• 4 new schools in Halton: St Martins, Lunts Heath, Brookvale, Fairfield
• 450+ staff trained in chemical safety and COSHH compliance
• Manual Handling Training completed by 450+ staff across 3 key modules
• Palm Oil Accreditation retained following an audit in April

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.

Dave Paton, Headteacher of Lunt’s Heath Primary School

“The children are really enjoying the quality of the meals and the new experience they have been having since we made the switch. The quality is much improved from previously and the ingredients have certainly helped support our team. We have been given the choice over our own menus and the children can see the genuine impact of this. I cannot speak highly enough of the support Richard has given the team. I think it is excellent value for money and we have recommended Edsential to at least 4 other schools. The ease of communication, choice and training have certainly been the key to our positive experience.”

• 36,341 residential bed night visits took place at Conway Centres
• 282 schools also visited our centres from all over the UK
• Conway Centres served a whopping 109,023 meals to guests
• We also had 49,666 participation in activities
• 46 families visited our Mountain View Lodge

Coming soon…

West Kirby Primary – Attended Oct 2024

“Very quick response from the office team, Gwawr was brilliant and reassured a parent who’s child was gluten free. Activities were brilliant and our main instructor Chris was very fantastic, very engaging and the kids loved his sense of humour.  The shop keeper Gill was also lovely and very helpful.  We usually go to PGL Winmarleigh Hall, we like how they have instructors who deliver evening activities, but Conway Centre day activities and locations far outweigh this.”

Newton Primary – Attended June 2024

“Excellent pre-arrival communication and in the run up to the trip. Catering has an excellent variety and was stress free with regards to allergies, due to how well they are handled.”

“Staff were fantastic, everyone was incredible helpful. Activities were led brilliantly and enjoyed by all children.”

Ashton on Mersey High School – Attended July 2024

Always amazing!! Great to see the life skills that our pupils gain from the residential. It is the one trip all pupils talk about for years to come!!

To move towards packages for groups, to build more budget friendly programmes, which has been a common theme from schools, facing tight budgets.  Package programmes should help us utilise our facilities and resources in a more efficient way, allowing us to in turn pass that saving onto our customers through package programmes.

• 138 schools (48%) received whole class instrumental teaching
• Edsential has engaged with 26 schools (90%) to support or deliver music education programs and/or activities.
• 5754 students received Whole Class Ensemble Teaching with 4,641 having their first experience of learning to play an instrument free of charge in our First Access programmes, fully funded by Edsential Musical Routes. These students have been taught on a weekly basis in 138 music classes.
• 71 schools (24%) chose to continue their whole class tuition with us beyond the fully funded period.
• 2439 Children learned an instrument (One to One, Small group or large group) with Edsential Musical Routes and their partners in the music hub.

The Northern Chamber Orchestra Project 1

• Intermediate to advanced string players were invited to take part in the first project.
• Repertoire – Haydn Symphony 104
• Invitations were sent to all intermediate to advanced string players who were either in an Edsential ensemble or having lessons with an Edsential tutor.
• Invitations were also sent to all secondary schools within the area.
• 15 Students attended the project.

Find out more here

Coming soon…

Coming soon…

• 153 Cleaning Audits completed in 2023/24
• 96% average score for Cleaning Audits
• 1 Accident reported in 2023/24
• 100% of schools surveyed would recommend Edsential Cleaning Service to colleagues

Coming soon…

Town Lane Infant School:

“After a thorough tender process, Edsential was chosen for their professionalism despite not being the cheapest option. Within six weeks, Edsential’s team improved the quality of cleaning, efficiently managed absences, and became integrated into the school team. The cost is nearly neutral compared to insourcing, but the quality of cleaning and staff wellbeing have notably improved.”

• Expand business into Wirral schools
• Ensure all caretakers, supervisors, and cleaners complete relevant online Health & Safety training
• Continue working with customers to enhance cleaning standards and explore new equipment for improved efficiency
• Review and refine the recruitment process for Facilities staff

Total meals – 93,592

Total Clubs – 341

Number of SEND attendees – 2854

Number of children benefitting –16,234

National Award – Our Edsential Managed HAF programme in Wirral were really excited to be awarded North West Regional HAF Winner 2023.

Each HAF programme were invited to nominate one Provider for the award. We chose Neo Community for Wirral. Neo have been a HAF provider since the pilot phase of HAF. And were selected as the Winner for North West 2023.

