Early Years Planning for learning outside the classroom

Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom

Module 7 | Session 1 • Session 1: The benefits of Learning Outside the Classroom for Early Years • Session 2: The learning experience: from big picture to current provision • Session 3: Maximising the learning experience through planning • Session 4: Policy and practice Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 2

Module 7 | Session 1 By the end of this session, you will: • be aware of how powerful learning outside the classroom can be in raising standards of achievement • have reflected on your own beliefs around how children learn best, and considered them in relation to other people’s thinking • have identified at least ten key benefits for taking children outside the classroom. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 3

Module 7 | Session 1 You will do this by: • discussing the skills, knowledge and attributes that learning outside the classroom can help develop • exchanging views and prioritising your beliefs around learning • considering and matching the benefits of learning outside the classroom as listed on the LOt. C website. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 4

Module 7 | Session 1 Think of something positive you learned when you were young, which involved being outside. – What did you learn? – How did you learn it? – What made it memorable? Now share your experiences with others in the room. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 5

Module 7 | Session 1 ‘We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances. This is not only about what we learn but importantly how and where we learn. ’ Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto, 2006 Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 6

Module 7 | Session 1 How do young children learn? In groups of 4/5: • Write on the cards provided a set of learning principles based on your beliefs of how young children learn best • Prioritise them in order of importance • Envoy • Re-evaluate your priorities as a group Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 7

Module 7 | Session 1 What are the benefits for learners of learning outside the classroom? In new groups: • Come up with at least ten benefits; write on each sticky note provided • Match your group’s benefits with the ten on the flipchart at the front of the room (1 point for each match) • What other ones have you got? (2 points for each valid benefit) Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 8

Module 7 | Session 1 Reflecting on your learning • Individually, what new thoughts have you had? • What might you do as a result? • Write them down in your resource book on page 4 • Share your thinking with others Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 9

Module 7 | Session 2 By the end of the session, you will have: • a greater awareness of the Early Learning Goals • carried out a preliminary audit of your current provision for learning outside the classroom • considered what different spaces are open to you in developing more learning outside the classroom • considered the effectiveness of activities against the ease of running them. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 10

Module 7 | Session 2 You will do this by: • matching Early Learning Goals to your current provision • using a matrix to consider what other learning outside the classroom activities you could do, and where you could do them • mapping out possible learning outside the classroom activities onto an X/Y graph of Ease vs. Effectiveness. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 11

Module 7 | Session 2 1. What is the framework of current practice? 2. How do we cover it? Six groups of delegates – each group to consider one of the Early Learning Goals: – Personal, social and emotional development – Communication, language and literacy – Mathematical development – Knowledge and understanding of the world – Physical development – Creative development Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 12

Module 7 | Session 2 Think of all the ways you currently cover the goal you are assigned to, and specifically, how learning outside the classroom supports each goal. – Which ones are the most challenging? – Which parts could you be doing more of? – How could learning outside the classroom be used to do this? Write onto flipchart paper to feed back to the whole group. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 13

Module 7 | Session 2 Audit of Physical Environment What happens now? What’s the existing provision? What experiences do the children have? How well does it work for us? How effective is it, how do we know? What holds us back? e. g. H&S, time, space, finance, staffing, inclination. . . What could we do to improve it? How could we improve it? Time spent by children outside each day/week Access for 0– 3 year olds compared to older children Planned and balanced experiences, both indoor and outdoor Wide range of resources for all children outdoors Safe and secure storage outdoors Secure and attractive site boundary Special area for toddlers and babies Seating and quiet areas outside Making the most of green/planted areas Adequate shade and shelter Opportunities for children to take manageable risks and experience challenge Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 14

Module 7 | Session 2 Having completed the audit, – What have you learned about your setting? – What will you do first? – short-term development – What will you plan to do in the medium term? – What aspirational goal/s could you start to work towards? Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 15

Module 7 | Session 2 High Effectiveness Ease versus Effectiveness matrix Low Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom Ease High 16

Module 7 | Session 2 Reflect on all three activities run this session: • What have you learned? • What issues have you addressed? • What will you do differently when you return to your setting? Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 17

Module 7 | Session 3 Images courtesy of Learning through Landscapes Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 18

Module 7 | Session 3 By the end of this session, you will: • be aware of some of the practicalities of learning outside the classroom, including an assessment of risk versus benefits • be in a position to plan a learning experience outside the classroom that maximises children’s and young people’s learning. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 19

Module 7 | Session 3 You will do this by: • engaging in an activity that considers risks and benefits of different learning outside the classroom activities • planning learning outside the classroom activities in the light of the learning from this module and the previous one. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 20

Module 7 | Session 3 What are the potential benefits/risks to young children? In groups: • Each group to have a pack of five ‘action’ words and flipchart paper • Take the first ‘action’ word from the pack and… Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 21

Module 7 | Session 3 RISKS Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 22

Module 7 | Session 3 BENEFITS Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 23

Module 7 | Session 3 Remember that the key driver should be LEARNING High Risks versus Benefits matrix Low Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom Benefits High 24

Module 7 | Session 3 Planning tasks in learning outside the classroom In a new group: • You will be given a venue by the trainer • Decide the learning outcomes, age of children, context etc. • Take the planning tasks cut-out cards, and a Triangle 6 sheet • Prioritise the top 6 tasks – and be prepared to justify why these are the top ones. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 25

Module 7 | Session 3 Triangle 6 Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 26

Module 7 | Session 3 Planning an activity for your own setting • Now consider three different learning outside the classroom activities that you will run in your own setting in the near future. Consider: – Distance – Duration – Type of environment Remember that the – Early Learning Goal focus key driver should be LEARNING – Learning outcomes – Ease v. effectiveness v. risk • Tell someone about one of them in detail. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 27

