Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Learning Away Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Learning Away

Paul Hamlyn Foundation: Learning Away

The Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Education and Learning Programme has a strong focus on innovation and fosters the development and sharing of new practice and learning between and within schools, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations.  Our Open Grants Scheme supports work to prevent school exclusion and truancy, develop young people’s speaking and listening skills and support supplementary education.  Some of our Special Initiatives are described below.

Learning Away aims to support schools across the UK in significantly enhancing young people’s learning, achievement and well-being by using residential experiences as an integral part of the curriculum. Our long-term aspiration is to achieve significant shifts, nationwide, in schools' commitment to high quality residential learning experiences for their pupils.

We are actively supporting a selected group of 61 schools (including primary and secondary schools), clustered in 13 partnerships, to develop, pilot and embed innovative residential learning experiences, integral to the wider curriculum and in support of their whole school aspirations. We aim to gather, document and share with other schools, local authorities and policy makers compelling evidence from these 13 partnerships, of positive outcomes and impact for pupils, teachers and schools. 

We were particularly keen to support programmes that encompass a wide range of learning experiences that extend beyond the most common uses of residentials and that offer new models for how residentials can be used. We are interested too in how residentials can act as a catalyst for whole school change.  The foci for the 13 Learning Away clusters are wide-ranging, and include the following: raising aspiration and self-esteem, curriculum development, developing more engaging pedagogy, raising attainment, supporting transition, environmental awareness and strengthening community (internally and externally). Many of the Learning Away schools are developing sustainable, low cost models for providing residential learning experiences for all pupils.

The foci for the 13 Learning Away clusters are wide-ranging, and include the following: raising aspiration and self-esteem, curriculum development, developing more engaging pedagogy, raising attainment, supporting transition, environmental awareness and strengthening community (internally and externally).