Community focused schools: making it happen - a toolkit

Community Focused Schools Making it happen A toolkit Plant a Phobl Ifanc – Gweithredu’r Hawliau Children and Young People – Rights to Action Published by ContinYou First Floor, Anchor Court, Keen Road, Cardiff CF24 5JW Copyright © ContinYou 2006 All rights reserved. Except as allowed by law, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher. First published in 2006 Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Welsh Assembly Government and the Association of Directors of Education Wales for their support for the production of this toolkit. We would also like to thank all those who shared with us their experiences of developing Community Focused Schools. We feel sure that the examples described here will help others embarking on similar work. The toolkit was written by Pam Boyd, Heledd James and Ian Bottrill, with support from Bernadette Ardern and Ian Fordham. It was produced for publication by staff at ContinYou: Christine Knight (desk-top publishing), Paul Mepham (design) and Carolyn Sugden (editing). Welsh translation is by Dyfrig Selway. Foreword From the Minister for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills The Community Focused Schools agenda recognises and builds on the pivotal role that schools play in their areas. Schools not only provide education for pupils and create a community spirit amongst parents, but they also have the opportunity to reach out to everyone living in the locality. Community Focused Schools provide the catalyst for local authorities and their partners on the Children and Young People’s Partnerships to take a strategic approach to delivering services, facilities and learning opportunities, where and when they are needed. They embody the concept of client-focused integrated services set out in Children and young people: Rights to Action and, more recently, in Stronger partnerships for better outcomes. By taking a strategic approach to Community Focused Schools, local authorities and their partners are able to maximise their contribution to Flying Start, the Childcare Strategy, the Foundation Phase and the Play Policy Implementation Plan, as well as health services, cultural and sporting activities, youth services, community regeneration, adult learning and other community-based services. This toolkit, which has been prepared for the Welsh Assembly Government by ContinYou Cymru, provides case studies and guidance, which I hope will help local authorities, schools and their partners to develop and nurture the Community Focused Schools agenda throughout Wales. The toolkit links directly to the seven core aims for children and young people and provides advice on whole-school planning and the development of Community Focused Schools. The contents have been drawn from work that is ongoing in Wales and provide ideas and evidence of what can be delivered and achieved through Community Focused Schools. I hope you will find this toolkit interesting and useful in supporting you on the journey to expand learning opportunities for all children, young people and their communities. Jane Davidson Minister for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills From the Association of Directors of Education Wales Community Focused Schools development has come a long way in a short space of time. However, Directors of Education are aware that there is still a great deal to be achieved both strategically and operationally. It is essential that all schools are community focused, irrespective of whether they are strategically placed to share their facilities. Therefore, we are pleased that the Association of Directors of Education Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government have been able to work with ContinYou Cymru to produce this toolkit. We believe that it will help everyone who has an interest in making Community Focused Schools work – people in schools and local authorities, and in the many organisations that are already involved as partners and stakeholders, or that likely to be involved in the future. Karl Napieralla Chair, Association of Directors of Education Wales From ContinYou Cymru In December 2005 the first national conference for Community Focused Schools took place, and the Association of Directors of Education Wales and ContinYou Cymru launched their joint vision statement, which builds on guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government. Here we are, twelve months on, launching this toolkit, taking the vision further to help make things happen. We are grateful to many, many people – in schools, in all 22 local education authorities, in other local authority departments and in partner organisations across Wales – for the information, examples and support they have contributed the toolkit. It will be a ‘work in progress’, allowing for additional information to be included as we progress along the Community Focused Schools continuum. Pam Boyd Executive Director, ContinYou Cymru Contents Section 1: Introduction 7 Working with others 8 Why Community Focused Schools? 9 The benefits of Community Focused Schools 10 Section 2: Becoming a Community Focused School 13 Introduction 13 Why are we doing this? 14 What’s happening out there? 18 We can’t do this alone 24 Section 3: Leading and managing Community Focused Schools 29 Introduction 29 Leading Community Focused Schools 29 Managing Community Focused Schools 31 The role of the governing body 33 Funding – what are the issues? 34 Staffing – what are the issues? 36 Section 4: Community Focused Schools in action 39 Health and safety – what are the issues? 39 Caretaking and cleaning – what are the issues? 40 Child protection – what are the issues? 41 Accessibility – what are the issues? 43 Promoting your services and activities 47 Section 5: Self-evaluation 49 Schools 49 Working in clusters 50 Local authorities 50 Section 6: What help is out there? 53 What can I expect from my local authority and LEA? 53 What can ContinYou Cymru offer? 