This theme brings together the evidence on a diverse range of approaches that seek to enrich children’s school experience.
These approaches may happen during or outside of normal school hours and may seek to pursue academic goals through non-traditional means (eg, improving maths by playing chess); develop children's character (eg, their motivation or resilience); or pursue wider goals because these are held to be important.
At the EEF, we think enriching education has intrinsic benefits (sometimes referred to as "arts for arts' sake"). We think all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, deserve a well-rounded, culturally rich, education.
However, many go beyond this and argue that enrichment approaches can directly improve pupils’ attainment and it is this link that EEF is particularly interested in.