The Department for Education (DfE) Enrichment Framework for Schools and Colleges sets out eight key benchmarks to evaluate and enhance co-curricular provision. Benchmark 2 requires a well-rounded offer spanning five core categories: Civic engagement, Arts and culture, Nature, outdoors and adventure, Sport and physical activities, and developing wider life and future skills.

Below is a detailed, class-by-class and whole-school summary of all enrichment activities recorded during the second half of the summer term (Summer Term 2), fully mapped to the DfE framework.

 

Enrichment Activities Organised by the 5 Core DfE Categories

 

Civic Engagement

(Volunteering, democracy, leadership, community action, and fundraising)

Whole-School Fundraising & Community Action:

  • Fun & Games Fundraiser (13th July): The School Council organised a whole-school event featuring non-uniform attire, face painting, nail painting, temporary tattoos, and stall games. Sweets, cakes, toys, and books donated by families raised £728.
  • Morning-Break Cake Sales: The School Council ran daily morning cake stalls (20p–50p) throughout the final week, raising an additional £162, taking the total fundraiser to £890.
  • World Cup Scratch & Match Cards: Class scratch-card competitions (£2 per team) were run across classes including Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 4, Year 5, and Year 6. Pupil winners (including Teddy in Rec, Max in Y1, Seb in Y4, and Lucas M in Y5) won £48 cash prizes in assembly, with the remaining proceeds supporting school projects.

Pupil Leadership & Enterprise:

  • Eco Refill Shop (Eco Essentials): The pupil-led team held their final playground opening of the academic year and launched a parental consultation survey to evaluate community usage and plan expansion for the next academic year.
  • School Council & Transition: School Council members managed break-time tuck shop operations and fundraising drives.

 

National Citizenship & Oracy:

  • "Come on England!" Theme Day: Pupils supported the England National Football Team's semi-final run by wearing red-and-white theme attire.
  • Royal Mail World Class Letters (Year 4): Pupils authored letters of encouragement and support to the national football team, integrating creative writing and illustration, which were submitted to Royal Mail’s national competition competing for £1,500 in sports equipment funding.

 

Community Welfare & Family Support Signposting:

  • Signposted community services including the Heywood Uniform Hub at St Luke's Church (offering free uniforms, PE kits, coats, and shoes), BikeRight! Free Summer Cycle Sessions, Rochdale Council's Crisis & Resilience Fund (cost-of-living vouchers and food pantries), and the Neurodiversity Hub RANS NOTES coffee mornings.

 

 

Arts and Culture

(Music, drama, creative arts, historical immersion, literature, and MFL)

 

 

Music & Performing Arts:

  • Heap Bridge’s Got Talent!: Hosted a whole-school talent competition showcasing dancers, gymnasts, singers, comedians, and instrumentalists. Judges awarded overall winners across KS1 (Aurora & Lilly-Mae) and KS2 (Miley & Ella).
  • School Choir Theatre Production: The choir performed in Hansel and Gretel at the Heywood Civic Hall / Theatre.
  • Instrumental Performance & Ukulele: Year 4 showcased their progression through live ukulele performances; Year 1 created outdoor rhythms and songs under tree shade; and Year 3 recorded a class summer song.
  • Young Voices 2027: Choir rehearsals commenced, practicing dance choreography for "Respect Your Dreams" and the "ABBA Medley".

Visual & Expressive Arts:

  • Claude Monet Masterpieces (Year 1): Explored impressionist techniques by applying blue, white, and green paint with sponge dabbers, peeling masking tape to reveal Japanese bridges, and adding pastels for water lilies.
  • Tile Mosaics (Year 4): Conducted a two-day art project where pupils designed, selected, and assembled tile mosaic artworks.
  • Woodcraft & Sculpting (Year 5): Visited the Newhouse construction facility to work with wood, drills, hammers, and sandpaper to craft wooden animal sculptures.
  • Outdoor Art & Structures (Years 1 & 2): Created collaborative outdoor artwork, drawings, and cardboard box constructions.

 

Literature, Drama & Cultural Immersion:

  • Heywood Linking Project (Years 5 & 6): Year 5 visited the M6 Theatre alongside link school Saint Margaret's to watch a performance and participate in drama workshops exploring storytelling, overcoming obstacles, and accepting differences. Year 6 celebrated their linking work at Heywood Civic Hall, travelling via public transport to perform drama and singing pieces.
  • Performance Poetry & Oracy (Year 2): Worked in groups to create actions and drama freeze-frames for verses of Rumble in the Jungle to perform to peers.
  • Invertebrate Non-Chronological Reports (Year 6): Hosted a live stick insect visit to inspire observational writing and report creation.
  • Story Scribing (Year 1): Created independent challenge books and story scribing journals.

 

Nature, Outdoors and Adventure

(Outdoor education, forest school, local field trips, and environmental exploration)

Forest School & Outdoor Play:

  • Reception (Woodland Wednesday): Participated in regular outdoor learning, exploring woodland shadows, leaf collecting, conker throwing, den building, water play, mud-kitchen play, and harvesting homegrown potatoes from the school garden.
  • Year 1 Outdoor Exploration: Built large structures and dens using cardboard boxes, played parachute games in the shade, engaged in duck-catching water play, and conducted outdoor baby-care role play.
  • Reading Shed Campaign: Launched a community appeal to secure local business sponsorship for a dedicated outdoor reading shed.

