How Trumpington Park Primary School have embraced learning beyond the classroom
Anna Patuck and Emma Mathers, LOtC Leads
Whilst enrichment activities were being offered at Trumpington Park Primary School, they were also aware that they had some very underused resources sitting within the school grounds and immediate locality. However, it wasn’t until their engagement with the LOtC Mark that they realised the scope of what LOtC could entail from daily use of the school grounds to residential trips and everything in between!
On hearing about the partnership working between CLOtC and the Meridian Trust schools, we were excited for the opportunity to have meaningful discussions about the wide-ranging benefits of learning outside the classroom (LOtC), and were looking forward to the training opportunities that it might bring.
Initially we were a bit daunted when faced with what looked like a lot of paperwork but, after some initial training, it was easily broken down and more manageable.
We asked all staff to complete a questionnaire which included how they felt about LOtC, and what they had done during the last academic year that would count as LOtC. We gathered children’s voice on LOtC by asking a group of children about their experiences and what it meant to them. This was shared at a staff meeting and provided useful insight for our staff as to how important the children view it. The actions were then informed by this feedback.
During that initial staff meeting we introduced staff to the term LOtC, explained its importance and the impact it could have. We created lists of opportunities available in the school grounds, locally, further afield and visitors and then gave staff an opportunity to explore the curriculum map for the next year and map in the opportunities they could provide.
We now have a spreadsheet to track the opportunities that are being offered termly and ask teachers to indicate when they are providing an LOtC opportunity by adding a symbol to their planning..
We are planning to hold a termly LOtC day whilst we raise the profile of LOtC so that it is not forgotten about in the hectic life of school!
I have always had a strong inclination that enrichment was vital to learning. It seems through observation to engage a wider range of children in different ways and allows different characters to flourish. By bringing learning alive and making it relevant to the children’s everyday lives, stronger connections can be made. This provides lasting memories. When I think back to my own school days, it is really only ‘trips’ that I can recall, leading me to think the impact on people must be significant in terms of personal and social development.
The LOtC Mark Progress Tracker has helped immensely in evaluating where we were as a school and in highlighting what needs to be done to improve. It allows us to focus on recording our successes and helps to keep our eye on the evidence trail.
Whilst it’s perhaps still a little too early in our LOtC journey to notice impact we have certainly seen more opportunities being given locally such as visits to the local orchard and links being made with local businesses.
What are the next steps and goals for your school’s LOtC and impact on the staff and students?
In the coming weeks, we will be reminding teachers to input any LOtC opportunities they have given into the new spreadsheet so we can start looking at the provision so far this term, and identify areas where we could improve. We will continue to return to the LOtC Mark Progress Tracker to see what evidence we have collected and what we might do next to develop.
In the coming months, we hope to hold our first LOtC day in school with the aim of getting everyone outdoors and encouraging teachers to consider how they can present the curriculum differently on this day. This will raise the profile of LOtC and hopefully put it firmly back on everyone’s agenda. We will celebrate the LOtC opportunities being given on social media and in the school newsletter.
