A report by MPs on the cross-party Children, Schools and Families Committee has concluded that schoolchildren in England “are spending less and less time outside”, especially on school trips to venues such as museums.
The Transforming Education Outside the Classroom report said: “Our evidence suggests that [since 2006] pupils’ access to school trips and visits had, at best, remained static.”
Excursions are generally limited to pupils from the independent-schools sector, according to the committee, but “all children should have opportunities to experience environments away from their local area, and to visit museums, galleries and other sites of interest”.
The committee called on the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to increase funding for the Learning Outside the Classroom charity, which “operates on about £150,000 a year”.
This cross-party document coincided with last month’s publication of a separate policy paper by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the DCSF, which outlined the government’s plans to develop a “universal culture offer” for all children, allowing them to experience at least five hours of “high-quality cultural activities each week”.
The “universal culture” idea should be mainstreamed into schools and local authorities explained the paper, which also recommended that Arts Council England conducts a review of funding for cultural education.
The proposed scheme is based on the findings of the Find Your Talent project, launched in 2008, which has been piloted in 10 pathfinder areas across England including Tower Hamlets in London and North Somerset.
Paul Collard, chief executive of Creativity, Culture & Education, the charity that manages Find Your Talent, said: “If we want to make this accessible to all children, rather than just those who are already interested, we need to bring arts and culture to where they are, and make it easy and affordable.”
The Transforming Education Outside the Classroom report said: “Our evidence suggests that [since 2006] pupils’ access to school trips and visits had, at best, remained static.”
Excursions are generally limited to pupils from the independent-schools sector, according to the committee, but “all children should have opportunities to experience environments away from their local area, and to visit museums, galleries and other sites of interest”.
The committee called on the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to increase funding for the Learning Outside the Classroom charity, which “operates on about £150,000 a year”.
This cross-party document coincided with last month’s publication of a separate policy paper by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the DCSF, which outlined the government’s plans to develop a “universal culture offer” for all children, allowing them to experience at least five hours of “high-quality cultural activities each week”.
The “universal culture” idea should be mainstreamed into schools and local authorities explained the paper, which also recommended that Arts Council England conducts a review of funding for cultural education.
The proposed scheme is based on the findings of the Find Your Talent project, launched in 2008, which has been piloted in 10 pathfinder areas across England including Tower Hamlets in London and North Somerset.
Paul Collard, chief executive of Creativity, Culture & Education, the charity that manages Find Your Talent, said: “If we want to make this accessible to all children, rather than just those who are already interested, we need to bring arts and culture to where they are, and make it easy and affordable.”