54 Useful contacts 54 Useful publications 56 Contents of CD Format 1E Community Focused Schools – a joint vision PDF 2E Example of a school vision statement Word document 3E Disability Discrimination Act information sheet PDF 4E Community Focused Schools mind map PDF 5E Audit checklist for Rights to Action PDF 6E Audit checklist for Rights to Action template Word document 7E Community Focused Schools gap analysis template Word document 8E Community Focused Schools aims and objectives Word document 9E Process to planning grid Word document 10E Community Focused Schools development plan template Word document 11E Community Focused Schools development plan – primary PDF 12E Community Focused Schools development plan – secondary PDF 13E Activity monitoring grid Word document 14E Evidence template Word document 15E Framework for evaluating activities and services Word document 16E School self-evaluation cycle PDF 17E Self-evaluation cycle time-line PDF 18E Audit plan for cluster activities and services Word document 19E Cluster development plan PDF 20E Action plan template Word document 21E Community Focused Schools performance indicators PDF 22E Community Focused Schools protocol – example PDF 23E Use of premises application form – example PDF 24E Community Focused Schools ‘tree’ PDF ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 7 The Association of Directors of Education Wales (ADEW) and ContinYou Cymru testify to their belief in the potential of Community Focused Schools in the joint vision statement they have produced, based on guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government. In the statement they say: ‘We believe that every school in Wales should be a community focused school, and should be able to demonstrate this in its practice, either individually or as part of a cluster or family.’ (Community focused schools – a joint vision, ADEW and ContinYou Cymru, 2005) So what is a Community Focused School? This is the definition given by the National Assembly for Wales: ‘A community focused school is one that provides a range of services and activities, often beyond the school day, to help meet the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community.’ (Community focused schools – Guidance circular, National Assembly for Wales, 2003) This is something that all schools can achieve. Indeed, many schools are already working in community focused ways and providing opportunities, activities and services, not only for their pupils but for families and the wider community. In some circumstances, it might be right for a school to develop as a Community Focused School by itself, but in many cases a more practical approach might be to co-operate with others in a co-ordinated way through a cluster arrangement. This can involve a secondary school and local primaries, or a group of primaries, and/or special schools. Schools and clusters may need to fund this work in different ways: some will receive Community Focused Schools funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, others will already have different sources of funding, and some will need to look for additional resources. But it is not just about the money. Community Focused Schools are also about ethos, attitudes, reworking existing funding and resources and adding value to activities and opportunities that already exist. They also involve developing a bilingual community where Welsh cultural identity is recognised and celebrated. Section 1 Introduction ‘The role of the community in making the schools vital is just as important as the role of the school itself … but a community that demands something visible from its schools, that recognises the part they play in the welfare of the whole … Such a community will have social schools, and whatever its resources, it will have schools that develop community spirit and interests.’ (Skilbeck, Maurice, John Dewey, Collier Macmillan, 1970) Becoming a Community Focused School is a continuum – all schools will be somewhere on the journey. Indeed, if we believe that a Community Focused School reflects the needs of the school and the community, then it must entail using a flexible and responsive approach that will change along the way. A ‘tick box’ culture shouldn’t be part of being a Community Focused School. What is needed is consultation with all potential service users – pupils, families and the wider community. School Development Plans (SDPs) should, of course, reflect wider community needs, so it is helpful to link Community Focused Schools developments to SDPs. ‘We will work with local authorities to promote schools as a focus for the local community, providing opportunities for out of school activities (educational and otherwise) for pupils, their families and the local community. We will promote out of school hours learning to help raise standards in basic and key skills as well as in curriculum areas and personal development.’ (The Learning Country 2, National Assembly for Wales, 2006) 8 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Working with others It is obvious that schools cannot and should not be doing this all by themselves. The whole local authority (not just the LEA) and other statutory and voluntary organisations, both local and national, all have expertise and resources to offer. It’s likely that the development of Community Focused Schools will enable them to meet their own strategic plans. Developing a Community Focused Schools strategy at local authority level is the key to co-ordinated, sustained and appropriate development that will make a real difference, not just now but in the future. Where the development of Community Focused Schools is a challenge for any reason, it is important that thought is given to how community and voluntary sector facilities can be developed as part of the ‘estate’. You can find an example of a local authority strategy on Community Focused Schools on ContinYou Cymru’s website at www.continyou.org.uk/cymru. This strategic approach includes making links to other local strategies, priorities and plans, such as: l community strategy; l spatial plan; l curriculum development/curriculum plans; l out-of-school-hours learning plan/strategy; l basic skills strategy; l Children