LOtC Quality Badge Awards

At www.ukschooltrips.co.uk we are very proud that many venues we work with have been amongst the first to be awarded the prestigious Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them, say a big well done for their achievements and also to introduce them to you. You can see brief details of these venues below. For in-depth information about how they can help you with learning outside the classroom please follow the following link and key the name into; 'Search for venue by name'.

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This badge provides for the first time a national accreditation combining the essential elements of provision – learning and safety – into one easily recognisable and trusted Quality Badge for all types of learning outside the classroom provider organisations. It is intended to assist schools in identifying external LOTC providers who deliver good quality teaching and learning experiences and manage risk effectively.

SCOTLAND

THE OUTWARDS BOUND TRUST - LOCH EIL CENTRE
An educational charity that uses outdoor experiences and challenges to help and develop young people to realise their true potential through reflecting on and learning from adventurous experiences in the wild in a supportive, challenging environment.

GLASGOW SCIENCE CENTRE
A dedicated education team has created a curriculum-linked programme that complements Curriculum for Excellence. In addition to visiting their state of the art buildings, they offer outreach, bringing the science centre to your classroom.

LOCHGOILHEAD - ARGYLL
This magnificent outdoor classroom is suitable from 8 years up and special education needs. The wide range of activities on water and land can be offered as a stand-alone, fun, residential activity visit or be subtly linked to the Curriculum for Excellence.

KINDROGAN - PERTHSHIRE
Outdoor learning in geography and biology as well as eco-adventure activities. Enjoy immediate access to the wildlife and dramatic landscapes of the Scottish Highlands with a rich and diverse range of both field sites and adventure activities.

NORTH EAST

SUNDERLAND EMPIRE
Offering a great service that includes further information and advice on arranging trips, writing risk assessments and providing educational resources and activities linked to many of the shows. They also offer tours of the building and talks.

KILLHOPE LEAD MINING MUSEUM – DURHAM
A fully restored 19th century lead mine. Experience the life and work of the Victorian lead miner. See where miners worked, in the mine, on the washing floor which is where the lead was dressed, and where they lodged. Lots of hands on activities for all.

WHITEHOUSE FARM - NORTHUMBERLAND
A 40 acre farm centre educating and entertaining families, schools and groups of all ages. Visitors can see, handle and feed a variety of animals from traditional breeds to exotic species as well as enjoying the indoor and outdoor play areas. With the majority of the farm being undercover you can come all year round for a fun filled day in the country.

MOORHOUSE ADVENTURE CENTRE - TYNE AND WEAR
A residential centre ideally positioned for visiting North East. Ideal for team building, reward days, new class or group induction or just for fun. They cater for groups of any size up to 1,000 either camping or 38 residential. They also welcome day visitors.

CARLTON OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTRE – MIDDLESBOROUGH
The Centre offers a high standard of accommodation and facilities in an idyllic location on the northern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. They provide a broad range of Outdoor Education and Adventure programmes to school groups and the wider community.

NORTH WEST

VIRIDOR LAING WASTE EDUCATION CENTRES - BOLTON & BURY

Viridor Laing offer high quality, fun, interactive visits for groups at our waste Education Centres to learn about waste and recycling.  They  currently offer two venues to visit: one where visitors can see how electricity is generated by burning waste and an active landfill site. At each venue there is a dedicated on site education centre which groups use as a base for their visit.

LANEHEAD OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTRE - CUMBRIA
Providing Residential Outdoor Education courses, this centre promotes personal development through doing real activities in challenging environments. By setting the students achievable but challenging objectives, they raise self esteem and social awareness.

THE BEACON MUSEUM - CUMBRIA
A wide range of learning sessions, activities and resources for use by educators. Activity sessions are lead by qualified staff, who are experts in talking about history and communicating our treasures, a visit to the museum galleries is free to schools.

OUTWARD BOUND TRUST - ULLSWATER CENTRE
Helping young people realise their true potential through reflecting on and learning from adventurous experiences in the wild. They create a supportive and challenging environment in which young people can learn and can see what they might truly be capable of achieving in life.

