New Schools:

• Halton – 11 (Primary and Special Schools) 
• Cheshire East – Beechwood (large primary school) 
• 450+ staff received addition allergen training via an inhouse Video 
• Changed food supplier  

Dee Point Primary School:

The increased meal uptake at Dee Point Primary School saw an impressive rise of 45-50 meals per day, primarily in Free School Meals (FSM) and Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). This success was achieved through close collaboration with the Headteacher and Governors, who conducted surveys with pupils and parents to better understand their preferences. In response to the feedback, a revised menu was introduced that included pasta pots and additional service points to enhance the queuing experience for students.

Tracy Moore

I took the opportunity to meet our new Catering Supervisor, her enthusiasm was lovely to see. She is really enjoying it, she tells me she is trying to introduce some small changes which are going well.  

The quantity and quality of the food looked really appetizing.  

Thank you for your support in getting us to this stage 

• 9,277 young people stayed at the Cheshire Centres in 24/25 and 1225 Teachers 
• 565 activity sessions delivered by our Outdoor Team 
• 273 young people took part in Art at Tattenhall 
• 28,852 meals served

Coming Soon…

School who visited our centre:

“Everybody had an excellent time at Tattenhall. All staff were welcoming and friendly. Children thoroughly enjoyed all activities and had a brilliant 2 days.” 

“Another great visit, thank you very much. See you next year.” 

“Staff are very welcoming and helpful. Timings and information provided before and while on the stay is spot on. The food was great and the service brilliant.” 

“Wonderful catering and brilliant provision for all allergies.”

• In September ’25 we rolled out new activity programmes for Residential visits. 
• We increased access for schools to STEM activities at all 3 Cheshire sites.
• We combined Day Visits to save schools money – 2 x groups, 1 x coach, drop off at Tattenhall and Burwardsley on the same day 

• 14,993 – Guests attended our Anglesey site for varying stays 
• 38,235 – Guest Bed Nights at our Anglesey site 
• 79,829 – Meals prepared, cooked and served by the Anglesey catering team. 
• 35,577 – Guest participation in Outdoor activity  
• 5,338 – Guest participation in Expressive Arts activity 
• 3,558 – Outdoor activity sessions delivered by our Outdoor Team 
• 6,048 – Bedrooms Cleaned by our housekeeping team 
• 5,244 – Bathrooms Cleaned by our housekeeping team 

We received £44,730.00 from Adventures Away from Home, which funded residential visits and day courses for underrepresented children and young people aged 11-18yrs.  This funding enabled 158 young people to experience a 2 night residential and 94 young people to experience a day visit.  

We received £26,262.00 from Anglesey (£17,508) and Gwynedd (£8,754.00) to deliver Alternate Provision programmes for local schools for students in year 9&10. 

Ysgol Bodedern Ks3 

“The Conway Centre’s adventurous activities programme was a thrilling experience for Jax, Hari, Osian, Isla, Violet, and Mia. Through exhilarating challenges like rock climbing, canoeing, and zip-lining, the group pushed their physical limits and conquered fears. Beyond the physical, the programme fostered essential social and emotional skills. Collaborative problem-solving during group activities strengthened teamwork and communication. Overcoming personal challenges like heights or water, boosted self-confidence and resilience. By sharing experiences and supporting one another, the young adventurers developed empathy and understanding, creating lasting bonds of friendship.”

St Peter & St Paul Wirral 

“I just wanted to email to say a huge thank you to you and all of the staff we have interacted with this week! The children had an absolutely amazing experience and genuinely loved every minute of it! Every single member of staff that worked with us has gone above and beyond and made our experience a truly unforgettable one! Honestly, a huge thanks – all communication, booking, kindness,  adventure days, accommodation, everything has just been phenomenal – we couldn’t have asked for better! “

• Continuing the roll out of seasonal package pricing, there’s a package to meet all budgets

• This year we introduced our bursary offer to schools, making residentials even more affordable and accessible. It was a huge success this year, and we look forward to its growth next year. 

• We partnered with a coach company to support school transport to/from centre, making the planning process smother and more hassle free. 

