Enrichment Benchmarks: How Purple Mash Can Help Schools Build a Broader, Brighter Offer

Enrichment has always been one of the most memorable parts of school life. It is often the club that sparks a new interest, the creative project that builds confidence, the performance that gives a child their moment to shine, or the challenge that helps pupils discover skills they did not know they had.

With the Department for Education’s new enrichment framework for schools and colleges, enrichment is no longer something that sits quietly around the edges of the curriculum. The framework sets out eight enrichment benchmarks to help schools and colleges in England review, strengthen and improve their offer, with a clear focus on access, breadth, communication, partnership, outcomes and continuous improvement.

Although the guidance is non-statutory, Schools Week has reported that Ofsted will consider enrichment as part of personal development from September, making this a timely opportunity for schools to think carefully about what they already provide, where the gaps are, and how to make enrichment meaningful for every pupil.

What are the new enrichment benchmarks?

The enrichment benchmarks provide schools and colleges with a practical framework for evaluating their provision. The eight benchmarks ask schools to consider whether their enrichment offer is:

• Strategically aligned
• Broad and well-rounded
• Clearly communicated
• Shaped by the school community

• Accessible and engaging
• Supported by partnerships
• Focused on outcomes
• Continually improving

The framework also highlights five core enrichment categories that pupils should have opportunities to experience:

• Civic engagement
• Arts and culture
• Nature and the outdoors
• Sport and physical activity
• Life skills

This is important because enrichment is not just about doing more. It is about ensuring pupils have varied, purposeful experiences that support wellbeing, belonging, confidence, and preparation for the future.

For busy school leaders, the challenge is not usually a lack of ideas. It is about bringing everything together in a way that is manageable, inclusive, and easy to evidence. That is where the right digital tools and curriculum resources can make a real difference.

Why enrichment matters for primary schools

A strong enrichment offer helps pupils see learning as something wider than lessons alone. It gives children opportunities to create, collaborate, perform, investigate, solve problems, take responsibility and try something new. For some pupils, enrichment might be their route into confidence. For others, it might be the moment they feel part of the school community.

The new benchmarks also link enrichment to wider school priorities, including attendance, behaviour, curriculum, careers guidance, personal development and wellbeing. This means enrichment should not feel like an extra job on top of an already full workload. At its best, it should support the work schools are already doing to help pupils thrive.

For primary schools, this could include digital art clubs, coding challenges, author-style writing projects, music-making activities, pupil blogs, collaborative research, online safety discussions, enterprise activities, themed days, home learning challenges and opportunities for children to share and celebrate their work.

How Purple Mash supports the enrichment benchmarks

Purple Mash is a safe, creative, whole-school learning platform used by thousands of primary schools. While many schools know it for computing, Purple Mash also supports English, maths, art, music, PSHE, online safety, topic work, reading, creative projects, home learning and more. This breadth makes it a valuable partner for schools thinking about how to strengthen enrichment without adding unnecessary workload.

1. A broad and well-rounded enrichment offer

The enrichment framework asks schools to provide multiple and varied opportunities across different areas of enrichment. Purple Mash offers teachers a wide range of ready-to-use activities to support clubs, lunchtime sessions, themed weeks, and classroom-based enrichment.

Pupils can create animations, compose music, design digital artwork, write and publish stories, make games, develop coding projects, explore eBooks, complete quizzes and build multimedia presentations.

These activities can help schools bring arts and culture, digital creativity, communication, problem-solving and life skills into their wider offer. Alongside digital challenges, all Purple Mash schools also have access to Mash Club: an after-school computing club with self-guided sessions where pupils can code, blog, animate, create stories and make music. For schools looking for a ready-made enrichment activity, Mash Club can provide a simple, structured way to offer purposeful extracurricular computing without having to create everything from scratch.

2. Accessible and engaging enrichment for all pupils

One of the benchmarks focuses on making enrichment accessible and engaging. Purple Mash is browser-based, works across devices and includes features such as audio-supported tasks, differentiated activities and secure pupil logins. Teachers can set activities through 2Dos for individuals, groups, or whole classes, making it easier to adapt opportunities to different ages, abilities, and needs.

Because home access is included with school subscriptions, pupils can continue enrichment beyond the school day. This can be especially helpful for pupils who may not be able to attend every club or activity in person, giving families a way to support creative learning, reading, coding and topic projects at home.

3. A well-communicated offer that celebrates participation

The benchmarks emphasise clear communication with pupils and parents, as well as celebrating participation and achievement. Purple Mash gives schools simple ways to showcase pupil work through Display Boards, blogs and shared projects, all within a teacher-controlled environment. This helps schools celebrate creativity, effort and progress while keeping safeguarding and moderation in place.

Schools can use these tools to share outcomes from enrichment clubs, digital showcases, writing competitions, coding projects, art galleries, reading challenges or themed curriculum events. This makes participation visible and helps pupils feel proud of what they have achieved.

4. Outcomes-focused and continually improving enrichment

Schools are encouraged to think about the impact of enrichment and how provision can improve over time. Purple Mash can support this through 2Dos, digital portfolios, quizzes, teacher feedback, awards and reporting tools. These features help teachers collect evidence, track engagement and reflect on what pupils are gaining from different activities.

This can be useful when reviewing provision against the enrichment benchmarks, preparing development plans or identifying which activities are reaching pupils most effectively. Rather than relying only on anecdotal evidence, schools can build a clearer picture of participation, progress and pupil voice.

Practical enrichment ideas

If your school is reviewing enrichment, here are some simple ways Purple Mash could support your offer:

• Digital creativity club: pupils create animations, artwork, music, games and multimedia projects.
• Reading for pleasure: use Purple Mash Library and linked activities to encourage independent reading.
• Coding and problem-solving club: Mash Club has all the resources you need to support pupils to build confidence with 2Code, game creation and digital challenges.
• Pupil voice projects: use surveys, blogs or presentations to gather pupil ideas about enrichment and school life.
• Online safety ambassadors: help pupils explore safe, responsible and positive digital behaviours.
• Creative writing showcase: pupils publish stories, poems, reports or reviews using Purple Mash writing tools.
• Home learning challenges: extend enrichment beyond school with creative projects families can access at home.

These ideas can be adapted for different year groups, linked to school priorities, and used during lessons, at lunchtime, after school, or as part of wider themed events. The key is to make enrichment regular, purposeful and accessible, rather than something that only a small number of pupils can experience.

Purple Mash subscribers can also book a free 30-minute chat with one of our team to explore how Purple Mash could support enrichment even further in your school. It is a chance to talk through your current offer, identify quick wins, and look at practical ways to involve families too, from home learning challenges to sharing and celebrating pupil work with parents and carers.

Enrichment does not have to mean more workload

For many schools, the pressure is not whether enrichment matters. It is how to deliver it well with limited time, staff capacity and budget. Purple Mash helps by bringing together ready-made resources, creative tools, assessment options, home access, CPD and support in one familiar platform.

That means teachers can spend less time starting from scratch and more time giving pupils opportunities to explore, create, collaborate and celebrate their achievements. For leaders, it also means enrichment can be easier to plan, communicate, monitor and evidence.

The new enrichment benchmarks are an opportunity for schools to celebrate what they already do well and to think strategically about what comes next. With Purple Mash, schools have a practical way to support a broad, inclusive and engaging enrichment offer that helps every child discover more of what they can do.