and Young People’s Partnership; l Cymorth plan; l integrated children’s centres; l Flying Start – Sure Start; l childcare and early years; l out-of-school-hours childcare; l 14–19 strategy; l social inclusion; l special educational needs policy; l workforce remodelling; l school buildings/rationalisation of places; l language plan; l PSHE and citizenship; l school councils; l healthy schools strategy; l PE and school sport/Dragon Sport; l play plans; l free school breakfasts; l economic regeneration plans; l Communities First (the Welsh Assembly Government’s regeneration programme); l plans for transition. The Education Act 2002 clarified and strengthened the legal position of schools wishing to provide services beyond the core task of educating pupils. Sections 27 and 28 of the Act, which came into effect on 1 September 2003, gave school governing bodies powers to provide services for pupils, their families and the local community. It made it clear that school governing bodies can: l provide facilities and services which benefit families and the community as well as pupils; l make agreements with other partners to provide services on school premises; l charge for services. The Act does not alter the requirement that a school’s delegated budget may only be spent on the education of pupils; additional activities must therefore be financed from other sources. Top tips! It’s very important to involve members of the community, and draw on their skills, when you are planning Community Focused Schools activities. This can reduce pressure on teachers and give children the opportunity to develop skills in areas of interest that cannot always be offered by school staff. The involvement of members of the wider school community not only benefits the pupils but also enables ‘helpers’ to develop their own skills and to have a better understanding of what the school stands for. The children learn from people who are experts in their field, while getting the opportunity to see how other adults make their living. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 9 Community Focused Schools work is a key part of providing better services for children and young people, as outlined in the Children Act 2004. It can provide an umbrella for helping to achieve the seven core aims of Rights to Action, and thus to improve life chances for families and people in the wider community. The seven core aims are to ensure that all children: l have a flying start in life; l have a comprehensive range of education, training and learning opportunities; l enjoy the best possible health, and are free from abuse, victimisation and exploitation; l have access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities; l are listened to and treated with respect, and have their race and cultural identity recognised; l have a safe home and a community which supports physical and emotional well-being; l are not disadvantaged by poverty. The vision for Community Focused Schools (Community focused schools – a joint vision, ADEW and ContinYou Cymru, 2005) sets out what we believe these can and should be about. This toolkit offers information to help make Community Focused Schools a reality. It poses questions that everyone will answer in their own way, based on their own situation, and suggests how those involved can identify what works and the impact Community Focused Schools are having. Why Community Focused Schools? There are deeper reasons why Community Focused Schools are important, to do with social justice and developing skilful communities. A report in the Local Government Chronicle (2006) highlighted that, although job creation schemes throughout Wales are successful in some ways, they do not always create jobs that are filled by local people, largely because of a local skills shortage. Community-based education has been shown to be an important element in addressing skills shortages such as these. Work in Communities First areas and elsewhere has shown that effective education is a vital component of successful regeneration. To be effective, it needs, as far as possible, to be anchored in and relevant to the communities the education provider is serving – it needs to be community based. Community Focused Schools potentially provide an opportunity to be in the vanguard of a cultural revolution in communitybased learning. The focus has initially, and often understandably, been on schools providing for communities. However, evidence from early work in Wales and elsewhere has shown that significant work needs to be done within communities to enable people in those communities to engage with schools in a positive way. This is vital if Community Focused Schools development is to be based on the needs of a particular community and not something that is deemed by others to be ‘right’ for the community. This work will enable Community Focused Schools development to be ‘owned’ locally and seen as ‘home grown’ rather than as something which has been parachuted into the community from outside. It will help to secure a sustainable future for Community Focused Schools. It’s important to remember that some people may associate schools with their own unhappy experiences as children. Breaking down barriers, particularly in disadvantaged communities, can be extremely difficult and can take a long time. Parents and members of the community may see Community Focused Schools as just another school-based initiative if all the messages about it are coming from the school. On the other hand, if they hear about what is being offered via the community, there is a much better chance of involving them and bringing about long-term change. The Welsh Assembly Government is promoting the vision that Welsh public services share common goals across functional and organisational boundaries. The mission is to ensure that public services: l are more citizen focused; l are responsive to the needs of communities; l are driven by a commitment to equality and social justice; l deliver efficiency. The four main principles are: l Citizens at the centre: services more responsive to users, with people and communities involved in designing the way services are delivered; l Equality and social justice: every person to have the opportunity to contribute, and services reaching out to those hardest to reach; l Working together as the Welsh public service: more co-ordination between providers to deliver sustainable, high-quality, responsive services; l Value for money: making the most of our resources. 