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
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
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