How do you plan a valuable learning experience?

With a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and where you want to go, you can make decisions about the best ways to organise these learning experiences. It will help you to plan for:

• the roles of teachers/practitioners and other adults 
• inclusion
• risk management
• appropriate resources
• effective partnership
• different learning styles.

It should also ensure that this learning experience is integrated into wider curriculum (and other development) plans, by helping you to:

• support young people to make best use of the experience
• capture opportunities for follow-up
• extend learning beyond the learning outside the classroom experience(s)
• add value by using core skills and cross-curricular opportunities.

All activities should have a clear link to the wider curriculum and should contribute to enabling young people to become:

• successful learners, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
• confident individuals, able to lead safe and healthy lives
• responsible citizens, who make a positive contribution to society.

To maximise the learning opportunities, all those working with children and young people should take an overview of the range of learning outside the classroom experiences they offer, to ensure that, over time, there is progression and development which is reflected and contributed across the whole spectrum of experiences, activities and visits.

To find out more about achieving this see LOtC Curriculum Planning.

Compelling learning experiences

All learning outside the classroom experiences have the potential, if properly planned, to be compelling learning experiences. The latest curriculum documents highlight the importance of ‘compelling learning’. QCA describes compelling learning as: ‘A real and relevant context for learning through which young people recognise for themselves the importance of learning to their lives now and in the future.’

A compelling learning experience:

• has clear learning outcomes relating to what learners need to know and understand, the skills they will acquire and areas of personal development
• is real and relevant, connecting learning at school to the world beyond the classroom, and learning in non-formal settings6  
• has a real audience and purpose
• provides contexts that draw together several aspects of learning, connecting different subject disciplines, focusing on a specific subject, or linking learning through cross-curricular dimensions or the development of personal, social, learning and thinking skills
• gives learners a sense of autonomy, having the chance to think critically, make decisions, take responsibility and manage risks
• offers opportunities for cooperation and collaboration
• broadens horizons and raises aspirations, offering contexts that challenge learners and encourage them to step outside their comfort zone.