EDUCATION OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Education outside the classroom (EOTC) is an essential part of school life in New Zealand. To extend students’ learning experiences beyond the classroom, Franz Josef Glacier School takes advantage of the opportunities offered by the wider community and the environment.
Students need to learn in a variety of contexts in order to gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values required to enjoy a healthy lifestyle; take responsibility for their own safety; form positive and respectful relationships with their peers, their teachers, and the environment; and participate in the creation of safer communities.
Once decisions have been made about what students are learning, consideration is given to how EOTC can best support the teaching and learning priorities. Learning beyond the classroom can support the direction and contribute to the breadth of learning within the national curriculum.
As New Zealanders have easy access to the bush, beaches, rivers, and mountains, which provide excellent environments for learning.
EOTC is a generic term used to describe curriculum-based learning and teaching that extends the four walls of the classroom. EOTC can range from a museum or marae visit to a sports trip, an outdoor education camp, a field trip, or a visit to practise another language. EOTC can take place in the school grounds, in the local community, or in regions further afield, including overseas.
The links that students are able to make between the classroom and real-world experiences can be critical to their long-term learning. Accordingly, school policies and practices that enable students to participate in well-designed, curriculum-based experiences outside the classroom assist with their learning.
Learning and safety are paramount in EOTC. While EOTC provides opportunities for positive learning outcomes in a student’s education, alongside these gains is the potential for mishap if programmes are not effectively managed.
As a school we have a legal responsibility to keep learning environments safe for students and staff. The EOTC guidelines clarify schools’ responsibilities and provide ideas and examples of how the legal requirements can be met and how learning and safety can be enhanced.
The degree of risk inherent in many EOTC activities makes effective safety precautions necessary. The guidelines emphasise that the level of risk management (and the level of paperwork) should be in proportion to the level of risk associated with the type of EOTC activity.
Franz Josef Glacier School is set in native bush which the children regularly use as part of their learning and play. The local area has numerous walking tracks suitable for children. The children have in the past regularly walked on the glacier but sadly, the only access now to walk on the glacier is by helicopter.
Each term the children travel to the other schools in our cluster for sports and cultural events.
Every year in term 1, the junior and middle school go to Shantytown to take part in the various programmes they have to offer.
The year 6 to 8 children ski every year at Cardrona Resort, Wanaka.
At the end of each year we have ‘The Week of Awesome” !!!!!!! This is a week of various activities for the whole school. The year 7 & 8s have an “Away Trip” every second year and have been to Christchurch, Wellington, Kaikoura, the Abel Tasman, Nelson and even Australia. At the beginning of the year they decide where they would like to go at the end of the year and what they would like to do. The “At Home” activities are centred around our local area which extends from Greymouth to Haast.
