Waste Education Centres Get Top Marks For Educational Visits

Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Ltd’s two waste education centres in Bolton and Bury have shown themselves to be at the top of the class by being awarded the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’ Quality Badge. 

Awarded by the Council for ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’, the Quality Badge combines learning and safety criteria into one award for all organisations that provide learning outside the classroom experiences.

Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester) Ltd (VLGM) currently operates two visitor centres in Greater Manchester that offer high quality, fun and interactive site visits for community groups and schools to learn about waste and recycling. The centre at Bolton allows groups to tour the Thermal Recovery Site, whilst in Bury, groups get the opportunity to visit a working landfill site. As part of the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority’s (GMWDA’s) 25 year recycling and waste management contract, VLGM will also be building two new education centres at other sites within Greater Manchester.

VLGM Chairman, Peter Heginbotham said “Being awarded the Quality Badge is a real coup for all the staff here as it shows that we offer young people the type of high quality learning experiences they really benefit from. We're thrilled to get official recognition for our efforts and we look forward to welcoming even more schools and community groups from Greater Manchester to our Waste Education Centres in the future.”

Chair of GMWDA, Councillor Neil Swannick said: “The quality badge confirms that the waste education provided to schools and community groups throughout Greater Manchester is operating to the high standards that we had hoped. The education visits provide a great opportunity for Greater Manchester residents to find out what happens to their waste and recycling in a fun environment.”

The Quality Badge was developed as part of the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto, a national initiative to ensure young people are given more opportunities to have these experiences as part of the curriculum. The badge is designed to make it easier for teachers to identify providers of quality educational visits. Organisations will display the badge as a signal to schools that their venue has met required standards, so teachers do not need to carry out their own risk or quality assessments.

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said “Educational visits are among the most memorable experiences in a child’s school life. Quality Badges offer teachers a guarantee that not only is a venue providing the sort of educational value that they can build on in class long after the visit but they also have the appropriate risk management structures in place.

It is a significant victory in our battle to move away from the misguided perception that learning outside the classroom is a potential minefield for teachers. I want to see teachers using Quality Badges as practical decision making tool. It should ensure that many more young people have memorable, exciting and valuable learning outside the classroom experiences.”