The 2025 Council for Learning Outside the Classroom’s National Conference returned on Thursday 14th November with a focus on supporting students to thrive.
The annual event, held this year at Weldon Village Academy near Corby in Northamptonshire, brought together a range of key tour operators and attractions in the school travel sector, along with teachers, EVCs and practioners to learn from each other, take part in workshops and learn from important talks.
With the school occupied for the day, pupils headed out on their own LOtC experience, to either Grafham Water Centre or Nene Park Trust, that both offered free trips as accredited LOtc Quality Badge holders.
Broadcaster and author, Dr Radha Modgil hosted the conference speaker sessions, and opened the day with an interesting talk on the benefits that outdoor learning can have on pupils, followed by a discussion panel of key themes and topical issues currently facing young people.
Other highlights across the day included a session with Paul Marshalsea, head of education partnerships at the Outward Bound Trust, who introduced pupils to speak about their personal journey during an Outward Bound programme, and how it helped them to develop resilience and boost confidence.
CEO for the CLOtC, Dr Anne Hunt, said: “We picked this year’s theme of supporting students to thrive as the evidence is strong and consistent that learning beyond the classroom can raise attainment and aspiration, be a powerful tool for re-motivating and engaging learners, and contribute significantly to the development of socio-emotional and other skills.”
Key workshops
There were a number of workshops available on the day which invited attendees to discuss a wide variety of topics, such as strategies to help children get involved, or crisis management on visits.
School Travel Organiser took part in an informative session hosted by Gill Harvey of the School Travel Forum and Graham Lodge, previously of the Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel, who explained the safety considerations of taking pupils abroad and what the future of European visits could look like with a new EU Waiver system.
We also took part in a creative discussion about overcoming barriers and building confidence to support SEND students beyond the classroom.
For more information about the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom. go to www.lotc.org.uk.
