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Time to End Cotton Wool Culture and get Young People Out of the Classroom
Dated: 02/10/2008
Time to End Cotton Wool Culture and get Young People Out of the Classroom
More children and young people will be able to go on educational school trips thanks to new measures slashing red tape and giving teachers more support, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Children’s Minister Kevin Brennan said today.
The Out and About package, launched this morning and backed with £4.5 million of funding, is designed to give schools much clearer information to organise effective learning outside the classroom activities for all pupils.
It includes a new Quality Badge scheme which will cut paperwork for teachers by helping schools and local authorities to identify organisations that provide high quality experiences and manage safety effectively.
Mr Balls said learning outside the classroom – whether within school grounds, locally and on visits further afield or even abroad - should be part and parcel of every child’s school career.
But he said it was wrong to deny children valuable learning opportunities or wrap them in cotton wool because of risk assessment paperwork or fears over compensation culture.
And he stressed it was time to allay teachers’ fears about litigation over incidents on school trips once and for all.
The Quality Badge scheme is part of a series of measures being launched at the first-ever Learning Outside the Classroom National Conference, at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Kevin Brennan is the keynote speaker.
The full Out & About package includes:
- A new Quality Badge to identify organisations that provide high quality experiences and manage safety effectively - from field study centres and outdoor activity centres to museums and historic houses. The first badges will be awarded next year; and
- Online guidance, advice and training to help school staff plan learning outside the classroom effectively.
Also being announced:
- The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom to deliver the Manifesto Action Plan over the longer term; supported with funding from the Government. The interim board is announced today with the full Council up and running by autumn 2009;
- £2.5million initiative to promote residential schemes for young people funded and run by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation charity; and
- First ever national Learning Outside the Classroom Awards rewarding outstanding provision in schools, colleges and early years providers. Castlechurch Primary School in Stafford is the first national winner, alongside eight other regional winners.
In addition, new guidance for school employers on dealing with incidents on school trips will be published shortly.
Today’s announcements follow the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto launched in November 2006 – the first time a Government committed to increasing the learning outside the classroom to all three-to-19-year-olds.
Over 1,000 organisations, including teacher and headteacher associations, have now signed up to the Manifesto.
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