10 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 The benefits of Community Focused Schools ‘The focus on community provision poses considerable challenges for schools and other service providers, but also has the potential to bring multiple benefits for learners, schools and their communities.’ (Narrowing the gap in performance in schools, DfTE information document No: 029-02) Why should governors, partner agencies, communities and others want to support the development of Community Focused Schools work? Here are some of the benefits it brings. Raising achievement – schools that are extending their services believe that this is helping to raise achievement, attainment, aspiration and standards. Health – the provision of breakfast clubs, drop-in clinics, and the early referral of children with physical or mental health problems can have a profound impact on educational achievement and life chances. Childcare – the provision of nursery, out-of-school and wraparound childcare (which can take many forms and be managed in a variety of ways) provides a safe environment for children and enables families to balance work and home. This is supported by social services, the health service and local employers. Behaviour and attendance – being more ‘open’ in all kinds of ways encourages wider family and community engagement, which can have significant positive impacts on pupils’ attendance and behaviour. Special needs – there is a real opportunity to change attitudes towards children with special needs if Community Focused Schools open up opportunities for them to be seen as part of the community, and if the community is welcomed into SEN provision. Involving young people – taking part in activities such as school councils and citizenship education can change young people’s attitudes towards schools and affect their learning in positive ways. S SC LA Cultural and sporting activities – these are made available to families and the wider community. Community safety – all those submitting proposals to receive a Community Focused Schools grant via their LEA will have to ensure that the local community safety partnership supports their application. These partnerships are keen to foster effective working relationships with schools and young people. They can sometimes mobilise considerable resources to help improve community safety. In one case, having a police office on the school site reduced the cost of vandalism in the school from £2,000 a year to zero. Attitudes towards the police changed dramatically (as they have in other cases towards the fire and rescue services). On ContinYou Cymru’s website (www.continyou. org.uk/cymru) you will find a presentation that you can use to raise the awareness of governors about Community Focused Schools. You may also find the Community Focused Schools ‘tree’ diagram (item 24C on the CD that accompanies this toolkit) useful, as it gives some examples of the impact that Community Focused Schools can have. S SC LA P Key To help you find the parts of this toolkit that are relevant to you, we have signposted sections that we think will be useful for particular groups of people. The categories we have used are: S – schools SC – school clusters G – governors LA – local authorities P – partners. The following symbol is used to indicate case studies and examples from schools. Below are some of the reasons why LEA/local authority officers and councillors and other key stakeholders might want to support the development of Community Focused Schools work. l It contributes to fulfilling all seven of the core aims of Rights to Action (see page 9). l It can help authorities to address issues of social justice and social exclusion – for example: – the widening gaps in outcomes between socio-economic groups locally and nationally; – the significant skills gap in many Welsh communities; – the effects of disadvantage, which are felt early and often have lasting consequences; – the problems that occur when services (within the LEA, within the council, and in other agencies) don’t work well together (although there are some good examples of integrated working – see the Beecham Report published by the Welsh Assembly Government in July 2006: Beyond boundaries: citizen-centred services for Wales). l It can help the local authority and other organisations to hit targets in a range of areas – youth, education, social services, community involvement, and so on. l It can help schools to raise standards in the broadest sense. l It can be a useful tool in helping councils and councillors to engage more effectively with the community. l It can help improve the image of the local authority and of other organisations. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 11 Top tips! Councils and councillors should consider these issues: l What can councillors and/or officers do in the council and in the community to help this process? l What can be done to turn councillors and/or council officers into enablers rather than disablers? l Are the structures and processes of the council and its community geared up to support the development of Community Focused Schools? On ContinYou Cymru’s website (www.continyou.org.uk/cymru) you will find a presentation that you can use to raise the awareness of councillors about Community Focused Schools. The quote below about extended schools also applies to Community Focused Schools. ‘The best extended schools do not simply deliver broader services, they help to build communities capable ofproviding for themselves.’ (John Craig et al, Schools out, Demos, 2004) 12 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 13 What’s in this section? l A brief introduction l Why are we doing this? – developing your vision l What’s happening out there? And what isn’t? – auditing and consultation l We can’t do this alone – developing partnerships and networks Section 2 Becoming a Community Focused School S SC LA P Introduction In this part of the toolkit, we bring together examples of ways of working to become a Community Focused School, including case studies from schools throughout Wales where some of these ideas have been tried. Planning your development In order to develop as a Community Focused School, you will need to: l create a vision – ask yourselves why you are doing this; l look at existing best practice in Wales, in other UK countries and elsewhere; l audit your existing provision; l identify existing and future needs; l form partnerships; l set up a steering group; l consult people – on lots of different things at different times; l communicate with various audiences; l check your policies; l make arrangements for leadership, management and staffing. One of the problems with developing new ways of working – not just in schools – is that there are so many things to do first. Do you form a steering group before you create a vision, or do you audit before either of those? Do you talk to potential partners before you consult or afterwards? The simple answer is that there is no ‘right’ answer – do what works best in your own circumstances. If you already have strong partnerships, then build on them to form your steering group. If you don’t, then maybe getting a good vision document together might attract partners. Consequently, the following sections are not necessarily in the ‘right’ order for you and your school or cluster, or for you as a potential partner – so do feel free to dip in and jump around as appropriate. What goes without saying is that you need a vision. The Association of Directors of Education Wales (ADEW) and ContinYou Cymru have developed a vision statement (Community Focused Schools – a joint vision, ADEW and ContinYou Cymru, 2005), based on guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government (Community Focused Schools – Guidance circular, National Assembly for Wales, 2003 and 2005). This statement can help inform your own vision for Community Focused Schools development – you will find it on the CD that accompanies this toolkit (1E). 14 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Why involve others in developing the vision? The vision sets the direction of travel. If it is to be sustainable, Community Focused Schools development needs to be owned and supported by the community, by partner agencies, by the local authority and by the school itself (including families, pupils, staff and governors). If people see it as a ‘vision for the school’ rather than a ‘vision for the community’, then it is far less likely to be sustainable, and it is less likely to help councils and partners with reaching their own objectives. It is easier for others to help shape the direction of travel if they get involved early alongside the school than if they come in later, when they can only add to or subtract from something that is already there. Encouraging a wide range of people to become involved in the creation of the vision – perhaps through a steering group – will be the best way of ensuring that Community Focused Schools development has a sustainable impact on the quality of life of local people. S SC S SC LA P Getting the vision right Having agreed why you want to develop as a Community Focused School, it is important to think carefully about what you want to achieve – to develop your vision for how Community Focused Schools activities will help you and your community to change in ways that you think are both possible and desirable. This implies that the vision needs to be realistic, but that you shouldn’t just play safe – ‘head in the clouds and feet on the ground’ is probably the best maxim. You need to make sure that the vision is anchored in the context of the school, its current activities, its existing plans and procedures, guidance from the Welsh Assembly Government (Community Focused Schools – Guidance circular, National Assembly for Wales, 2003 and 2005) and the seven core aims of Rights to Action (see page 9). On the CD you will find a diagram showing how Community Focused Schools link to the seven core aims (4E), and a copy of the vision statement produced by ADEW and ContinYou Cymru (1E). It is important that your vision is as easy to understand as possible – community groups and others are less likely to buy into it if it isn’t something that they can readily identify with. You will need to seek guidance from your LEA and ensure that school governors are supportive. You will find a sample vision statement for a school on the CD – item 2E. S SC Why are we doing this? Developing your vision Developing a vision is part of a continual process of managing change. Having agreed why you want to do something, you then need to agree what you want to achieve (in some detail), next create plans to enable that to happen, and then do it. As you do it, you need to think back all the time to the reason why you are doing it (or else you can go seriously off track) and, if necessary, change the vision in the light of changing circumstances. Obviously it’s not quite as easy as that. There will be all sorts of other things you need to do – consultation (more of this later), linking with other plans and guidance – and various setbacks along the way (over personnel, premises or funding, perhaps). Developing a vision is an essential starting point, though – and all the ‘stakeholders’ need to play a part in creating it. Forming a steering group Sometimes it can be challenging to get people (whether they are inside or outside the school) involved in a productive way. Some schools have solved this by forming a small steering group to oversee the development of Community Focused Schools. For example, in Betws Primary School in Bridgend, a partnership committee was formed, with representatives from a wide range of community groups and organisations, to develop joint local activities in the area. Similarly, Maesteg Comprehensive in Bridgend