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What are extended services?
Extended services are a variety of activities and services
available to children, young people, families and the wider
community, usually in local schools and often provided beyond the
school day (i.e. before the school day starts and after 3:15pm).
These schools are now being called Extended Schools.
What are these services and activities?
The Government wants every school to be offering its local
community access to specific additional activities and services,
outlined in
DCSF Extended Schools Prospectus ((link
opens in a new window). The Government calls these a 'core
offer' of services and they include:
- Childcare: which is available from at least
8am - 6pm all year round. This may be on the school site or may be
provided at a nearby school, local provider or childminder.
Included are breakfast clubs, holiday play schemes and after school
clubs (there may be a small charge for using these services).
- A variety of study support activities: which
allow children and young people learn and develop outside normal
school hours by pursuing special interests or trying out new things
in a fun, stimulating and safe environment. E.g. sports and
activity clubs, language classes, homework clubs, arts activities.
Some of these might be provided by existing clubs that are on or
near the school site (there may be a small charge for some
activities).
- Parent support: which gives parents access to
information and guidance on issues that may affect their children
and the wider family, including sexual health, relationships and
drug abuse especially at times of change and transition (i.e.
starting secondary school). Also Parent Support Advisers (PSAs) and
Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) are available through schools to
support parents and carers. This support will also provide
opportunities for parents to learn alongside their children e.g.
family learning sessions, parenting groups.
- Specialist support and services: which can be
accessed more quickly and easily (the government calls this 'swift
and easy access to targeted support'). Examples of specialist
services are speech therapy, behaviour support and family
support.
- Community access: to computing, sports and
arts facilities within the school building.
e.g. adult learning, keep fit, hire of rooms to individuals and
groups.
What's the point of extended services?
Kent County Council and its partners believe that extended
services help raise the achievement of children and young people
and broaden their life opportunities while building a positive
community spirit. Communities can become more involved in the life
of their local school and parents are supported to help in their
children's education and development.
I have also heard about Healthy Schools and Children's
Centres - what's the difference?
Extended Schools work closely with their local Children's
Centres and Healthy Schools Teams as they are all working towards
the same goals. Healthy Schools help children and young people to
reach their potential by building on a solid foundation of health
to do better in learning and in life. To find out more about
Healthy Schools visit
www.kenthealthyschools.org.uk (link opens in a
new window).
Children's Centres are places that provide access to extended
services specifically for families with young children aged 0-5
years in their local community. Extended schools tend to work more
closely with school aged children and families but aim to work with
the whole community irrelevant of age groups. Follow this link to
find out more about
Children's Centres.
Are extended services the same in every
community?
No - every community is unique and will want and need different
services. Although the government wants every school to provide
access to a minimum service (the 'core offer') by 2010, the type of
service will vary. All extended schools will ask their pupils,
families and communities what services and activities they would
like to access through a process called consultation. By working in
partnership with other agencies extended schools will provide their
local communities with access to these services either at the
school or by using other facilities and resources in the local
area.
Your school: what should you expect?
Like every community, every school is different. Individual
schools may not be able to provide all of the services and
activities onsite but they should be able to tell you where you can
find them in your local area (this is called 'sign-posting').
However, it can take some time for schools to find out what is
available to their community, so please be patient.
Do you want to find out more or tell us what you
want?
To contact the central Kent Extended Services team, please use
the contact box on the left of this page. There are also a number
of Extended Schools Development Managers (ESDMs) across Kent who
work closely with schools and other partners to help develop
extended services. Please follow this link to view the
contact list. |