Out and about guidance

Welcome!

This guidance has been drawn together by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, with the help of many experts and practitioners in learning outside the classroom. The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto was launched in 2006, following extensive discussions with a wide range of stakeholders and a public consultation. Since that time, many schools, individuals and organisations working with young people in both formal and non-formal settings have given their support to the Manifesto and its principles.

Our aim is not only to make clear that learning outside the classroom has significant learning benefits for participants but also to explore how it can be successfully delivered so that more young people develop their knowledge, understanding and skills beyond the classroom walls in a wide range of settings such as schools, children's centres and youth projects.

What is Learning Outside the Classroom?

At its simplest, it is when young people move outside their immediate and accustomed environment to learn from first-hand experiences. For many learners that environment will be the classroom, but it may also be the village hall where the playgroup meets, a pre-school nursery, a youth club, a specialist facility for young people with learning disabilities and specific educational needs, or a further education workshop. Wherever young people learn, from the ages of 0 to 19, the principles of learning outside the classroom has a part to play as an integral element in that learning. All young people should experience learning outside the classroom and its benefits, not as a bolt-on to learning but as a central aspect of their learning experience.  Read more here: What is Learning Outside the Classroom?

The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto aims are as follows:

• To improve training and professional development opportunities for schools and the wider children and young people's workforce;
• To provide all young people with a wide range of experiences outside the classroom, including extended school activities, integrated and targeted youth support, early years work and one or more residential visits; 
• To better enable schools, local authorities and other organisations working with young people to manage activities safely and efficiently;
• To make a strong case for learning outside the classroom, so there is widespread appreciation of the unique contribution these experiences make to young people’s lives;
• To provide easy access to information, knowledge, expertise, guidance and resources;
• To offer learning experiences of high quality;
• To identify ways of engaging parents, carers and the wider community in learning outside the classroom.

Why go outside? When you go outside the classroom you have the opportunity to transform learning and raise achievement. Learning outside the classroom allows participants to learn in context, to learn by practical engagement, and to learn by personal discovery. They can acquire new skills, work collaboratively with others and develop a better sense of themselves and their potential. Give it a try!