Learning experiences outside the classroom (LEOTC)
Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom (LEOTC) is a Ministry of Education-funded project. LEOTC programmes are educational programmes for school classes run by a range of organisations, such as zoos, museums, historic parks, art galleries, and science centres.
These programmes provide hands-on experiences for students on school visits. They are run independently of schools but they complement and enrich classroom programmes.
Providers and schools work in partnership to ensure that the programmes meet the learning needs of the students and support effective teaching and learning.
All LEOTC services must:
- provide hands-on and interactive learning experiences that are memorable for students
- promote transfer of skills and understandings across learning areas and within the context of students’ everyday lives
- provide learning opportunities within authentic contexts that could not be made available in the immediate school environment
- enhance and enrich learning in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework for the diversity of students (including incorporating a range of cultural perspectives, issues, and concepts) in New Zealand schools
- provide specific, rather than general, experiences that complement school-based teaching activities
- ensure that there is pre- and post-visit information to support effective learning, and that there is interactive evaluation between teachers and providers
- ensure that there are good partnerships with schools and classroom teachers, which will lead to successful outcomes for the diverse range of students.