Meeting the New DfE Enrichment Benchmarks
The Department for Education (DfE) recently published a landmark guidance document, Enrichment Benchmarks, setting a clear national standard for how schools and colleges should evaluate and improve their enrichment provision. These eight benchmarks provide a structured framework to ensure every student, regardless of background, has access to high-quality, purposeful experiences.
For school leaders looking to align their strategy with these new standards, Conway Centres offers a direct, high-impact solution. With over 45 years of experience, our centres are uniquely positioned to help schools hit these benchmarks while creating lifelong memories.
Benchmarks 1 & 7
The DfE highlights that enrichment should not be an add-on but should align with school priorities like attainment, attendance, and wellbeing.
The Conway Connection: we don't just offer "fun"; we deliver results.
Attainment: One school reported a 13% increase in results following an outdoor maths revision residential at our Anglesey centre.
Personal Development: Residentials are crafted to build independence and courage, directly supporting the DfE’s focus on social and emotional development.
Wellbeing: Our beautiful, natural surroundings provide a safe environment for students to build self-esteem and self-belief.
Benchmark 2
The DfE now requires schools to provide activities across five core categories.
The Conway Connection: Conway Centres offers a broad and well-rounded curriculum that covers multiple areas in a single residential.
Nature, Outdoors, and Physical Activity: From high ropes to orienteering and raft building, all of our centres, in Anglesey and Cheshire, provide the time outdoors the DfE identifies as essential, and that we believe is a vital part to developing a pupils love of the great outdoors.
Arts and Culture: our Tattenhall and Anglesey sites offer exciting opportunities for arts, drama and dance, which can be linked to subjects you are coving in school.
Developing Future Skills: The DfE seeks provision that supports teamwork, confidence, and resilience, all of which our programmes are specifically designed to inspire and develop.
Community Engagement: The Conway Centres has strong community links in a variety of ways. We work with the Forestry Commission, the Sandstone Trail Committee, Scouts & Guides groups, and we deliver Adventures Away from Home funded visits.
Benchmark 3
The DfE encourages schools to celebrate participation through certification and awards.
Conway Connection: A residential at Conway Centres is often the "highlight of the year," providing a bucket full of memories that schools can use to spotlight student engagement and progress.
Student’s stays can be linked to their core subjects when back in the classroom, enabling them time to reflect on what they have learnt.
Benchmark 4
The enrichment offer should be co-designed with students, staff, and families.
The Conway Connection: we take on board all feedback we receive from schools – both from pupils and staff. We openly encourage suggestions for how we can make your stay better and continue to develop new activities to enrich your stay to make it relevant, engaging and meaningful.
Benchmark 5
A core pillar of the new framework is ensuring enrichment is equitable, inclusive and accessible, particularly for SEND students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Conway Connection: We pride ourselves on being warm, friendly and extremely professional, with the ability to accommodate diverse needs and requests. Our four unique centres range from large campus-style environments in North Wales to homely settings in Cheshire, ensuring there is a right-fit environment for every learner. Our staff have a wealth of experience and training and can be flexible and versatile in their delivery. We also have designated funding to support schools and young people to breakdown barriers accessing opportunities.
Benchmark 6
Benchmark 6 emphasises that schools should work with high-quality external partners to harness expertise beyond their own staff.
The Conway Connection: Conway Centres has worked with hundreds of schools over several decades, building strong relationships with schools, staff and pupils.
We provide the "off-site trips and visits" and "external delivery" explicitly encouraged by the DfE to broaden the quality of a school's offer. The DfE specifically highlights "outdoor education centres" and "enrichment providers" as key partners.
The new DfE enrichment framework is a call to action for schools to provide "a life well lived" for their students. By partnering with Conway Centres, you aren't just booking a trip; you are implementing a high-quality, strategically aligned enrichment strategy that meets national benchmarks.
Get in touch with a member of our team who will help you build an incredible new adventure!
