CLOtC creates guide to help schools navigate DfE Enrichment Framework

The Enrichment framework, published at the start of June, sets out five areas every school enrichment offer should cover and eight benchmarks to help schools plan, deliver and evidence their provision.

The benchmarks include having a ‘broad and well-rounded enrichment offer’ as well as one that is accessible, engaging and ‘outcomes-focused’. 

From September, Ofsted will begin looking at the steps schools are taking to deliver enrichment for all as part of their assessment of personal development. The Government first announced it would introduce the new Enrichment benchmarks back in November as part of wider education reforms.

The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC), the national body for all types of learning beyond the classroom, has set out how schools can build on their existing offer to meet the new enrichment requirements and said: “Schools don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

“Whether through day visits, residentials, cultural experiences, environmental projects, employer engagement, volunteering or community-based learning, schools are already using learning beyond the classroom to deliver exactly the kind of enrichment experiences that this framework is asking for.”

Building on what schools already do & minimising additional work

CLOtC has several free resources - developed with and for schools of all types - to help them get started, including self-assessment audit tools, ‘how to’ guides, and templates for evidencing enrichment activity.

Its CEO Dr Anne Hunt said the enrichment framework represents an important commitment to addressing inequalities, and also an opportunity to celebrate all the opportunities that our schools already offer to extend and enrich learning but that until now have tended to slip under the assessment radar.

She said: “We wholeheartedly welcome this bold, once-in-a-generation commitment. Learning beyond the classroom is well-evidenced to transform outcomes — and is one of the most powerful tools we have for breaking down barriers to opportunity. We’re ready to help every school turn this ambition into reality, with support that builds on what they already do and minimises additional workload.”