Educational Visits & Field Trips:

  • Eureka! The National Children's Museum (Year 2): Conducted a full-day trip exploring hands-on interactive science galleries and attending a live mini-beast educational presentation.
  • Queens Park Visit (Year 3): Participated in a local educational and recreational visit to Queens Park in Heywood.
  • St George's Church Walk (Year 1): Walked to St George's Church to consolidate RE learning on Christianity, listening to church bells and examining religious artefacts with Reverend Sally.

 

Hands-on Science & Outdoor STEM:

  • Prehistoric Materials (Year 3): Explored the environmental area to collect natural pigments and organic materials for prehistoric cave painting books.
  • Botanical Growth Investigations (Year 3): Set up plant growth experiments testing variable conditions of sunlight and water over time.
  • Practical Chemistry & Physics (Year 5): Investigated material properties, conductors/insulators, separation of materials, and reversible vs. irreversible changes.
  • Outdoor Times Table Battle (Year 5): Combined rapid-recall maths facts with outdoor water battles to consolidate multiplication tables.

 

 

 

Sport and Physical Activities

(Inter-school competitions, team sports, physical development, and fitness)

School Recognition & Whole-School Events:

  • School Games Platinum Award: Heap Bridge was officially awarded the School Games Platinum Award in recognition of its long-term commitment to physical education, competitive sport, and active opportunities.
  • Sponsored Boogie Bounce: Every class from Reception to Year 6 participated in a sponsored Boogie Bounce trampoline event, raising £2,612 to purchase new school competition kits and PE equipment.
  • KS2 Sports Day: Hosted an on-site sports morning featuring rotation stations, shade/water breaks, and relay running races.

Coaching & Inter-School Competitions:

  • Bury Sport for All Basketball Taster Day: Specialist coaches delivered basketball skill workshops across Years 1 to 6.
  • Inter-School Friendlies vs Hopwood Primary: Organised friendly fixtures in Girls' Football and Key Stage 2 Multi-Sports (dodgeball, basketball, and football for Y4 & Y5).
  • Class Penalty Shootouts (Year 3): Held outdoor penalty shootouts during national football tournament weeks.

Heatwave Active Play & Keeping Cool:

  • Coordinated whole-school morning water fights during extreme heatwaves (30°C+) to stay cool while fostering active team play, alongside shaded hula-hooping and water foot baths.

 

 

Developing Wider Life and Future Skills

(Health and wellbeing, digital literacy, practical science, and personal development)

Health, Wellbeing & Nurture Support:

  • Nurture Room & Therapy Animals: Emotional Wellbeing and Family Support Teacher Miss Forbes introduced her nurture room featuring therapy guinea pigs Oreo and Ginge, providing emotional regulation strategies and family attendance support.
  • Healthy Eating & Cooking (Year 2): Practised safe knife control to chop strawberries, apples, and watermelon to blend healthy ice smoothies.
  • Mindfulness & Emotional Regulation (Year 1): Practised monkey meditation and yoga sessions to foster quiet focus and relaxation.
  • Oracy & Listening Skills (Year 3): Participated in voice-recognition listening games to identify classmates' voices without looking.

STEM & Academic Excellence:

  • National Writing Progress Award (No More Marking): Year 5 was recognised nationally by No More Marking as one of the top most improved cohorts in England for Year 5 writing progress across more than 250 participating schools.
  • Practical Numeracy & Time Telling (Year 2): Learned to tell time to the hour using analogue clocks and partner time-matching games.
  • Spatial Language (Reception & Year 1): Placed small-world figures to practice positional vocabulary (opposite, behind, in front, between).

 

Digital Literacy, Online Safety & Transition:

  • June Online Safety Newsletter: Distributed guidance covering online scams, autosaving risks, and photo-sharing apps (Retro).
  • Social Media & Online Awareness: Issued Year 6 guidance regarding social media challenges (TikTok "debagging" and "trust falls") to promote respectful choices.
  • SchoolGrid Digital Meal Transition: Transitioned meal ordering to the SchoolGrid online portal for parents.
  • Transition & Move-Up Days: Conducted Move-Up Afternoon across Reception to Year 5; hosted Year 5-to-Year 6 Microsoft Teams webinars for parents discussing SATS, transition, and wellbeing; and provided welcome tours, classroom photos, and Year 5 buddy playdates for new Reception families.

 

 

 

Alignment with DfE Framework Benchmarks

  • Benchmark 1 (Strategic Alignment): Leadership embeds enrichment into core priorities, supporting national progress awards in writing, PE Platinum recognition, and structured transition support.
  • Benchmark 3 (Communication & Celebration): Publicly celebrates milestones—including over £3,500 raised across fundraisers, talent show winners, and inter-school sports success—via ClassDojo, bulletins, and assemblies.
  • Benchmark 4 (Community-Shaped Offer): Pupil voice drives initiatives via the School Council, Eco Refill Shop, talent shows, and Year 5 buddy partnerships.
  • Benchmark 5 (Accessibility & Inclusivity): Parity is ensured by providing free/subsidised activities, targeted SEND support, uniform hubs, cost-of-living advice, and neurodiversity workshops.
  • Benchmark 6 (Partnerships): Leverages external expertise including M6 Theatre, Bury Sport for All, BikeRight!, No More Marking, St George's Church, Newhouse Construction, and the Heywood Schools Sports Association.