CASTLESHAW CENTRE - OLDHAM
The Castleshaw Centre provides residential and day visit facilities for groups, large and small, wishing to explore this fascinating part of the South Pennines.  Oldham’s Outdoor & Environmental Education Service is based at the centre, offering a wide range of activities for Key Stages 2, 3, 4 and adults. Courses can be residential or day visits with full/part/self catering by arrangement.

HARRIS MUSEUM & ART GALLERY - PRESTON
They provide excellent opportunities for inspirational learning to meet the needs of you and your pupils. Their collections and temporary exhibitions fire young imaginations and engage pupils with the national curriculum both inside and outside the classroom

WEST MIDLANDS

THINKTANK BIRMINGHAM SCIENCE MUSEUM
A fascinating museum of science and discovery. Over 200 hands-on exhibits and a state-of-the-art Planetarium. An extensive program of curriculum linked activities which take place in designated education spaces. The Education suite includes a science laboratory, a LEGO Lab, three and a theatre seating 180 students.

BEAR CREEK ADVENTURE - WORCESTERSHIRE
Two great experiences. On-site activities at your venue including; mobile climbing wall, archery, fencing, bike challenge course, problem solving and team challenge. Or at Edgbaston a wide range of watersports including canoeing, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing and raft building.

CADBURY WORLD - BIRMINGHAM
Perfect at Key Stage 3, 4, and 5, for Business Studies, Design & Technology, Humanities, Leisure & Tourism, and ICT. They do also provide educational talks to Key Stage 1 and 2, with Aztecs, Victorians and Design & Technology being popular.

ABSEILING DERBYSHIRE – STAFFORDSHIRE
Through the activity of abseiling young people take on a great challenge, the memory of which will last a lifetime. Watch their self-esteem grow, as does their confidence and their ability to encourage and support each other through their own challenge.

ARCHERY EVENTS – STAFFORDSHIRE
A unique outreach mobile unit that can bring archery to your UK venue or school. It can be a history, numerousy or physics lesson, a PE lesson or just about understanding personal and social responsibility, archery ticks many boxes.

MOORLANDS BUSHCRAFT – STAFFORDSHIRE
Visit their woodland sites, or invite their outreach team to your venue. Topics include shelter building, natural cordage, green awareness, fire by friction, camp cooking, game preparation, sourcing collecting & purifying water, to name a few of the many.

CLOSER TO THE EDGE - WOLVERHAMPTON
Accredited with the LOtC Quality Badge all activities offer powerful educational value and have substantiated and documented links to all strands of Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) Delivered by highly experienced ex-military and teaching personnel.

WONDERLAND - SHROPSHIRE
Wonderland is a unique and magical place created especially for children from 3-10 years.  Wonderland is an ideal venue for out of classroom learning, covering many areas of the curriculum whilst providing a fun filled action packed learning experience.

YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE

THE QUILT MUSEUM AND GALLERY - YORK
Inspiring and interactive. Enjoy self led trails which are free when you make a school booking. Popular workshops include Talking Textiles, Patchwork for the Parlour, Rags to Riches and their ever-changing, exhibition-inspired practical craft workshops.

THORNTON HALL FARM COUNTY PARK - NORTH YORKSHIRE
Set in 260 acres of stunning countryside, offering excellent all-weather educational facilities on a spotlessly clean working farm. A rich and stimulating environment for learning with expert guides, purpose built viewing areas and modern classroom facilities.

CARLTON LODGE OUTDOOR CENTRE - NORTH YORKSHIRE
An outdoor activity centre that offers a range of on site and offsite activities, to facilitate and support the personal and social development of young people. They are able to support day visits and residential visits, both catered and self catered.

EUREKA! THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM - WEST YORKSHIRE
The first and foremost hands-on children's museum in the UK, designed especially for 0-11 year olds. With more than 400 'must-touch' exhibits and a full programme of events and activities, you'll be amazed at the fun things you can do here!

YORK ART GALLERY & YORKSHIRE MUSEUM - NORTH YORKSHIRE
Inspiring, interactive & fun learning opportunities that directly support your curriculum needs. All workshops have been designed & developed by qualified teachers & are delivered by our dedicated Learning Team.

YORK CASTLE MUSEUM - NORTH YORKSHIRE
In addition to popular workshops for Art, History and Science, this year’s programme welcomes the arrival of new, interactive and innovative sessions involving; Creative Story Writing, hunting Minibeasts, investigating Tudor times and exploring life in The Sixties.

