What are Extended Schools?
Extended Schools provide a range of services and activities,
often beyond the school day, to help meet the needs of children,
their families and the wider community. Many of our schools are
already providing some of these services and it is the government’s
intention that they will all offer extended services by 2010.
What do Extended Schools look
like?
Extended Schools respond to the needs of their community and
work in partnership with other agencies to raise standards for
their students. In doing so, they also aim to improve the quality
of life for everyone associated with them. Extended Schools
integrate this wider working into their school improvement
development plans and Ofsted will look for their contribution to
the Every Child Matters agenda.
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here to find your school.
How are we Extending Schools in Suffolk?
The Government believes that Extended Schools will increasingly
act as hubs for Community services, including children’s services.
By 2010 all schools will be expected to provide the following
services:
-
high quality 'wraparound'
childcare provided on the school site or through other local
providers
-
a menu
of activities to be on offer such as homework clubs and study
support, sport, music, dance and drama, arts and crafts, clubs,
visits to museums, volunteering, and enterprise
activities
-
parenting support including
information sessions for parents
-
swift referral to a wide range of
specialist support services such as speech therapy, child and
adolescent mental health services, family support services,
intensive behaviour support, and (for young people) sexual health
services
-
community access to ICT,
sports/arts facilities, including adult learning.
In order to support this development
and growth, Suffolk has used DfES standards funding to employ
a team of Extended Schools Development Officers (ESDOs), based in
each of the clusters. The ESDOs work with schools, their
communities and partners to:
-
provide detailed advice and
guidance
-
help to draw up and implement a
development plan for the school cluster which reflects and supports
local needs and priorities
-
create links and partnership
working with other local professionals and service-providers in the
public, private and voluntary sectors
-
promote sustainability by
identifying and securing on-going funding streams for extended
services and activities
-
ensure effective communication
within school clusters and between the cluster and the wider
community
-
they do this partly by
facilitating the Children’s Futures Cluster Steering
groups
-
identify, promote and disseminate
good practice for the benefit of other schools and
clusters.
Extended Schools key documents and resources
Case studies booklet (Pdf,
617k)