Learning Outside the Classroom

'Learning by doing is the best way to truly understand.' - John Dewey 

Intent

At St. Francis de Sales, our intent is to provide a high-quality and ambitious Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced from Year 3 to Year 6. We believe that LOtC is a fundamental pillar of our long-term curriculum design, providing a rich, real-world context that deepens the knowledge and skills acquired with the classroom ensuring a seamless transition between classroom theory and real-world application.

Our curriculum is designed to foster a growth mindset and build character resilience, ensuring that all pupils develop the fluency and confidence to navigate unfamiliar environments. Through a blend of challenge and discovery, we aim for our pupils to:

• Relish challenging and unfamiliar tasks and environments; 
• Embrace learning from their mistakes and recognise this as a key aspect for improvement;
• Develop resilience, independence and self confidence; 
• Learn about themselves and conquer their fears; 
• Learn to work effectively as part of a team and independently; 
• Embrace working with the local community in order to develop and improve the local environment and reduce carbon footprints.

Cohesion Strategy 

Coherence is strengthened through our five essentials: Acquisition and Retention of Knowledge (first-hand experiences that deepen understanding and secure learning through meaningful recall and application), Enriching Experiences (high-quality visits, outdoor learning and engagement with the local community that broaden horizons and provide real-life contexts), Independence (developing resilience, responsibility and confidence as pupils manage risk, solve problems and take ownership of their learning), Oracy (structured opportunities for discussion, reflection and explanation that enable pupils to articulate ideas, reason effectively and build vocabulary), and Understanding (applying learning to new and varied contexts, making connections across the curriculum and embedding learning beyond the classroom).

Our Learning Outside the Classroom curriculum ensures all pupils build secure knowledge, cultural capital and personal development, enabling them to become confident, curious learners who are well prepared for the next stage of education and life in the modern world.

Implementation

At St Francis de Sales, Learning Outside the Classroom is deliberately planned and embedded across the curriculum to enhance and enrich pupils’ learning experiences. Teachers purposefully identify opportunities to extend learning beyond the classroom, recognising the value of varied settings in deepening understanding, building knowledge and supporting pupils’ personal development.

Learning Outside the Classroom is implemented through a coherent range of experiences, including:

• Planned curriculum-linked outdoor learning opportunities, identified within each year group, ensuring learning is contextualised and knowledge is applied in meaningful, real-world contexts.
• Educational visits and high-quality in-school workshops, which are carefully selected to enrich curriculum content, broaden pupils’ experiences and enhance cultural capital.
• Residential experiences, which provide pupils with opportunities to learn in unfamiliar environments, apply skills independently, and develop resilience, confidence and teamwork.
• Purposeful unstructured play opportunities, such as the Play Pod, which support the development of creativity, social interaction, problem-solving and emotional resilience.

Through this structured and inclusive approach, Learning Outside the Classroom strengthens curriculum coherence and ensures pupils are well supported to apply learning, develop independence and thrive both academically and personally.