formed a steering group made up of representatives from the police, the community safety team, the health service, local housing organisations, associations of voluntary organisations, Communities First, the youth service, the Children and Young People’s Partnership, governors and members of the local community. All these organisations worked in partnership to address the needs of people in the Llynfi Valley. S SC LA P ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 15 Once you have arrived at your vision, making sure that it is integrated with other initiatives and based on effective consultation, there are two things you need to do before you can start putting it into practice. Firstly, you need to start developing policies (we say ‘start’ because you will need to add to and amend these as you go along – if you wait until all policies are fully established, nothing much will happen for a long time). Secondly, you need to devise a properly thought-out, practical and fully costed action plan. Policies Schools choosing to develop as Community Focused Schools will be embarking on a lengthy and potentially very significant process of change. The rewards certainly justify the effort, but there is bound to be a lot of work to do in adjusting existing policies and developing others – especially if schools or clusters decide to ‘go it alone’ rather than sharing ideas with others within their LEA family and further afield. Many schools/clusters in England and Scotland have been developing very similar policies. Although the policy context is different in some cases, the principles remain relatively constant. Policies/plans that will be involved in this process of change include those concerning: l whole-school development/improvement; l inspection by Estyn; l senior management/leadership; l the role of governors; l the role of teaching/non-teaching staff in non-formal or out-of-school-hours activities, including the remodelling of the workforce; l premises, insurance, health and safety, caretaking and cleaning; l child protection; l legislation on disability and equality; l school council and other aspects of pupil involvement; l family engagement; l involvement of the wider community; l charging. Depending on your circumstances, you may find that there are other policies that you need to develop or amend. It is worthwhile checking all existing policies to ensure that they are ‘fit for purpose’. You will find more information about policies in Sections 3 and 4 of this toolkit. The vision S SC LA Key questions for schools t Have you based your vision on the priorities of the school, and on local and national priorities? t Have you consulted widely and gained whole-school support? t Have you consulted widely and gained the support of key stakeholders/partners? t Have you agreed on a vision that is clear and achievable? t Have you communicated the vision to all those you consulted with? Key questions for school clusters In addition to the questions for schools: t Do you have a vision for the cluster? t Do the visions of individual schools feed into that of the cluster? Key questions for local authorities t Do you have a vision for the local authority? Does everyone support it? t Have you communicated your vision to all those involved? t Does your vision help to inform the visions of the schools and clusters in your area? Key questions for partners t Have you been consulted in the creation of the vision? t Do you understand the roles of different organisations in relation to the vision? t Do your plans/strategies link into the vision for Community Focused Schools? 16 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Action planning – from vision to reality When thinking about action planning, it might be helpful to use a military analogy – you need to find short-term and small-scale ‘tactics’ which offer quick fixes for getting the show on the road, while never taking your eye off the ‘strategy’ which will guide the school or cluster towards its goal. Essentially it is a route map with milestones (with a few tactical detours on the way). What does action planning mean? It isn’t quite as complex as some people make it sound. In the case of schools developing services for the community, it is fairly straightforward. And if you can think about evaluation as you do your action planning, you will save yourself a lot of time and potential heartache later on. Some of the questions you could ask are: l What is it we are planning to do? l Why are we planning to do it? What evidence of need is there? How does it link to the vision and the SDP? l How will it be done? l Who do we need to work with, or consult or talk to about it? l How will we fund it? l Where will it be done? l When will it be done (including phases/stages)? l Who will do it? l Who will take on responsibility for making sure it happens? l How will we know whether it has been successful? l How can we make sure it is properly monitored and evaluated? As you develop the plan, you will need to look at each desired outcome and be really honest with yourselves about your priorities, recognising that you cannot do everything at once – setting priorities and being realistic are very important. On the next page is an example of an action plan. You will find a blank action plan, which you can use as a template, on the CD which accompanies this toolkit (20E). Who should be involved in action planning? Action planning can be great fun. It is a good way of getting teams of people working together – pupils, staff (both teaching and non-teaching), governors, the LEA, the rest of the council, partners, parents and others. Much will depend on the nature of the activity or service being developed. The example given here is, deliberately, quite straightforward. Planning to offer S SC LA P services such as chiropody for elderly people, children’s health clinics or parenting classes might be significantly more complex and time consuming. People can learn a lot from taking part in action planning – for example, if the school council manages a consultation exercise, or if parents, pupils and governors are