Learning Active - Curriculum information - 092009

Your one-stop-shop for school trips linked to the

Curriculum for Excellence

www.learningactive.co.uk t: 0333 321 0801 e: [email protected]

092009

This page has intentionally been left blank.

Your one-stop-shop for school trips linked to the Curriculum for Excellence


Thank you for viewing this information brochure from Learning Active. It contains ideas and suggestions for school trips based on the different areas of the new Curriculum for Excellence. These lists are not exhaustive – trips are individually designed to meet the precise needs of the schools and pupils taking part. If you already have a trip in mind, or are looking for ideas for a field trip around a particular area of the curriculum, please get in touch with us by email at [email protected] or call us on 0333 321 0801 (national call rates apply.)

09/2009



Expressive Arts

Taking pupils out of the normal school environment to a theatre or gallery, experience a professional performance, or take part in interactive master-classes, are key to helping them find their inspiration and leading to a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Scotland has an extremely diverse range of artistic opportunities for pupils to be inspired by, and following are but a few suggestions of the kinds of trips that can engage them: • Theatre visits – going backstage to see how a theatre works, meeting the

actors, producers, crew and administrators, and afterwards seeing a performance with a greater understanding of how live theatre is put together. As well as this, the pupils will be better able to respond to drama, and articulate their thoughts and feelings. All of this will also aid the pupils when they create their own performances back in the school.

• Gallery visits – seeing the work of artists and designers gives pupils the

chance to respond to their work and discuss the thoughts and feelings provoked by their work, and for more senior pupils, make informed judgements and express considered opinions on the work.

• Dance performances – as with the above two suggestions, being in the

audience for a live dance performance will give pupils a great opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings in response to dance, and pass informed judgement on the work being performed.

• Musical performances – there is a huge potential to attend performances of widely differing genres of music in Scotland, giving pupils the chance to experience types of music that they may not ordinarily consider, and thereby increasing their ability to respond to different types of music and give feedback on them.

• Studio visits – For fourth stage pupils who are required to work with

professionals, there are also opportunities to visit recording studios, and experience the whole recording process.

Across Learning - aside from the obvious connections between dance and physical fitness, Expressive Arts trips can aid cross curriculum learning in many different ways; for instance, Numeracy can be included by having pupils work out a production budget and calculate the break even point for ticket sales before a production makes a profit; Literacy can be enhanced by having pupils create press releases or newspaper reviews of the performances they have seen; and Health and wellbeing can be reinforced by looking at how performers keep themselves fit for long and often punishing runs of performances. For more ideas and information on the trips available for this subject, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 0333 321 0801 (standard national call rates.)

09/2009



Health and wellbeing

Learning through health and wellbeing promotes confidence, independent thinking and positive attitudes and dispositions. Because of this it is the responsibility of every teacher to contribute to learning and development in this area. (Building the Curriculum 1) As with Literacy and Numeracy, all of the activities offered by Learning Active give scope for Health and wellbeing across learning, in the following organisers:

• Mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing • Planning for choices and changes • Physical education, physical activity and sport • Food and health • Substance misuse • Relationships, sexual health and parenthood

Some of the suggested activities offered by Learning Active for Health and wellbeing include: • Visits to democratic institutions – such as local authority headquarters and

the Scottish Parliament, allow children and young people to understand their rights and responsibilities, give their views and contribute to changes in their communities.

• Visits to medical centres & sports centres – allows children and young

people the opportunity to develop their understanding of their bodies.

• Police, fire and ambulance station visits – working with these

organisations enables children and young people to assess and manage risk, and keep themselves and others safe.

• Outdoor adventure centres and sports centres – these locations offer

children and young people the opportunity to work in collaboration and in competition with others, develop their leadership skills and reflect on their own and others’ performances.

• Sporting museums visits – help pupils to investigate the role of sport in

communities and the opportunities it offers. • Hotel / catering facilities / food manufacturer visits – these can aid

older pupils look at a wide range of food related issues, including nutrient identification, diet related conditions and menu adaptation, food safety and hygiene, and food processing and packaging.

• Drug rehabilitation centre visits – perhaps for older pupils only, visiting

rehabilitation centres and listening to the stories of recovering addicts can be a very effective way of helping the young people to deal with the issues around substance misuse.

For more ideas and information on the trips available for this subject, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 0333 321 0801 (standard national call rates.)

09/2009



Languages and literacy

Literacy and English Literacy is fundamental to all areas of learning, as it unlocks access to the wider curriculum. Being literate increases opportunities for the individual in all aspects of life, lays the foundations for lifelong learning and work, and contributes strongly to the development of all four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence. (Building the Curriculum 1) As with Health & wellbeing and Numeracy, all of the activities offered by Learning Active give scope for Literacy across learning, in the three organisers: • listening and talking • reading • writing. Regarding the Literacy and English curriculum in particular, Learning Active suggests out of school activities such as: • Theatre visits - related to the texts being studied • Book and poetry readings - and associated Q&A sessions with the authors These kinds of visits will help young people to engage more with the texts being studied, widen their exposure to a range of texts, and hopefully increase their enjoyment and increase their personal choice of texts.

Modern languages Learning other languages enables children and young people to make connections with different people and their cultures and to play a fuller part as global citizens. (Building the Curriculum 1) It encourages them to broaden their horizons as they explore the language and its associated culture. Learning Active suggests the following out of school activities related to Modern languages: • Embassy / consulate visits – meeting with officials from the country and

learning more about the language and culture of the country. • Meet-ups with foreign students – it is possible to work with local English

language schools to arrange get-togethers with their foreign students, who are often there in large groups from a single school or area, doing a block of English language study.


