From September onwards, Langley Park School for Girls has trialled,with great success, a form of enrichment where once every two weeks students from year 7, 8,9,10 and 12 take part into an hour and forty minutes of off timetable activities . Examples of these include ; BSL for beginners, pottery, film club and more sporty enrichments like netball and hockey to name a few. 

Now that you know what it is, why should every school do it? The answer is plain and simple, why not? The students will feel more relaxed and will be placed into different social positions so that they broaden their friendships and understanding of other years. It also gives teachers a break from the high stress of progress trackers, targets e.t.c as they put forward the subjects they would like to teach for example Portuguese for Beginners. 

For me personally, the experience of enrichment has helped me develop friendships, learn valuable life lessons and helped me to just unwind and relax. In particular the element of relaxation during enrichment is highly valuable because school can become very stressful and the time needs to be taken to help your own mental health and well-being by just relaxing and doing something that you enjoy.

Both teachers and students alike agree with the purpose of enrichment with one member of the faculty calling it “great because it enables students to make friends from across the school”.

Consequently every school should be entitled to some sort of enrichment budget pending.

By Sian Clarke