The LOtC Mark is a national accreditation for schools which recognises and supports the development of learning outside the classroom across all subject areas. It recognises existing provision and also assists schools to develop LOtC further.
Schools can apply for the Mark at Bronze, Silver or Gold level, providing the opportunity to develop provision over time. This can be good for schools that are starting out with LOtC, and looking for advice, and is also a way for schools to achieve recognition for their well-developed work. More information can be found here.
We understand that such schemes can act both as an incentive to act, and as a reward for action. We also know of too many schools that collect such awards like a scout collects badges. The key, we feel, is that such schemes should
[i] get progressively much more difficult as you go from bronze to silver to gold, and that it should be really hard to get gold;
[ii] that all awards should be time-limited;
[iii] that the top awards should be dependent on accreditation visits by trained judges; and
[iv] that the criteria for awards should be reviewed regularly with the aid of an independent expert group.