Extended schools

What are extended schools?
Extended schools and services are part of the Government’s Every Child Matters: Change for Children agenda which aims to improve the life chances of children young people and families.

As schools tend to be at the heart of the community they serve there are plans to make sure they provide a range of extended services that will enrich the lives of people in that area.

Why extended services?
Independent evaluation and research by Ofsted show that offering extra learning, leisure and support services helps to develop relationships with the parents of pupils, increases pupils’ confidence, motivation and attainment, which in turn has helped to improve attendance and decrease exclusion rates.

The initiative will help schools to plan activities and services in new ways and work with their partners to support school improvement.
The knock-on effects are that teachers are then better able to focus on teaching and learning.

What’s the plan?
The aim is that by 2010 all children should have access to a core range of extended services in and around their school, although schools may choose to develop an even richer mix of services and activities.

The changes will look at extended services for primary schools, secondary schools and other extended services such as improvements to children’s services, community access and parent support.

More information and research about extended schools and services are available in the documents below -