THE DEEP - NORTH HUMBERSIDE
Encounter the ocean s greatest predator and take a journey of discovery from tropical lagoons to the icy polar seas. The unique aquarium is dedicated to the enjoyment and understanding of the world s oceans, with 40 magnificent sharks & over 3,500 fish.

EAST MIDLANDS

WILLOWS FARM VILLAGE - HERTFORDSHIRE
Willows Farm Village is the result of a farm diversification programme to create one of the leading leisure attractions in Hertfordshire.  With plenty of farmyard animals to discover, the focus is on learning through having fun from its many demonstrations and shows and is Ideal for key stages 1 and 2.

DERWENT PURSUITS – STAFFORDSHIRE
Providing outdoor educational programmes for over 21 years, their programmes can be from half day through to a full week of adventure education. Activities range from canoeing, climbing, orienteering, archery, abseiling, bushcraft and team challenges.

BURNUMS FARMYARD FRIENDS - NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Children are taught how to handle a small animal, to feel the different kinds of fur, wool, coats etc. To examine the difference between ducks and chicks etc. Hold baby animals including chicks, ducklings, rabbits, guinea pigs and piglets. Bottle feed the lambs from March – August.

YEW TRAIL OUTDOOR CLASSROOM - LEICESTERSHIRE
Study cross curriculum activities, the Environment, Science, Water Projects, Geography, Literacy and Art. Observe and investigate a wide variety of flora, fauna, animals and birds and enjoy orienteering, shelter building and pond dipping.
 
EAST ENGLAND

COLNE VALLEY RAILWAY AND GARDENS - ESSEX
A safe, learning environment for people of all ages and needs and reflects a caring, welcoming ethos that seeks to encourage education and entertainment in a bold, 3 dimensional manner, priding itself on the authenticity of its site, its exhibits and its education programme.

WHITWELL HALL COUNTRY CENTRE - NORWICH
Whitwell Hall Country Centre is set amongst 40 acres of stunning Norfolk countryside, the perfect location for educational groups of all kinds. They are a registered charity and can offer school groups a fantastic residential educational countryside experience. They can provide a wide range of expert led activities based around the natural environment, farming and Bushcraft.
 
LONDON

MUSEUM OF LONDON
With two unique venues Museum of London is one of the world’s largest urban history museums, representing a quarter of a million years of history and telling the story of one of the world’s most diverse and fascinating capital cities.

TWICKENHAM RUGBY MUSEUM
Home of England rugby and the World Rugby Museum; the finest collection of rugby memorabilia in the world. More than just a collection of interesting artefacts, the World Rugby Museum is an inspirational journey through the history of the ultimate team game.

VEOLIA WATER ENVIRONMENT CENTRE - BUSHEY HEATH

The Centre is set in 33 acres of beautiful grounds right in the heart of Bushey Heath.  It shares the site with a water treatment works where water is cleaned and supplied to thousands of local homes and businesses. The site provides the opportunity for pupils to explore and investigate a wide range of topics including the supply and cleaning of water and water efficiency plus sustainability, habitats, ponds, river work, plants, rocks and soils and lots more.

CHURCHILL THEATRE - BROMLEY
The Churchill Theatre in Bromley strives to make West End quality shows affordable for school and educational groups. As a receiving house, we offer a range of different shows week in, week out, ranging from West End Musicals to dramas, to large and small scale children’s shows and contemporary dance.

SOUTH EAST

SWATTENDEN CENTRE - KENT
Offers great flexibility and accommodates groups all year round of all sizes, ages and abilities with activities to match. Their experienced staff delivers a wide variety of outdoor educational activities from environmental to the adventurous. 

COUNTRYSIDE EDUCATION TRUST - HAMPSHIRE
On a farm, in the forest, by the sea, the Out of Town Centre; the residential centre of the Countryside Education Trust.  Available Monday to Friday for school groups and at weekends to all groups. They are the only centre with a working farm and productive garden that visitors are involved in first hand.  In addition they have the fantastic resources of the New Forest, their spectacular Treehouse Study Centre and the Beaulieu Estate. 

