Government’s commitment to ensure every child has access to enriching activities that build skills and confidence for life marks an important moment for education.
Through the introduction of an enrichment entitlement and the wider enrichment framework for schools and colleges, there is now a clearer recognition that education must go beyond academic attainment. It must support wellbeing, belonging and a sense of place, a readiness for life beyond school.
This is a significant step forward.
But as with many ambitious policy reforms, the key question is not what is intended—it is how it will be delivered.
A once-in-a-generation opportunity
Alongside the enrichment agenda, there is growing cross-government recognition that access to nature is fundamental to young people’s development.
Taken together, these two agendas create a powerful opportunity:
For the first time, the conditions are emerging to make meaningful, regular contact with nature part of every child’s experience of education—not just a privilege for some.
If realised, this could shift the system from offering occasional opportunities to guaranteeing a consistent experience for all.
The risk: activity without equity
However, there is also a risk.
External visits and specialist experiences can be powerful moments in a child’s learning, opening up new environments, expertise and perspectives. The risk comes when these opportunities are treated as the whole offer, rather than as part of a broader entitlement rooted in regular, local access to nature.
This interpretation may reinforce, rather than reduce, existing inequalities.
We already see that access to nature varies widely depending on:
Without a deliberate focus on equity, enrichment could remain:
To avoid this, we need to be clear about what meaningful enrichment looks like in practice.
Connecting memorable experiences with everyday nature learning
At its best, enrichment is not about occasional experiences—it is about shaping everyday learning.
For nature, this means a fundamental shift:
What matters most is frequent, familiar contact with nature, rooted in school grounds and local green and blue spaces. Additionally external visits to cultural, historical, ecological places have the strongest impact when they are prepared for in school, experienced meaningfully on the day and learnings revisited afterwards through regular, local, curriculum linked learning.
This is the model that:
It is also the only approach that can realistically reach every child.
Why delivery depends on teachers
The enrichment framework rightly sets out what children should experience. But policy alone does not change practice.
What happens day to day—in classrooms, playgrounds and local environments—depends on teachers.
At present, many teachers are not consistently supported to deliver nature-based learning in ways that are:
This is not a gap in commitment—it is a gap in system support.
If nature is to become a meaningful part of enrichment for all children, teacher confidence and capability must be treated as a core part of delivery.
Teacher development: the missing link
Teacher professional development (CPD) is the mechanism that connects policy to reality.
It is what turns:
Without it, the system remains fragmented. With it, consistent and equitable delivery becomes possible.
Investing in structured, practical CPD—focused on using school grounds and local spaces—would enable teachers to integrate nature into learning in a way that is sustainable and scalable.
A whole-system approach
The Government’s enrichment agenda will only deliver its full potential if it is aligned with wider efforts on access to nature.
Three elements need to work together:
These elements are interdependent.
Without alignment:
With alignment, a genuinely equitable system becomes possible.
What needs to happen next
To ensure the enrichment entitlement delivers on its promise for nature, three practical priorities stand out:
1. Define enrichment to include regular, local engagement with nature Not just one-off activities, but frequent, place-based experiences where external visits are anchor moments used to deepen learning, broaden horizon and connect to wider landscapes.
2. Invest in teacher capability as a central delivery mechanism Embedding nature confidently into everyday teaching
3. Align education policy with wider access-to-nature strategies So that provision, workforce and infrastructure work together
These steps would move the system from aspiration to implementation.
From enrichment to entitlement
The Government’s commitment to enrichment has opened an important door.
Handled well, it can help ensure that every child:
This is about more than activities. It is about what we consider a normal part of childhood.
The ambition is in place. The opportunity is clear.
The task now is to ensure that enrichment—especially access to nature—is not something some children experience occasionally, but something every child can rely on, every day.
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