Wood Street Infant School in Guildford has shown itself to be at the top of the class for providing meaningful learning outside the classroom (LOtC) experiences to all of its pupils by being the first Guildford school to be awarded LOtC Mark (Gold) accreditation.

Awarded by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC), LOtC Mark Gold recognises exemplary LOtC provision in schools and indicates that a school is a leader in ensuring that all pupils have access to frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom to support their learning and achievement.

Wood Street Infants celebrated the achievement of this award with a morning of fun and festivities.  Familes were invited to spend the morning exploring activities such as cooking with TT from Eat Ngo, whittling with Guildford Playrangers, scaling a huge climbing wall with Surrey Outdoor Learing and Development and petting Supernoodle the visiting Unicorn! 

Learning outside the classroom is known to contribute significantly to raising standards & improving pupils’ personal, social & emotional development. It also contributes to the quality and depth of learning (OFSTED, Learning Outside the Classroom - How far should you go? 2008).  Kim Somerville, Chief Executive of the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom said:

“Learning outside the classroom provides the most memorable experiences in a child’s school life. LOtC Mark Gold demonstrates that genuinely valuable learning outside the classroom experiences are a part of the everyday life of the school, and are available to all of their children and young people.  Learning outside the classroom has many proven educational benefits. LOtC Mark (Gold) will support schools in building on their LOtC provision, and on working in partnership with other schools thereby ensuring that many more young people have memorable, exciting and valuable learning outside the classroom experiences. I congratulate Wood Street Infants on being awarded LOtC Mark Gold.”