Oasis academy trust founder Steve Chalke is among five ambassadors selected by government to support schools with providing enrichment opportunities. It comes after the Department for Education published last week. Schools will be expected to use the benchmarks to evaluate their own provision and make improvements. The five ambassadors were chosen by the DfE as respected figures in their fields. Their role will include 鈥渋dentifying听and celebrating good practice inside and outside of schools鈥� and 鈥渉elping to shape and grow opportunities鈥�. They will also be responsible for making sure opportunities are available to certain groups or areas who would otherwise miss out. They will be aligned with the five enrichment areas, which include life and skills, nature, outdoor and adventure, art and culture, sports and physical activities, and civic engagement. Each ambassador will also help drum up support within the sector to provide more access to opportunities for young people, and work with potential partners to show where they can fund provision. Who are the ambassadors? Life and future skills 鈥� Anne-Marie Imafidon. Imafidon is a computer scientist, mathematician and social entrepreneur, who also serves as the women in tech envoy on the women in tech taskforce. She also founded Stemettes, a social enterprise which encourages young girls to pursue STEAM careers. Nature, outdoor and adventure 鈥� Tanni Grey-Thompson. An 11-time paralympic champion in wheelchair racing, Grey-Thompson also is a broadcaster and chair of trustees for the Duke of Edinburgh award. Arts and culture 鈥� Marcus Davey. Davey is a former CEO and artistic director at The Roundhouse, a trustee at Paul Hamlyn Foundation and co-chair of the young creatives commission. He was also on the advisory board of the Cultural Learning Alliance and was chair of Walk to the Horizon. Sports and physical activities 鈥� Sue Campbell. Campbell is chair of England Netball and a former chair of UK Sport, where she was involved in delivering medals at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. She was previously director of women鈥檚 football at the FA and will advise the government on PE and sport more widely. Civic engagement 鈥� Steve Chalke. Chalke set up Oasis Community Learning, an academy trust that now runs 56 schools in 2004. He also founded Oasis Charitable Trust, as well as the People鈥檚 Parliament, which aims to establish a stronger voice for third-sector organisations in public life. The roles have been accepted on a voluntary basis. Potential to 鈥榦pen up opportunities鈥� Schools minister Georgia Gould said the enrichment benchmarks were about 鈥渕aking sure there’s a better option waiting for them outside of their screens鈥�. “Because children don’t just need less screen time, they need more of everything else 鈥撎齭port, creativity, the outdoors, time with friends in the real world.听That’s听what we mean when we talk about redefining childhood, and听it’s听a conversation we want to bring the whole country along on. “That’s why I’m delighted to be working with five exceptional ambassadors听鈥撎齟xperts who share our ambition听鈥撎齮o听bring together their expertise, insight and influence to make sure听every child, wherever they grow up, can live听their听childhood听to the full.鈥� Ali Oliver, Youth Sport Trust chief executive said the new enrichment framework, 鈥渨hich has the potential to open up high-quality opportunities for more young people鈥�. 鈥淧upils including those eligible for free school meals, those with SEND, and those with lower prior attainment are significantly less likely to participate in sports, arts, music and hobby clubs.听 鈥�By prioritising and making these opportunities more accessible, we hope this will help schools see the resulting benefits across all aspects of school life, while ensuring every young person has the chance to experience the positive impact of enrichment.” But union leaders previously told Schools Week they were concerned about how schools would have capacity to deliver on these benchmarks, and stressed that more resources would be needed.