What are extended services and extended schools?

By 2010, every school in England will provide a range of extended services either on its own site or in partnership with other schools or community organisations, and will be able to signpost you to appropriate services elsewhere in your area. 

This will enable all children and young people, families, parents and carers, and even members of the local community to have easy access to these services when they need them. 

This process is already well underway and half of all primary schools and a third of all secondary schools will be providing these services by September 2008. 

• a varied menu of out-of-school-hours activities and childcare for children in primary schools
• a varied menu of activities in a safe place for young people in secondary schools
• a range of parenting support and family learning programmes
• easy access to specialist support services such as health, social care, speech and language therapy
• opportunities for the community to use your local school facilities, and to take part in adult learning activities.

An extended school is one that provides all of these services, together known as the ‘core offer’, to help meet the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community. It works in partnership with other providers. These services will change over time as the needs of the pupils and community change, and the school will be particularly responsive to the views of parents and pupils about what kind of services should be provided at any one time.

Extended schools may be able to offer an even wider range of services where there is the need and the opportunity. Many schools will be open for longer hours and for a greater variety of activities, five or more days a week, for most of the year. And they may well play a full part as a local resource centre for the whole community. The delivery and impact of these services is now monitored closely and reported by Ofsted inspectors.

You may even use the facilities and services on other school sites as part of a local agreement within a cluster of schools and partners.