Extended Services in Schools


DCSF define an extended school as one that ‘provides a range of activities and services, often beyond the school day to help meet the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community’. These services can be delivered in partnership with existing providers and can be either on the school site or in community venues.
Education Secretary Ruth Kelly announced the publication of the Extended Schools Prospectus and local authority funding allocations for the development of Extended Schools. This Prospectus sets out the Government’s vision on what schools could offer their communities. More detailed information is available on: www.teachernet.gov.uk/extendedschools . The core extended services that can be delivered at or through schools are:

The Core Offer of Extended Services

  • Childcare from 8.00am – 6.00pm (not applicable to Secondary Schools)
  • A varied menu of activities before and after school, these activities will provide a safe place for Secondary School pupils to be between 8.00am - 6.00pm
  • Parenting support and family learning opportunities
  • Swift and easy access to a wide range of support services such as speech and language therapists
  • Community access to ICT and adult learning

Better information sharing practice and common assessment are key underpinning processes for Extended Schools, not least of which will be their role at the heart of the community, hosting, supporting and delivering a broader range of services to children, young people and parents.

Schools will be able to offer high-quality childcare from 8am-6pm all year round with a varied menu of activities such as homework clubs; sport; music tuition; languages; volunteering and business and enterprise activities. Extended Schools bring long-term benefits to children and local neighbourhoods. They have a positive impact on the cultures of schools and communities, particularly in terms of how learning is viewed and promote community cohesion.

A Summary of Developing Extended Services

Agree a vision. Extended schools can generate a range of positive outcomes for the school, the pupils, their families and the wider community. Plan and focus services so that they can contribute to supporting school improvement and to supporting pupils, their families and communities.

  • Talk to other local providers of children’s services - health professionals, social services, voluntary sector – are there opportunities to work together?
  • Get to know the community. Audit existing services and consult pupils, families, teachers and school staff and the wider community (ideally making use of any surveys that have been carried out by the local authority or other groups). Have others carried out recent consultations? Have they managed to engage hard to reach groups?
  • Having collected this information, decide what the school can realistically offer.
  • Get teachers and other school staff on board from the beginning.
  • Ensure that the services offered are clearly linked to the school improvement plan
  • Who will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the extended services? The work should not fall to teachers. A co-ordinator or project manager can take on this role, (possibly part-time or shared with other schools).
  • Set up a steering group/committee of key stakeholders to oversee, and be accountable for, the development of extended services.
  • Speak to other schools in the area. Is there an opportunity to work together in a cluster to offer extended services? Ask schools that are already offering extended services for advice.
  • Extended schools don’t necessarily have to find additional funding. Think about how you can use what you’ve already got and how other services may contribute
  • Look to what the community can offer. What local groups and individuals can offer their skills to contribute to the development of the extended school?

Source: www.teachernet.gov.uk/extendedschools

Key National Policies and Documents

  • DCSF publication: Extended Schools: Providing Opportunities and Services for All (2002), which provides guidance to local education authorities and schools on the practical issues in establishing extended schools.
  • Education Act 2005 - enables Governing Bodies to provide facilities and services directly that benefit pupils, their families and the local community through extended use of school premises
  • Every Child Matters 2003 - Extended schools identified as an important means of delivering the agenda of integrated services. ‘In each local area young people need to access schools with high quality teaching and other services including childcare and family learning on site; opportunities for personal development, learning and recreation outside school hours, including access to sport, art and cultural activities; a trusted adult who will listen to the young person’s views; and good quality support from primary health care and effective health promotion.’
  • Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners 2004 - Every school will be an extended school by 2009, playing a valuable role in delivering a range of integrated services at the heart of communities.
  • The Ten Year Strategy for Childcare 2004 - Addresses use of extended schools as a base from which to deliver out of school childcare place for all children aged 3-14 between the hours of 8am to 6pm each weekday by 2010. (Where there are Children’s Centres, provision will be from birth to five years).
  • Extended School Prospectus (June 2005)

Further Information

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