Extended schools
Supporting parents and their children
The Government has a long-term vision of schools at the heart the
community, providing access to childcare from 8am to 6pm all year
round (not necessarily on the school site) and offering a range of locally
determined activities and services. There's no single model for
extended school - what is on offer is shaped by the needs and demands of
pupils, parents and wider community.
A lot of schools are already providing access to extended services, but the
Government wants all schools to do this so that all children and young people -
and their families - can benefit wherever they live. In the coming years, the
range of activities and services open to children and families at every school
is going to increase.
Schools will also increasingly be linking up with local Sure Start children's centres (providing services for children under the age of five) to ensure services are more joined up.
Your school: what should you expect?
It will take time for all schools to be able to offer access to a full range of activities and services, and they will not necessarily run the activities and services themselves. Schools are working in partnership with others to offer these services, linking up with other local schools and working with a wide variety of organisations to ensure that there are a range of activities on offer to children and young people. However, in the future you should expect your children's school to provide:
Access to childcare
- Childcare will be available from at least 8am to 6pm, before and after the school day but also during the school holidays all year round in fact. The provision will either be on the school site or at a nearby school or local provider. If it's not on the school site, the school will be expected to make sure there are supervised travel arrangements for young children. There may also be the choice of home-based (childminding) or community-based (out-of-school club) childcare. Many schools are already offering access to childcare services but by 2010 all children aged between 3 and 14 (16 for children with special educational needs or disabilities) will have access to affordable childcare before and after school care all year round.
Access to a varied menu of activities
- Schools already provide extra learning-related activities like homework clubs. They will build on this so that all children are able to take up some additional supervised support and have the opportunity to continue to learn and develop outside normal school hours. This support will be tailored so children who are falling behind their peers will receive extra support to help them catch up. Those who are doing particularly well will be offered more challenging work to stretch them further. Children will be able to pursue special interests or try out new things - anything from chess clubs to fencing lessons to extra language classes at breakfast. They will also be able to access music and sport clubs.
Access to support for parents and the wider community
- All schools are being encouraged to provide parents with access to support to help them in their role as parents. This includes providing activities such as parenting skills programmes and child behaviour management courses. Schools are also being encouraged to make available activities to support parents and adults to develop their own learning and extend their skills - for example, to acquire information and communications technology (ICT) knowledge or improve reading, writing and maths. Some schools may also offer wider activities to the local community such as information about healthy eating and nutrition or advice on managing finances - including debt counselling and availability of welfare and benefits.
Access to information and swift referral to specialised services
- Schools will provide access to information on a wide range of other services for parents and children. As schools develop good links with specialist services - such as speech therapy, child and adolescent mental health services and intensive behaviour support - they can improve access to the help and support that some children need.
What's your role?
As a parent, you play a crucial role in shaping and supporting your
children's learning and development. As more and more schools offer access
to extended services, there will be more opportunities for you to access
information, advice and support about how best to support your
children's learning and development. There will also be more
opportunities for you to get involved in the life of the school.
Many parents take part by helping to organise and deliver activities often on a
voluntary basis - for example, they may lead or help supervise sports clubs or
help to organise trips. However, there may also be employment opportunities for
parents. Some services that schools are developing, such as out of school
clubs, will employ staff.
How can you get involved?
You should ask your school about the activities and services on offer outside the school day. Schools, legally, have a responsibility to consult parents about plans for these kinds of activities and services. They may contact you by letter, send you a questionnaire, invite you to a meeting or talk to you at parents' evenings. But you don't have to wait to be contacted by your school - if you want to find out what's on offer, get in touch.
How much does it cost?
Pupils will not be charged for education outside school hours if it is part
of the National Curriculum, or part of a syllabus for a prescribed public
examination, or part of religious education, for example. Specialist services,
such as those provided by health and social care professionals, remain free of
charge.
Schools will always try to keep costs to parents to a minimum. Some
parents may be eligible for the childcare element of the working tax credit to
help support some of the costs of the childcare.
Your local Children's Information Service should be able to tell you about
what sort of help is available and how you can access it. You can find out
details of your local CIS by going to
ChildcareLink
[External Site],
which contains links to every CIS in the country. Alternatively, you can ask
the early years' department of your local council.
Where you can find out more
Your children's school will be able to tell you about the activities and
services already on offer. Your school's prospectus or annual report will
also provide information about this. Many schools now have their own website
and this too will include information about the activities and services on
offer.
The local Children's Information Service is another good source of
information about what your school and other local schools are providing,
particularly in terms of childcare and parenting support.
Related links:
ChildcareLink
[External Site]
SureStart
[External Site]
Inland Revenue: Tax Credit
section
[External Site]
Teachernet: Extended
Schools section
[External Site]
ContinYou
[External Site]