asked to think about the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act. However, if action planning is not carefully managed, it can seem to take forever – so someone needs to take responsibility for driving it forward. As with much other Community Focused Schools development, this person does not have to be the headteacher or, indeed, a teacher – governors, parents and non-teaching staff are often extremely good at this and may have time available to do it – or, in the case of staff, time can be allocated to them. Clearly the head will need to keep a check on things and ensure nothing is being left to chance. Action planning Key questions for schools t Is your Community Focused Schools action plan part of your whole-school planning? t Have you created your action plan based on your vision, and on school, local and national priorities? t Do all those involved understand their roles and responsibilities? t Have you agreed on an action plan that is clear and achievable? Key questions for school clusters In addition to the questions for schools: t Do you have an action plan for the cluster? t Do individual school action plans feed into the vision for the cluster? Key questions for local authorities t Do you have an action plan for the LA? Does everyone support it? t Have you communicated your action plan to everyone involved? t Does your action plan help to inform the plans of schools/clusters? Key questions for partners t Have you been consulted on the creation of the action plan? t Do you understand the roles of different organisations in relation to the plan? t Do your plans/strategies link into the action plan for Community Focused Schools? ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 17 Activity or issue Dates, milestones, person responsible 1 What are we planning to do? Start – Oct ‘06 Convert the small unused store room at the front of the school Finish – March ‘07 for use by local police officers. 2 Why are we planning to do it? Evidence to be collated by (evidence of need/link to vision/SDP) Community Focused Schools • Results from consultation showed that members of the local lead community feel that the police need to be more visible. • Petty vandalism on the school site has been a recurring problem – we feel this will help reduce/prevent the problem. • Pupils and some parents have a poor perception of the police. • The need identified was in the vision and the SDP. 3 How it will be done? As above Through school staff, county property services and local police officers working together 4 Who do we need to work with, or consult Consultation conducted by or talk to about it? Community Focused Schools Those listed above, plus parents, governors and the school council lead + school council 5 How will we fund it? • Seek conversion costs from County Community Focused Schools Head + Community Focused Co-ordinator (if not from them, then seek guidance on alternative Schools lead funding). • Running costs to be recouped from police authority. 6 Where it will be done? In small unused office as 1, above 7 When will it be done (including phases/stages)? Consult with school council, governors, etc – then, if approved: Sept 06 • seek funding advice and check out Disability Discrimination Act and health and safety; • consider outcomes. Then, if the outcomes are satisfactory: Oct 06 • plan any building work to minimise disruption to school day; Oct/Nov/06 • carry out building work; Dec 06/Jan07 • check all OK – police move in; • media launch with local police, governors, school council, Jan/Feb 07 – March 07 (but Councillor Edwards, etc. plan it well in advance) 8 Who will do it? See 3 above. Specifically: caretaker, Community Focused Schools lead, headteacher, chair of school council 9 Who will take on responsibility for making sure it happens? Community Focused Schools lead 10 How will we know whether it has been successful (including link to monitoring/evaluation)? • Reduction in vandalism (measured by spend on vandalism repairs) Head • Better relationship with local police (measured by a pre- and post-building survey conducted among pupils/parents by Community Focused school council) Schools lead + school council • Greater public understanding of the role of the police (as above) • Greater visible police presence in the community (as above) 18 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 S SC S SC LA What’s happening out there? And what isn’t? When should you consult, with whom and how? It’s really important to get consultation about Community Focused Schools right. Here are some useful principles to bear in mind: l Use findings from consultations that have already taken place. l Undertake effective and well-timed consultation with the right individuals and organisations. l Make it clear that you will use the feedback you receive – but that you will also have to decide on priorities. l Return to the findings of your consultation when you need to. l When you are planning your consultation, make sure that the methods you use are user-friendly and appropriate for the intended audience. When to consult This can be tricky and there isn’t actually a right answer. If you consult too early, people might with some justification say: ‘How can we comment if we don’t know what the possibilities are?’ But if you leave it too late, you might get the response: ‘What’s the point? You’ve already made up your minds.’ The best starting point is to ask yourself: what do I want people’s views on and when do I need them? In the process of becoming a Community Focused School, there are three key stages and sets of questions to ask: 1 At the start of the process: why are we doing this – what’s our vision? 