This half-day masterclass will help schools understand and respond strategically to the new DfE Enrichment Framework. Participants will explore how to make extra-curricular provision more purposeful, equitable and accessible, while embedding enrichment within whole-school improvement.
For years, school leaders and teachers have argued that what happens beyond the core curriculum – extra-curricular activities, careers education, personal development – is not an optional extra but an essential part of school because it helps prepare young people for life and work. And now the DfE has offered a clear national framework that places this work at the heart of education policy.
Not coincidentally, the framework arrives at a time when schools are grappling with multiple challenges: persistent absence, widening disadvantage gaps, concerns about young people’s wellbeing, and growing demands from employers and politicians for broader skills and attributes. Against this backdrop, enrichment is no longer something schools do when time and budgets – and a teacher’s goodwill – allow; it’s becoming part of how schools fulfil their core duty.
The framework does not prescribe a single model and, crucially, it does not dictate when enrichment should happen and who should lead it. Instead, it offers a set of benchmarks against which schools can evaluate and improve their provision pragmatically and contextually.
The challenge for school leaders is not simply to offer more activities, but to think strategically about why enrichment matters, who it is for, and how its wider impact can be measured.
The key focus for schools going forward, therefore, are:
Ensuring enrichment is planned strategically not separately
Ensuring participation is equitable – targeted at those who need it most
Ensuring enrichment is accessible to all
This half-day masterclass from Matt Bromley will help you do just that.
By the end of this masterclass, participants will be able to:
Explain the purpose and policy significance of the new DfE Enrichment Framework
Understand the 8 Enrichment Benchmarks and what they mean for schools in practice
Evaluate current enrichment provision against the expectations of the framework
Identify barriers to participation, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those who may be less likely to access extra-curricular opportunities
Plan enrichment provision strategically as part of whole-school improvement, rather than as a separate or optional offer
Consider how enrichment can support wider priorities including attendance, wellbeing, personal development, careers education and preparation for life and work
Develop practical approaches to making enrichment more equitable, accessible and sustainable
Begin an action plan for embedding the framework in their school context
FACILITATOR
Matt Bromley is an education writer and advisor with over twenty years’ experience in teaching and leadership including as a secondary school headteacher and principal, FE college vice principal, and MAT director. He is a public speaker, trainer, and school improvement lead, and a primary school governor. He remains a practising teacher, currently working in secondary, FE and HE settings. Matt writes for various newspapers and magazines, is the author of numerous best-selling books on education, and co-hosts the award-winning SecEd podcast. He regularly speaks at national and international conferences and events, and he delivers teacher-training.
