 Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes has shown itself to be at the top of the class for educational visits by being awarded a Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge.
The Quality Badge scheme combines for the first time learning and safety into one easily recognisable badge for all organisations providing learning outside the classroom experiences.
Bletchley Park’s Director of Education, Victoria Worpole said “Being awarded the Quality Badge is a real coup for all the staff and volunteers here as it shows that we offer young people the type of high quality learning experiences they really benefit from. We're thrilled to get official recognition for our efforts and we look forward to welcoming even more children and young people from the local area to our museum in future.”
The Quality Badge was developed as part of the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto, a national initiative to ensure young people are given more opportunities to have these experiences as part of the curriculum. The Quality Badge scheme is part of the Government’s £4.5m Out and About package which, along with the badges, provides guidance and information for teachers on how to plan and organise high quality activities. The badge is designed to make it easier for teachers to identify providers of quality educational visits. Organisations will display the badge as a signal to schools that their venue has met required standards, so teachers do not need to carry out their own risk or quality assessments.
There are two routes to the Quality Badge. Route 1 is for organisations offering activities that are considered relatively low risk and activities that take place wholly in controlled areas used by the public, such as museums, galleries, places of worship and zoos. Route 2 is for organisations providing activities that require a degree of technical knowledge and experience beyond the lay person. For example, adventurous activities such as rock climbing and river and coastal fieldwork, where young people enter the water to make measurements.
Providers looking to gain the badge will need to meet a set of six quality indicators and will be supported through a developmental process by a package of on-line support materials, which will include guidance, good practice exemplars, downloadable templates and training materials.
Ed Balls, Secretary of State Children, Schools and Families, said:
“Educational visits are among the most memorable experiences in a child’s school life. Quality Badges offer teachers a guarantee that not only is a venue providing the sort of educational value that they can build on in class long after the visit but they also have the appropriate risk management structures in place.
It is a significant victory in our battle to move away from the misguided perception that learning outside the classroom is a potential minefield for teachers. I want to see teachers using Quality Badges as practical decision making tool. It should ensure that many more young people have memorable, exciting and valuable learning outside the classroom experiences. I congratulate Bletchley Park on being awarded the badge.”
The Quality Badge is available to large and small organisations providing quality learning outside the classroom experiences and managing risk effectively. Organisations already awarded the badge include museums, adventurous activity and field study centres, places of worship, art galleries, visitor attractions and farms, with many more starting to apply.
The Quality Badge was developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in conjunction with a wide range of partners. Badges are awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.
For more information about the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge, please visit www.lotcqualitybadge.org.uk
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