• 53 – contract sites  
• 153 – cleaning audits completed
  96 – average cleaning audit score 2024/2025  
• 64,233 – contracted cleaning hours delivered 
• 7296 – hours covered by mobile cleaning team 

Wharton Church of England Primary School 

“At Wharton CofE Primary School, we have been extremely pleased with the high standard of service provided by Edsential Cleaning Company. Their team is reliable, professional, and consistently goes above and beyond to ensure our school is clean, safe, and welcoming for our pupils, staff, and visitors. 

The cleaners are friendly and approachable, and they take real pride in their work. Their attention to detail is excellent” 

• To improve digital access to training and support for all cleaning staff 
• To promote wellbeing services to all cleaning staff 
• To investigate new business areas/locations  
• To look at new marketing and communications methods with clients 

• 12,579 – Total Attendance  
• 3016 – SEND young people
• 290 – Clubs 
• 80,890 meals provided 
• 1384 – Parents completed feedback form. 
• 5 out of 5 average score from parents when asked ‘Overall how would you rate the holiday club attended? (1 poor – 5 excellent)

Annual HAF Conference – We held our annual HAF conference at Grosvenor Pulford Hotel in January 2025. The conference is to update providers on latest National HAF information, give an opportunity to share good practice and to celebrate the outcomes of HAF 2024.  

We had over 80 attendees. 

St Winifreds Catholic Primary Summer 2024

“This is the first time we bid for HAF funding and held our own Summer Club. There was one previous HAF at our school site which was supported by an independent provider who used our school building. We were keen to provide provision for our school community and ensure those families which were in need or vulnerable were supported over the summer break. The challenges we had were understanding the paperwork and compliance needed. Ensuring all information and consent was received from parents, etc. Making sure there were staff to cover the provision and most importantly all safeguarding procedures and policy were in place and staff aware of the process.  Catering provision and food was another challenge, but we attended training from Edsential and reached out to Edsential catering and they supported us in providing healthy, nutritious food for the children”

HAF Clubs CWAC – Parental Feedback 2024

“Think it’s absolutely fantastic there is a SEND holiday club where the kids can go for a few hours. Also I find it a very safe place for my daughter”

‘This was the first time I’d left [my child] at an activity club and she loved it. It gave me a couple of very precious hours with my other daughter to do something Christmassy together in town. [My child]’s needs and behaviour make getting into town or going to a cafe very difficult and it was a real treat for her sister to be able to do those things and have my attention”

Parents of children attending Sean Bailey SEND club – Queens Park High 

HAF Clubs Wirral – Parental Feedback 2024

‘This holiday club is amazing and really beneficial for families who don’t have many things to do during the summer holidays. We’ve personally not been able to go out much due to our financial situation and we would of been stuck in the house the whole 6 weeks holidays if this holiday club was not on. For us our mental health would be affected if we could not get out the house much and have not done much before this holiday club started, we are all very grateful we have this on our door step.”

Parent of child attending Crea8ing Community – Hillside Primary School 

• Increased number of Specialist SEND provisions  
• Introduction of a new MI system called EEQU for checking eligibility, bookings and registers 
• Developing a ‘Get Growing’ project encouraging groups to grow their own plants. 

Clerking SLAs 2024/25:

CWAC – 54 

HALTON – 26 

WIRRAL – 22 

OTHER – 6

Independent clerking – 8 

Governor Training Buyback – 51

GovernorHub Buyback – 84 

Headships Buyback – 3 

Total – 108

Governor Training 

Number of Training Sessions – 31

Number of delegates attending training – 212

Schools & Governors

“Petrina is great on governance, leadership and management because she’s been there. However, she’s also able to break down complex and potentially intimidating themes down very logically and understands that at the end of the day, we’re all volunteers.”

“Excellent presentation covering the role and responsibilities of chair of governors which is what I needed to know.”

“Mark’s knowledge is excellent and he conducted the course in a very thorough and professional manner.”

“I have been on two courses led by Louise and they were both excellent. Covered exactly what I’d hoped for and were presented in a lively and knowledgeable way.”

