Personal Development

Educational visits and learning outside the classroom are an integral part of life at Educate U. We believe that all children have the right to experience the unique and special nature of being outdoors and learning outside of a classroom based environment to aid their personal development. It is therefore part of our broad, relevant and engaging curriculum that children and young people have first-hand experiences and the opportunity to take part in activities outside the classroom. Learning outside the classroom links in with our school values of Safety, Trust, Choice, Collaboration and Empowerment which will form the basis of many of the learning opportunities outside the classroom in our specialist setting.

At Educate U we offer an extensive activity programme including:

• Forest School – Our own site based in Arundel which children attend weekly.
• Swimming – Provision based at Splashpoint, Worthing and other local providers based on the need of the child.
• Climbing
• Cooking & Baking
• Trampolining
• Local class trips. - Our class trips are both curriculum-based and as inclusive trips to celebrate our children. We never charge families for the cost of trips or excursions.
• Residential school trips.
• Annual pantomime trips
• Bespoke offer such as diving/gym membership for older children.
• 3D Team – ELSAs, Youth workers and Music, Coding and Media specialists
• Specific provision on a specific needs basis e.g. equine therapy, farm provision.

Personal development is supported through our ASDAN and KeySteps curriculums. To further aid personal development we also ensure development of Learning Outside the Classroom opportunities.

What is Learning Outside the Classroom?

‘Learning Outside the Classroom is about raising achievement through an organised, powerful approach to learning in which direct experience is of prime importance. This is not only about what we learn but importantly how and where we learn.’ (DfES Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto 2006).

Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) is the use of places other than the classroom for teaching and learning. It is about getting children and young people out and about, providing them with challenging, exciting and different experiences to help them learn.
The places where learning happens can have a significant effect on how a child engages with a subject or an idea. LOtC can happen at almost any time and almost anywhere – outdoors or indoors: in the school grounds, on the high street, in the park, in museums and art galleries, learning, on fieldwork opportunities, at the beach or anywhere in the world.

Teachers ensure LOtC opportunities are maximised by:

• Including LOtC within curriculum planning
• Planning cross curricular links especially with regards to English, Maths, Geography, History, Art, RE, PE and STEM.
• Providing links with the local and wider community
• Utilising all of our school grounds
• Communicating with parents and carers and the wider community on the benefits of Learning Outside the Classroom
• Ensuring LOtC is valued and emphasis is provided on the benefits and the impact it has
• Being committed to continuously improve and review LOtC provision within the curriculum.

Where might outdoor learning take place?

The school grounds

We are lucky that the school sits in such a easily accessible location for both rural and urban LOtC opportunities, but we also offer LOtC within our small school grounds which offer excellent opportunities for both formal and informal learning. We aim to use our grounds as frequently as possible through:

• Including it as a planned resource within the curriculum for example, gardening in KeySteps and ASDAN.
• Using it as a resource to support other curriculum areas, for example, sketching in art, stimulus for writing activities, cookery, music, media.
• Opening the school up for events and welcoming use by members of the wider school community e.g. Christmas Fayre/Summer Fayres where children may learn to create products to sell, run stalls and engage with their customers, take money and provide change.

Forest School

We also have Forest School provision based in ancient woodland in Arundel which encourages children to explore their own innate learning through an approach to learning that maximises the emotional, social and developmental benefits of education. The Forest School is run by a trained Forest School Leader and sets the learning in a different context for children where they can undertake a range of practical activities and carry out small achievable tasks. Children can develop their team working skills, learn to become more independent and be encouraged to take risks. The Forest School encourages children to learn to solve problems and be creative and imaginative and show enterprising behaviour.

The local environment and community

The locality around our school harbours a wealth of opportunities within an accessible distance. All classes are encouraged to make visits into the local community including:

• Visits to Worthing seafront
• Visits to the South Downs
• Visits in and around the local Worthing town centre
• Local area fieldwork trips
• Visiting religious and community building
• Taking part in festivals and events
• Making links with local clubs
• Using museums, businesses
• Using local facilities such as parks, the South Downs, swimming pools and the library
• Attending annual pantomimes in local theatres.

Further afield

Learners can develop their skills to explore further afield including museums, art galleries, theatre, cinema, sports arenas places of business, places of worship, through using the excellent transport links with accessibility to our surrounding areas and Central London.

Residential places

Staying away from home is a powerful way of developing key life skills, building confidence, self-esteem, communication and team working. Our residential visits provide children with an opportunity to widen their range of experiences and find new skills and interests in which they may excel. The school offers annual residential experiences to children in KS2 and KS3.

Learning outside the classroom – our core offer to aid personal development.

We aim to provide the following offer to all our children:

To aid inclusion for all our children and young people, all Learning Outside the Classroom activities linked to personal development are at no cost to our families and carers