Extended schooling provision
Extended Schools is a core offer of five key
services that all children, young people, families and communities
should be able to access:
Childcare
Primary schools should provide access to
high quality ‘wraparound’ childcare provided on the school site or
through local providers. Childcare should be available
8am-6pm, five days a week, 48 weeks a year, in accordance with the
community's need.
Secondary schools should provide access
to, a safe place to be before and after school hours and offer
access to a varied menu of study support and enrichment
activities.
Varied menu of study support activities
Extended Schools should offer a varied menu of
study support and enrichment activities such as ‘catch up’ and
‘stretch’ activities. These can include: homework clubs, sport,
music tuition, dance and drama, arts and crafts, special interest
clubs (for example, chess and first aid courses), languages,
volunteering, business and enterprise activities.
Parenting support
Information sessions should be available for
parents at key transition points alongside parenting programmes run
with the support of other children’s services. Additionally, family
learning sessions to allow children to learn with their parents
should be on offer.
Community access
Schools should encourage the local community
to use school facilities by opening up school ICT, sports and arts
facilities to the local community beyond the school day, where
appropriate and required. They should also provide opportunities
for adult learning through the school or other providers.
Swift and easy access
Extended Schools should facilitate a quicker
referral system for families to specialist support services. These
may include; health care, mental health care, social care, family
support services, intensive behaviour support, Police, housing and
benefit services, and many others.
The benefits of extended schools
The extra services provided by extended
schools will allow parents to have greater choice, flexibility,
convenience and accessibility to help them balance family and work
commitments. Services being available 8am-6pm will also allow
greater flexibility for full or part-time employment.
Teachers should benefit from extended services
as they can help remove barriers to learning and give support to
pupils with problems outside their academic work, helping teachers
focus on their core job of teaching.