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There’s now less than a term to put the Department for Education’s new enrichment entitlement into practice before Ofsted begins inspecting against it. It’s a timeline that feels, to put it mildly, ambitious.

Guidance is still emerging, there are few national models to look to or lean on, and for most schools, there is no additional funding to make it happen.

None of that means the ambition is wrong. The renewed focus on music, sport and wider enrichment could not be more welcome - especially at a time when we know that engagement in school is at an all-time low.

At our trust, we think we are in a good position with enrichment because it has been part of our thinking and “doing” for a long time.

It was central to our sponsor’s vision - broadening children’s horizons by bringing together the best of what both independent and state schools do - and it was one of the main reasons why I joined the trust 10 years ago,

As such, we’ve learned a few things along the way, and as schools prepare for this new focus on enrichment, we wanted to share those lessons.

Delivering the enrichment entitlement

1. The impact is diverse and worthwhile

Intuitively, it feels like these are the sorts of opportunities that could switch children and young people back on to school, and give them a reason to want to come in.

But we want to explore that link more directly and are testing the connection between sustained participation in enrichment and improvements in attendance and behaviour, but also, ultimately, attainment.

Anecdotally, where participation in enrichment is high, you can already see the difference in how young people feel about school across our family of schools.

We can see, in our schools, higher participation rates leading to better attendance, better engagement in school and early evidence of improved outcomes.

2. Evolution of approaches is critical, as is collaboration

Early on, we focused heavily on music and sport, trying to make sure that pupils had access to opportunities that would genuinely stretch them.

That has meant building sustained partnerships with organisations such as the Royal Opera House and Gabrieli Roar, bringing world-class music into schools in places like Corby and Grimsby, and creating chances for pupils to perform and experience culture in a way that might otherwise have felt out of reach.

In sport, it has meant working with elite coaches and, in some cases, Olympic athletes, giving young people a real sense of what high performance looks like up close.

But more recently, we have widened the lens further.

Outdoor learning is becoming a bigger part of what we do, including developing our forest school, which can be used for a whole range of activities from den building and rural crafts to natural art and toasting marshmallows over the firepit.

Our forest school formally opened in January, and so far children from six of our primaries have taken part in sessions there, with plans for children from across all schools to benefit before the end of the academic year.

Staff report impressive impact, including increased self-confidence and an uptick in attendance.

We’re also developing an enrichment focus on the visual arts, which sets out a clear progression from a strong curriculum at all levels, accompanied by a suite of opportunities with professional artists, national collections and the wider creative industries.

Partnerships with the National Gallery and Nevill Holt Festival bring real vibrancy, colour and cultural heft to this work.

For example, this summer students from Bobby Moore Academy will perform in a full staging of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas alongside the internationally acclaimed Gabrieli Consort and Players. Experiences like this can be life-changing.

We’re continually looking for ways to push into new areas, too.

How the government can help schools

There are things that can be done to help the sector, too, though

• First, the government could give us a clearer picture of what “good” looks like. Not a single national model, but a set of examples that show how different schools have made this work in practice. Case studies, planning frameworks, staffing approaches, real “under the bonnet” stuff. The kind of detail that helps leaders to move from “we should do this” to “we can do this”.
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• Second, we need a bit of breathing space. Building a meaningful enrichment offer takes time. It involves partnerships, timetabling and often a shift in culture. A phased approach to implementation and inspection would give schools a better chance of building something that lasts, rather than something assembled quickly to meet a deadline.
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• Third, we need a proportionate approach to accountability. Schools are starting from very different places. If this is to be taken seriously, it needs to sit alongside other priorities, not compete with them. Participation, inclusion and quality matter more than uniformity, particularly at the start.

There is also an opportunity here for the sector to be more open with each other.

No single trust has cracked this entirely, but there is a lot of experience out there that could be shared more practically than it is at the moment. And this is something that we want to be part of.

In the end, enrichment should not feel like a last-minute addition ahead of inspection.

When it works well, it is part of the rhythm of school life. And if we get this right, the benefits show up in all sorts of ways, not just in the activities themselves, but in how young people engage, attend and achieve.

Simon Rose is CEO of David Ross Education Trust, which runs 36 schools in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and London

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