COTSWOLD WILDLIFE PARK AND GARDENS - OXFORDSHIRE
An exciting and extensive collection of mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates from all over the world, located in 65 hectares of grounds. Also gardens, tropical house, adventure playground, narrow gauge train and a 19th century manor house.

SAYERS CROFT FIELD CENTRE - SURREY
A beautiful, safe, secure site with 56 acres of woodlands, meadows, ponds and fields providing quality outdoor experiences for young people. They can provide accommodation for 200 people in six comfortable, self contained wooden chalets.

PAULTONS PARK - HAMPSHIRE
With over 50 rides and attractions, and set in 148 acres of beautiful gardens and parkland, Paultons Park is a great day out for focused educational activities, ‘self guided’ learning and end of term visits. Working in collaboration with practicing teachers and education advisers their programmes support National Curriculum programmes and classroom teaching.

THE RIVER & ROWING MUSEUM - OXFORDSHIRE
The River & Rowing Museum by the River Thames in Henley celebrates the river’s geography, history, wildlife and the river as a source of inspiration for artists, writers and musicians. The museum has a modern education centre with great facilities. Workshops are led by experienced, talented tutors and are activity based.

AARDVARK PRODUCTIONS - Kent
Aardvark productions come to you (outreach) with all the costumes, props and performers needed to cover Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in the Roman, Tudor, Victorian or World War 2 periods. As one of the first companies to be awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Badge of Quality their services are constantly monitored for quality and accuracy.
 
SOUTH WEST

NATIONAL MARINE AQUARIUM - DEVON
A unique learning experience with stunning visual exhibits. The dedicated learning team of qualified teachers, Marine Biologists and their resident Artist have created a series of sessions that utilise the exhibits and link them with areas of the National Curriculum.

LONGLEAT SAFARI PARK - WILTSHIRE
Featuring a host of amazing attractions many of which have been featured withinthe BBC  Animal Park series.  Free educational talks are available to groups of 12+, they include KS3 & KS4 talks, species specific talks or other talks tailor made for you.

SLIMBRIDGE WETLAND CENTRE - GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Natural wetland habitats and hands on exhibits in the Discovery Centre combined with an interactive teaching session make your visit a unique, educational experience. Slimbridge is operated by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

GLASTONBURY ABBEY - SOMERSET
They offer themed days and activity sessions in the museum linked to the different periods of history through which the Abbey grew in power and then diminished. They can provide talks, tours, trails and worksheets for all Key Stages for work linked to History and R.E. in particular.  
 
WALES

TECHNIQUEST - CARDIFF
An interactive science centre where children learn without realising, where the inquisitive mind can explore, and where getting stuck in, and involved is positively encouraged. Children see and touch science, and make things happen for themselves.

PRO-ACTIVE ADVENTURE - TYN DWR
Pro-Active Adventure at Tyn Dwr was one of the first activity companies to receive the Learning Outside The Classroom (LOTC) Quality Badge.  Pro-Active Adventure provides real, safe and enjoyable activity programmes which will be of benefit to all young people.

The Quality Badge will be awarded to providers who have pledged to engage in an ongoing process to sustain good-quality learning outside the classroom and who have demonstrated that they meet six quality indicators. The provider:

1. Has a process in place to assist users to plan the learning experience effectively;
2. Provides accurate information about its offer;
3. Provides activities, experience or resources which meet learner needs;
4. Reviews the experience and acts on feedback;
5. Meets the needs of the users;
6. Has safety management processes in place to manage risk effectively.

Each of these high-level indicators has a number of more detailed sub-indicators.

A package of support is now available.

At www.ukschooltrips.co.uk we are proud to say that we are going to be receiving training in order that we may train and support the venues we work with in order that you understand what to do in order to receive this prestigious award.

We anticipate that demand for this training will be high so please register your interest now by emailing: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you can offer a great learning experience at your venue or offer accommodation for educational visits and you are not currently marketed to schools, colleges, youth groups, nursery managers, childminders and families by www.ukschooltrips.co.uk and would like more information please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information on the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto please visit: www.lotc.org.uk

Please pledge your support to the manifesto at the following link:

http://www.lotc.org.uk/getdoc/c5832f5a-6fb8-4c51-8f5a-7d4e9233d502/Sign-the-manifesto