We will be attending a ceremony October 2024 at the Houses of Parliament to see if our Regional Award can be converted to overall National Winner. Here is a short video to highlight the amazing clubs across Wirral in 2023

HAF2023 (youtube.com)

HAF Clubs CWAC – Parental Feedback 2023

‘Absolutely amazing events, in a warm, welcoming environment. The staff at Helsby library are the most lovely, kind and caring employees and it makes parents want to stay after the event to help with the clean-up. We also stay after the event to choose books to take home and read’.

HAF Clubs Wirral – Parental Feedback 2023

‘This has been a godsend the people that work there go above and beyond absolutely amazing place with amazing staff’

‘Financially it can be really difficult to keep children occupied during the school holidays. With the Delamere centre on our door step it helps so much’

We have a focus of Sustainability for 2024/25.

This includes an environmental theme, supported by Rachel McDonald from Learning outside of the Classroom, who will be providing training for all of our providers. Rachel is also supporting delivery to a number of clubs across both Cheshire and Wirral.

Nationally HAF has reached the end of its 4 year funding commitment and we are working alongside regional HAF Liverpool City region members and Nationally with Feeding Britain to lobby Ministers in continuing to fund HAF with the new Labour government.

• 116 schools provided with clerking services by Edsential Governance
• 271 delegates attended governance training sessions
• Supported 7 Governing Bodies with headteacher appointments
• 964 meetings clerked by the Edsential Governance team
• 76 additional meetings managed
• 14 admission panels held for 62 pupils
• 5 complaint hearings facilitated
• 24 Exclusion and Suspension Hearings managed

Eccleston Church of England Primary School: The Edsential Governance team expertly led the complex recruitment process for a new headteacher, ensuring all legal requirements were met and helping the Full Governing Board with tasks such as:

• Crafting a detailed job advert and person specification
• Handling applications and managing confidentiality
• Leading shortlisting meetings and overseeing the interview process
• Providing feedback to candidates and facilitating the final ratification meeting
• The process was praised for its professionalism, clarity, and smooth execution, which boosted the school’s confidence in making a critical leadership appointment.

Governor

The Clerk provides great support before, during and after governor meetings from the Clerk. The clerk advises us, when we are not sure, of best practice. Minutes are always well written. The clerk helps keep us on track through the year and is a valued support to the FGB and school

We are looking at ways we can better support the needs of MAT groups through our clerking and training services

• LOTC supported 602 schools with EVOLVE primarily across Cheshire West, Cheshire East, Halton and Wirral.
• 2,788 visits took place by the schools that we support.
• We approved 1,343 residential visits in total
• 202 were overseas visits in which 77,576 students got to see parts of the world they may not have previously discovered.
• We have trained 211 Educational Visit Co-ordinators, with the offer of both online and face to face training

Since September 2023 the LOTC department have started delivering Rescue and Emergency Care First Aid courses. The two types of courses we run are:

• 2 Day Outdoor First Aid with Emergency First Aid at Work course.
• 1 Day emergency first aid at work course

Courses have been well attended and have been delivered in schools, outdoor and environmental centres. Feed back from the courses has been very positive with the following comment.

REC level 2 2 day course 39 people trained

One day EFAW course 43 people trained

Parent who’s child visited LOTC HAF club

“The small group size with a high staff to child ratio is key. My son needs encouragement and prompts and can become overwhelmed with large mainstream groups. He often just stands there doing nothing however this group ensured he was involved from the very beginning. Fab group.”

Feedback from Class teacher:

“The children have loved having the chance to work and learn outside. They look forward to forest school each week and it has been a great confidence boost for my most active learners.”

Coming soon…

• 500+ teachers supported across 2023
• 99.8% of teachers rated our service as “very good” or “excellent”
• 98% of teachers reported they feel an increased confidence when teaching PE
• Total PE+ suported over 800 teachers across 52 schools this year.
• Supported the delivery of over 22,000 hours of PE lessons across the last 12 months.
• We have provided more than 2,000 swimming lessons this year
• More than 10,000 children have taken part in swimming lessons this year.

