘extending the boundaries’ and providing opportunities for every young person to succeed by embedding a full range of learning outside the classroom experiences into each school’s unique approach. I congratulate all the schools on achieving the award, and I look forward to hearing how they continue to benefit from taking their teaching and learning above and beyond.
Martin Campbell, Executive Principal of Meridian Trust, said: “We are incredibly proud of the 16 secondary and special schools that have achieved the prestigious LOtC Mark so far. This recognition reflects our deep commitment to providing our pupils with enriching learning experiences that extend beyond traditional classroom spaces. This is the first time the Council for LOtC has worked at scale and in partnership with a multi-academy trust. The awards across all schools highlight the dedication of our staff and students to embracing innovative and memorable approaches to education that prepare young people for success in the future.
We remain fully committed to ensuring that all of our schools continue to benefit from the transformative power of learning outside the classroom. The Meridian Trust primary schools are currently being assessed and we are hoping to share another set of very positive outcomes very soon.”
Dr Anne Hunt added: “On 14th November we are so excited to be hosting the National LOtC conference, with the theme ‘Supporting Students to Thrive’, at one of Meridian Trust’s schools, Weldon Village Academy. The conference offers a unique opportunity for over 300 education professionals to share ideas and explore different ways to take learning beyond the classroom, and for leading educators from schools and LOtC providers to learn from each other. This year we are delighted that, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors (Canal & River Trust, Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter and PGL Beyond) all the students at the Academy will be going out on a whole day of learning beyond the classroom while we take over their school for the conference. Please come and join us for an incredible day, there are a few tickets left.”
