If your organisation provides educational experiences for young people in the adventurous activities sector then read on to find out how the new Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge could help increase your footfall, while also helping you to better understand and meet the needs of your users.

Latest LOtC News (April 09 external web pages - First Quality Badge issued, Adventuremark or Learning Outside the Classroom?, Scheme Approval, LOtC Roadshow Dates, AAIAC Managing Forum meets)

What are the benefits of the Quality Badge to organisations providing learning outside the classroom experiences?

• The Quality Badge brings together existing safety and quality badges to form one easily recognised and understood system for schools and other users. It provides a national benchmark for the provision of educational visits and recognises  organisations like your delivering high quality teaching and learning experiences and managing risk effectively.
• It provides a framework for working in partnership with schools, youth groups and local authorities and aims to reduce red tape, making Quality Badge holders a more attractive prospect for those organising educational visits.
• The Quality Badge will also enable organisations to improve their practice so that they are confident of providing meaningful and inspirational experiences for all young people.

Who can apply?

• The Quality Badge is available to all organisations providing learning outside the classroom experiences. There are two routes to the Quality Badge. Route 2 is for those organisations whose activities require a degree of technical knowledge and experience that are beyond the lay person, such as ensuring children are operating safely on a high ropes course or a circus trapeze. Route 1 (for which there is a separate leaflet) is for those organisations whose activities are considered relatively low risk. More information can be found at www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk

How to apply

• In order to achieve the Quality Badge your organisation must be committed to providing high quality teaching and learning experiences. You will need to demonstrate that:
  - Learning outside the classroom is understood and valued;
  - Processes are in place to establish and maintain an effective
  - Partnership with schools and other groups of young learners;
  - Structures are in place to support and enable effective learning.
• Organisations which meet the above criteria can apply for a Quality Badge online at www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk and be supported through the process by guidance and good practice exemplars. Adventurous activities providers will be assessed by the Adventure Activities Industry Advisory Committee (AAIAC), before they are awarded the badge, to ensure that they meet the set of quality indicators and have adequate safety management systems in place.
• The Quality Badge was developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Badges are awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.
• Download this info. here (1.5Mb Pdf)
• For information about the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge, please visit www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk

Some background to the scheme

• The Department for Children, Schools and Families has worked with its National Advisory and Manifesto partners to develop a brand new Quality Badge for learning outside the classroom providers.  Organisations with this badge are recognised by schools as offering high quality teaching and learning experiences, while also managing risk effectively. The badge helps achieve two of the key aims of the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto; to offer learning experiences of agreed high quality; and to better enable schools, local authorities and other key organisations to manage visits safely and efficiently.
• It is hoped that this badge will help overcome some of the barriers preventing schools from providing out of classroom experiences for their pupils, as it should simplify the school’s task of planning and running activities when they choose to use an external provider. The recent Ofsted Report Learning outside the classroom: how far should you go?, released in October, found that learning outside the classroom contributes significantly to raising standards and improving pupils’ personal, social and emotional development., but that far too often these experiences are seen as an extra or a treat, rather than as an essential and integral part of the curriculum. The Quality Badge should therefore provide huge benefits for schools and others. Using badged providers will help schools, teachers and other leaders to plan more effectively educational visits that meet their needs and those of their young people.
• Badged providers meet a set of ‘quality indicators’ demonstrating that they offer quality experiences for young people. During quality assurance visits, assessors look for evidence that the provider meets these indicators and has appropriate processes and procedures in place.
• The Quality Badge is available to large and small organisations providing learning outside the classroom experiences. These, for example, include field study and adventurous activity centres, museums, historic houses, places of worship, theatres, galleries, zoos, botanic gardens, farms, etc. as well as organisations providing expeditions and cultural, language and study visits abroad.
• The scheme went live in January 2009 with the first badges being awarded in February 2009. The new Council for Learning Outside the Classroom will be the Awarding Body for the Quality Badge.
• Providers looking to gain the badge are supported through a developmental process by a package of on-line support materials, including guidance, good practice exemplars, downloadable templates and training materials.
• Guidance, called ‘Out & About’, is also available for schools and parents detailing how to plan, run and evaluate exciting and challenging experiences, along with a ‘making the case’ section which highlights the benefits of learning outside the classroom and provides research evidence.