“I thought Joy was excellent – really knowledgeable and embellished the training materials well. The content was delivered at a pace that was easy to digest and there was plenty of scope to ask questions.”

EVC Trainees across boroughs 

Training Courses: 

• 5,437 children worked with across the year.  
• 124 teachers supported through our CPD programmes and over 700 teachers using our online PE planning platform every week. 
• 6786 hours of extra-curricular activities delivered to children.  
• 162 girls took part in our new Engaging Girls in Sport Programme – supporting schools to tackle a key national agenda.  
• 1134 children took part in our Competitions for All Programme across the year, with 1060 of these children representing their school in a sporting competition for the first time.  

During 2024/25 we piloted our new School Engagement Programme.  

The programme runs over the course of 6 weeks. Its focus is to improve engagement and attendance through physical activity.  

Each session is specifically tailored to the needs of each group of children we work with but are all based around physical activity.  

Within the programme, our planning and delivery centres mainly around 3 key concepts and questions which we ask the children: 

3 Key Concept/ Outcomes: 

• Increased sense of belonging 
• Develop positive relationships  
• Support wellbeing 

The results of our pilot programme were very positive.  

A full breakdown of the impact our pilot programme made can be found here. 

“The support from Edsential last year was invaluable. I was new to the role of PE Lead and I would not have got through the year without them. Everything is so well planned; from CPD to actual lessons. Edsential were always there for guidance and support and nothing was ever too much trouble. Thank you.” – PE Subject Leader, Woodchurch C of E Primary 

“The Curriculum Support CPD sessions have been fantastic. I have learnt a lot and I feel much more confident now with teaching PE.” – Class Teacher, Bidston Village C of E Primary  

“Having never taught Gymnastics before this has been really beneficial. I was really surprised at the quality of work/sequences the children were able to produce.” – Class Teacher, St Bridget’s C of E Primary  

“Using Total PE+ has completely transformed the teaching of physical education across our school. I would highly recommend Total PE+ to any schools who are reviewing their PE curriculum and provision.” – Deputy Headteacher, Oak View Academy 

• This year we aim to reach over 100 schools using our online PE platform.  
• Our new School Engagement Programme has launched to help support schools tackle some of the key issues they are facing, such as attendance and behaviour.  
• We have launched our CPD and Training calendar of events which is available to all Total PE+ subscribers. We anticipate this will support over 100 teachers across the next 12 months. 

Coming Soon…

Coming Soon…

Total Employees: 795 

• New Employees Recruited: 95 
• Internal Promotions: 5 
• Retirements: 13 
• Flu Vaccines Taken Up: 47 
• Apprenticeship Management Training: 2 

There were 308 accidents, incidents and near misses reported across the business in 2023/24.  Everyone was investigated in a proportionate manner and all were all signed off by the Line Manager and Service Lead. 

There were 31 accidents involving members of staff.  The most frequently occurring were:- 

Cuts from knives – 8 (26%) 

Slips/trips/falls – 7 (23%) 

Burns and scalds – 7 (23%) 

There were 3 HSE RIDDOR reportable accidents:- 

• An over 5 day injury to a Catering Supervisor who burned their arm removing a gastronorm from a combi-oven. 

• An over 5 day injury to a Catering Supervisor who trapped their finger in a kitchen door. 

• A specified injury to a Kitchen Assistant who fractured their hip when they slipped in a dining hall. 

There was 1 external investigation: A cross service team supported Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Environmental Health Team with an investigation into a historic food allergen incident. 

• Continue to follow the HSE’s Health and Safety Management System, HSG, 65.  Including robustly reviewing and developing our Plan>Do>Check>Act approach to managing our H&S policies, procedures and arrangements, ensuring they align with  statutory requirements and industry best practices. 

• Maintain a central H&S risk register to drive all recommended actions and improvements. 

• Develop our accident and incident reporting system to integrate the reporting of safeguarding incidents. 

• Scope the use of AI and newly available learning platforms to provide a data driven compliance strategy that connects all our compliance systems to improve risk visibility and compliance accuracy.