Coming soon…

Deputy Headteacher, Oak View Academy

“Using Total PE+ has completely transformed the teaching of
physical education across our school. Teachers have been empowered
to confidently deliver high-quality lessons, and our children are
showing outstanding progress of skills and knowledge.
I would highly recommend Total PE+ to any schools who are
reviewing their PE curriculum and provision.”

Year 6 Class Teacher, Bidston Village Primary School

“Our Rainbow Programme sessions have been very positive and
empowering. Over the weeks I’ve seen several of my class grow and develop,
challenging themselves to do things they might usually avoid. We’ve
used several of the breathing techniques in class to help us with
assessments. I can’t recommend Julie and the programme highly
enough.”

• Over the summer, we released 8 new learning series for schools and will continue developing tailored resources while welcoming new schools using Total PE+, with staff training and CPD planned for the Autumn Term.
• Over 25 schools are enrolled in our Subject Leader Support Programme for CPD, with 100+ class teachers joining our Curriculum Support Programmes, and 15 staff twilight sessions planned for the Autumn and Spring Terms across Wirral, Cheshire West, Cheshire East, Liverpool, and Halton.

• Sales Invoices Processed: 8,500
• Purchase Invoices Processed (Non-Food): 11,877
• Purchase Invoices Processed (Food): 30,496
• Supplier Payment Runs Made: 228
• Remittance Allocated from Customer Receipts: 1,320
• HAF Invoices Processed and Paid to Providers: 340
• Number of Calls Answered: 890
• Number of Calls Made: 477
• Improved Production of Monthly P&L and Stats: Reduced from 13 to 7 working days
• Successfully Rolled Out 2024-25 Budget Plan: Across all services

• To work with service leads and SMT in producing realistic and challenging budgets, including retention, growth and productivity gains across the business for 25-26.
• Further training and development in areas of the team and working towards professional qualification.
• Increase knowledge of task and cover across all finance disciplines to aide business continually.

• Total Employees: 751
• New Employees Recruited: 200
• Internal Promotions: 32
• Retirements: 10
• Flu Vaccines Taken Up: 80
• Apprenticeship Management Training: 5

Recruitment Highlights

• Launch of Talos Recruitment: Resulted in a 20% increase in applicants

Coming soon…

• 273 accidents, incidents, and near misses reported across Edsential in 2023/24, primarily low-level incidents involving young service users in physical activities.
• Most frequent staff accidents:
  • 58 (21%) cuts from knives/equipment
  • 51 (19%) slips/trips/falls
  • 21 (8%) burns/scalds
• 4 HSE (RIDDOR) reportable accidents, including:
  • 2 food-allergen related incidents
  • 1 challenging behaviour by a pupil
  • 1 tutor with a cut finger during outdoor education
• 1 Fire Service attendance at a school site for a chemical leak
• 1 personal injury claim for a maintenance operative slipping at a Residential Centre

• Transitioned in-house H&S advice and support, moving away from an SLA with CW&C Council
• Embedding a new H&S management system from Peninsula H&S Services across the business
• Introduce health and safety resources, including e-learning, compliance monitoring, and online guidance for all workers
• Review and update all H&S policies, guidance, and risk assessments to align with statutory requirements and industry best practices
• Continue comprehensive H&S audits with actionable improvement plans
• Host a Health & Safety week early in the 2024 academic year to raise awareness, educate staff, and address workplace behaviours using targeted communication tools

Summary

• Transformative Experiences: Residential programs at Conway Centres enrich personal growth.
• Building Resilience: Students faced fears like rock climbing and kayaking, boosting confidence.
• Teamwork and Independence: Activities taught teamwork and encouraged independence through tasks like packing.
• Cultural Awareness: Insights included Viking history and bomb shelters, enhancing historical understanding.
• Overcoming Challenges: Students learned perseverance through fears, like enjoying the zipline despite initial fears.
• Long-lasting Impacts: Increased confidence leads to greater engagement and willingness to tackle new challenges.

Testimonials

Child who visited Anglesey Centre:

“My English improved is better after the visit because we talked all the time. I know now that all teachers here are very good now and every night every teacher is coming and saying night , night!! It made me feel very safe. Afghanistan is not safe but I was safe in Wales, it is much good. I also know how to wash my body in the shower.”

Child who visited Anglesey Centre:

“I am more confident after going on the trip. I am now more willing to give things a try even if they are hard as I was one of two children who managed to climb to the top of the more difficult climb which I was proud of myself for that.”