Outdoor Learning Centre

Welcome to our Learning Outside the Classroom page

Mrs Lesley Smith – OLC Manager

Learning outside the classroom is a core component of our curriculum offer. We are committed to facilitating a whole host of outdoor learning activities linked to our themes as well as bringing learning to life through curriculum linked visits, experiences and visitors.

Eastwood’s OLC and LOtC is all about raising pupil’s achievement, self-esteem and confidence. It provides, enriches and enables children to develop knowledge of life skills through continuous and progressive learning. It has an impact on positive behaviour and adds depth and links to the curriculum.

Outdoor learning is fun, it is also collaborative, messy and creative. Seeing children working in a different and unusual way outside can have huge positive effects back inside the classroom. The children hold themselves in higher esteem because they have been learning in an environment that has enabled and challenged them to be successful.

LOtC Mark Gold Certificate Eastwood Community School (1)1

We are delighted to have received national recognition for our commitment to taking learning outside the classroom (LOtC) once again, being awarded the national LOtC Mark (Gold) by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, the highest award of its kind.

LOtC Mark is awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, the national voice for learning outside the classroom. LOtC is known to contribute significantly to raising standards and improving pupils’ personal, social & emotional development. It also contributes to the quality and depth of learning (OFSTED, Learning Outside the Classroom - How far should you go? 2008).

Dr Anne Hunt, Chief Executive of CLOtC said: “Learning outside the classroom has many proven educational benefits as well as providing some of the most valuable and memorable experiences in a child’s school life. Achieving LOtC Mark (Gold) demonstrates that [insert school name] is a leader in providing learning experiences outside the classroom and that these sessions are a genuine part of the everyday life of the school, are available to all of their children and young people. I congratulate them on achieving this award.”