Module 7 | Session 3 By the end of this session, you will: • be aware of some of the practicalities of learning outside the classroom including an assessment of risk versus benefits • be in a position to plan a learning experience outside the classroom that maximises children’s and young people’s learning. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 28

Module 7 | Session 4 Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 29

Module 7 | Session 4 By the end of the session, you will: • be able to assess a variety of different follow-up activities for effective learning • be able to assess different ‘problem’ scenarios • know the key elements of what should be in an LOt. C Policy. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 30

Module 7 | Session 4 You will do this by: • working in groups to consider which follow-up activities are more effective for which learning outside the classroom experiences • producing one or more follow-up activities for your curriculum area/age group • sharing your thoughts and ideas • looking at real-life situations and discussing what could be done differently. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 31

Module 7 | Session 4 After the activity – follow-up and evaluation • What follow-up and continuation activities can be pursued when back in the classroom? • How do you know whether the experience was successful and met your learning objectives? • How can the learning and questions raised by the experience or visit be shared with others? • Celebrate your achievements! Learning Outside the Classroom website Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 32

Module 7 | Session 4 A | Olivia, aged 6, lives at home with her mother, who has a disability that makes household chores difficult for her. Olivia has to do some of the cleaning and washing herself. She is in the Reception class. Dear Aunt Agatha I am six and have been at school for a bit. Mostly, it is good and I love reading and writing. Phonics stuff is cool. We do tons of stuff outside and I like it when we look at the plants and trees and when we learn about the environment. The thing is that my mum can’t move easily and she gets cross if I get dirty at school. It hurts her hands when she has to clean my shoes. I try to stay clean, but it is not easy. I don’t want to ask for an apron because I want to be the same as my friends. What should I do? Olivia Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 33

Module 7 | Session 4 B | Mrs Jones has a son, Jacob, aged 4, who likes to get involved in everything but seems always to be hurting himself and getting into scrapes. On the last school visit, Jacob was knocked over by a child who was on the swings and Mrs Jones is unhappy with the arrangements. Dear Aunt Agatha I am still very annoyed and upset about Jacob’s injury he got last week on the visit to the adventure playground. I don’t know who was meant to be in charge, but if the supervision had been proper, then this accident would never have happened. He says there were no adults around all the children were just left to play on their own. Also, when someone did come, they hadn’t got any stuff to put on his cut leg or the huge bump he got on the back of his head. I want to know what the right procedures are and what should happen or else he won’t be going on any other trips because I can’t trust you to look after him properly. Yours, Mrs Jones Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 34

Module 7 | Session 4 C | Mr Khan thinks that children should start formal education early and that the sooner children get to do writing and reading the better. Going outside is wasting valuable time on more serious things and he doesn’t want his son Ahmed to do playing when he’s in reception class. Dear Teacher I do not want Ahmed spending all his time playing when he is in school. Education is a serious matter, and the skills and abilities he learns will enable him to get a good job and be someone important when he grows up. He won’t do this playing in the sandpit or messing about in the school playground with other children. I agree with you that learning about the world is important, but that’s what books are for – and he should spend more time reading about things. All this trendy experimental learning, and active discovery may be fun but it won’t help him to understand that learning is serious and he needs to have the right attitude right from the start. If this sort of thing is of value, do enlighten me, as I have yet to be convinced that what he is doing in school is real learning. Yours truly, Mr Khan Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 35

Module 7 | Session 4 D | Daniel is aged 5 and he often gets into trouble because he doesn’t get on with other children and gets very aggressive if someone annoys him or commits a perceived injustice against him. He is an only child and his parents dote on him. Dear Aunt Agatha Whenever we get to go outside and play on the tricycles or in the sandpit, I never seem to get a go properly and everyone else gets in the way so you can’t go where you want to go. My mum says that I should stand up for myself and not let other children boss me about, but they don’t listen and then I get into trouble when I shout or push them away. It really gets me upset inside and I get really angry inside. If they’d just leave me alone I would be fine and then things wouldn’t happen. Please help me. Daniel Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 36

Module 7 | Session 4 E | Mary, aged 4, is interested in nature. She loves going to find bugs and different flowers, but has behavioural problems and finds it hard to keep still and listen for a long time. Dear Aunt Agatha We went out to the park with my nursery the other day. At the beginning a lady talked a lot to us about stuff in the park. It was dead boring and went on for ages. I didn’t want to listen to it and started moving about. A teacher stood right near me, but that didn’t stop me being bored. In the end I got in trouble and was taken away from my friends and told to stand still. I didn’t do this because I spotted a brightly coloured butterfly and I just sort of followed it – it was much more interesting than listening to the lady. Then, when the butterfly flew off I couldn’t find anyone and I was alone. I got lost and I cried a lot because I couldn’t find anyone. When my teacher found me, she was really cross and that made me even more upset because shouted at me. All I wanted to do was see the butterfly, I didn’t want to get lost. Mary Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 37

Module 7 | Session 4 ‘An overall policy allows you to say what you value about learning outside the classroom and its potential benefit for young people. At the same time, it allows you to formalise and quality-assure your procedures in this area and, without being bureaucratic, to simplify and state basic requirements. It can also simplify and clarify expectations. ’ From the Learning Outside the Classroom website: How to Guidance www. lotc. org. uk/Out-and-about-guidance/How-do-we-organise-learning/Developing-LOt. C-Policy Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 38

Module 7 | Session 4 By the end of the session, you will: • be able to assess a variety of different follow-up activities for effective learning • be able to assess different ‘problem’ scenarios • know the key elements of what should be in an LOt. C Policy. Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 39

Module 7 | Session 4 Module 7. Early Years – Planning for learning outside the classroom 40