09/2009



Mathematics and numeracy To face the challenges of the 21st century, each young person needs to have confidence in using mathematical skills, and Scotland needs both specialist mathematicians and a highly numerate population. (Building the Curriculum 1) As with Health & wellbeing and Literacy, all of the activities offered by Learning Active give scope for Numeracy across learning, in the three main organisers: • Number, money and measure • Shape, position and movement • Information handling. These opportunities are particularly prevalent in the Sciences and Technologies related activities, but also appear in the Health and wellbeing, Expressive arts and Social studies activities. For more ideas and information on the trips available for this subject, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 0333 321 0801 (standard national call rates.)

09/2009



Religious and moral education

Religious and moral education is a process where children and young people engage in a search for meaning, value and purpose in life. This involves both the exploration of beliefs and values and the study of how such beliefs and values are expressed. (Building the Curriculum 1) Learning Active can arrange visits to places of worship for Christian and other religions and beliefs, which will help children and young people to better understand the values and issues, beliefs, and the practices and traditions associated with each of them. We can also arrange visits to pre-Christian sites, such as burial mounds, which will help students explore pagan and other beliefs. For more ideas and information on the trips available for this subject, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 0333 321 0801 (standard national call rates.)

09/2009



Sciences

Scotland has a long tradition of scientific discovery, of innovation in the application of scientific discovery, and of the application of science in the protection and enhancement of the natural and built environment. The five organisers offer a wide range of out of school activities that can be arranged to enhance the learning experience of the children and young people: • Planet Earth • Forces, electricity and waves • Biological systems • Materials • Topical science Activities that could be considered include: • Visits to botanic gardens / local ranger stations – helps children and

young people to recognise the bio-diversity and interdependence in their local areas, and extrapolate that across the planet.

• Forest schools - outdoor classrooms where pupils learn about bio-diversity,

the environment and interdependence. • Electricity generating stations visits – organised visits to the different

types of power stations, including coal/gas fired, hydro, nuclear, wind and bio-

fuel stations, help pupils consider the different energy sources and the relative sustainability of each type of power generation.

• Energy efficient building visits – new hi-tech buildings provide a model of

energy efficiency that can help pupils better understand the issues around energy saving and conservation.

• Observatory / planetarium visits – gives children and young people the

opportunity to develop their understanding of the Earth’s position within the universe.

• Petrochemical plant visits – for older pupils, a visit to one of the major

industrial petrochemical sites will enable them to better understand how different materials can be derived from crude oil, and the importance this has on our lives.

• Science Festival visits - the debates and lectures at the Science Festivals

offer children and young people to take an active part in discussing the current hot topics in science.


09/2009



Social studies

Through social studies, children and young people develop their understanding of the world by learning about other people and their values, in different times, places and circumstances; they also develop their understanding of the environment and of how it has been shaped. The Curriculum for Excellence states that effective learning and teaching of Social studies will draw upon a variety of approaches, including learning outdoors, field trips and visits. Learning Active offers a range of visits and field trips to help your pupils engage with the topics they are studying. These include: • Scottish history packages – visits to prominent historical sites such as

Bannockburn, Stirling Bridge and Culloden, will help pupils gain an understanding the development of the Scottish nation.

• Viking / Norse settlement packages – helps pupils understand how and

why peoples from overseas settled in Scotland, and the effect this had on the country.

• Major social / economic change – Scotland underwent serious social and

economic change over the past few centuries, with the Highland and Lowland Clearances and the Industrial Revolution causing severe depopulation of rural areas and migration to towns and cities, plus mass emigration. Visits to sites related to these changes, such as New Lanark, abandoned villages in the

Highlands and Lowlands, and even modern facilities such as the Falkirk Wheel, help tell the stories of these changes to pupils.

• Natural forces at work – Scotland’s geological past is evident all around –

visits to such features as the Great Glen and glacial valleys help pupils translate textbook explanations into real life.

• Aid agency visits – understanding global interdependence and how the

disparity in global resources impacts on countries will be assisted with visits to Scottish branches of national aid agencies.

• Cold War related visits – for students who are comparing two world

ideologies of communism and capitalism / East vs West, a trip to the (no longer so) Secret Bunker will help put the impact of the tension between these two blocks into local perspective.

• Local, national and European democracy – visits to the local council

headquarters, the Scottish Parliament and the European Commission in Scotland offices will assist children and young people to understand the political decision making processes, and how they can affect them. Also, a visit to the newly re-established Eurodesk offices in Edinburgh offers pupils a wider look at Europe, and how the accession of the Eastern European countries in recent years has affected the balance of power within the European Union.


09/2009



Technologies

Scotland has a strong tradition of excellence and innovation in technological research. Learning in the technologies provides a strong foundation for the development of skills and knowledge which are, and will continue to be, essential in maintaining Scotland’s economic prosperity. The six organisers related to Technologies experiences and outcomes offer a range off opportunities for out of school activities and trips from Learning Active, including: Recycling centres, wind farms and bio-fuel power station visits – allows children the opportunity to develop their knowledge of sustainable living and sustainable / renewable energy sources. Falkirk Wheel trip – this world-leading example of Scottish engineering demonstrates many properties that pupils will find helpful as they develop their own ideas and 3D models. Manufacturing plant visits – visits to highly automated manufacturing facilities give pupils an insight into how ICT and other technologies come together in real-life scenario. For more ideas and information on the trips available for this subject, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 0333 321 0801 (standard national call rates.)

09/2009



Adventurous activities Learning Active has close relationships with several national outdoor activity centres, each of which can provide a programme of adventurous activities tailored to the capabilities of your pupils, to fit in with end-of-term activity weeks or school holiday programmes. For more ideas and information on the trips available, and prices including transport, accommodation and activities, please contact us by email at [email protected], or call 0333 321 0801 (standard national call rates.)

09/2009

Documents

Learning Active - Curriculum information - 092009