2 After agreeing the vision: what should we be offering and to whom? 3 After delivery has started: is this working – how can we make this even better? Clearly you may want to return to any of these at any time. To help others recognise and identify Community Focused Schools developments at your school, you could devise a logo and decide on a colour scheme that you will use for all communications about Community Focused Schools. S SC Consulting on the vision The decision about whether you conduct an audit of existing provision and need before, during or after you start developing your vision depends very much on the local situation. As long as the vision and the audit are linked, the exact order isn’t crucial. Holding a short consultation once you have a draft vision may work best. Who you consult about the vision will depend on your existing local partnerships and relationships. They won’t necessarily be the same people that you consult about what you are actually going to provide, although the two groups are likely to overlap. Those whose views about the vision you will obviously want to seek include: l the LEA; l school governors; l diocesan authorities (where appropriate); l school staff (teaching and non-teaching); l the pupils/school council; l locally elected councillors (who may or may not be governors); l families; l teachers’ and other unions l existing users of the school’s facilities. There are others you might consult, but you need to decide on priorities and on what is feasible for you. Other possibilities include: l Community Safety Partnerships; l Children and Young People’s Partnerships; l Communities First Partnerships; l neighbouring schools; l local libraries; l businesses; l FE/HE institutions; l other providers; l residents’ associations; l other local authority departments/services. The basic principle is: if in doubt – ask! A person who is consulted and who responds is included in the process and will feel a sense of ownership. A person who is consulted and who doesn’t respond is in a weak position if they don’t like the outcome (providing you gave them reasonable time and opportunities to respond). Someone you forget to consult can be a serious problem and can, legitimately, throw grit into the machinery. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 19 Consulting organisations All organisations have their own ways of working, and their own cultures, languages and structures. Your partners and stakeholders will not always work in the same way as you do, nor will the people in those organisations always understand what goes on in schools. You need to ensure that: l your message is clear and unambiguous, and you avoid using jargon and acronyms; l you give people a reasonable amount of time to respond, and make it clear how they should do so; l you send the information to the right person or people in the organisation – a general letter addressed to the organisation may well sit in an in-tray for some time before anyone is aware of it; l you follow up the original communication with a reminder shortly before the deadline for responses; l you don’t forget to thank those who responded for their contribution. Consultation doesn’t need to be a laborious or lengthy process. The best way of doing it is often through existing meetings and structures. There’s certainly no need for a detailed questionnaire. You may want to develop a draft vision statement, perhaps with some alternative wordings for different parts. You can then ask whether people are generally happy with the style, content and tone of the draft, and which of the alternatives they prefer. When you get the results from this initial consultation, you will want to consider them carefully, especially if there are clear and strongly held differences of opinion. You may well want to consider the responses with your colleagues and with governors. When you have an agreed vision, it is really important to inform the people you originally consulted about the outcome, and to explain how you arrived at that final version. You need to make it clear that you have made decisions on the basis of majority opinion, so that those whose preferences have not been followed do not feel that their views have just been ignored. This feedback closes the loop and everyone then knows why you are moving on in that direction. Consultation may seem complex and time-consuming, but in reality it can often be easily managed within a few weeks – certainly no more than a month, although you should avoid holiday periods or extend the consultation period to accommodate them. Consulting on what you will offer The Education Act 2002 states who the governing body should consult with before providing community focused services or facilities: ‘Under the Education Act 2002, the governing body must consult the LEA, school staff and parents of registered pupils of the school, registered pupils where this is appropriate and “such other persons as the governing body consider appropriate” before it provides any community facilities or services.’ (Community Focused Schools – Guidance circular, National Assembly for Wales, 2003) By now you will probably have conducted two audits: on existing provision (what’s already happening out there) and on perceived need (what people want/need). If you are lucky, you may have been able to borrow an audit that someone else – a neighbouring school, a Communities First Partnership, Cymorth or your local association of voluntary organisations – has already completed for a similar purpose. It’s always worth asking. The results of these audits will inform the rest of your consultation. You will find more information about auditing on page 21. You need to think carefully about a number of questions: l Who should you consult? l Over what timeframe should the consultation take place? l What form should the consultation take? l What are you going to ask? l What are you going to do with the results? Who should you consult? The answer to this will depend on your school’s circumstances, its vision statement and the results of the audits. The list might include: l staff (teaching and non-teaching); l pupils (through the school council or more widely); l parents/families; l governors; l local councillors; l current partners, such as health services or a local drama company; l the wider local community – both individually and through existing organisations, such as residents’ associations, businesses, libraries, GPs’ surgeries; l external providers with an interest in your area, such as health services, social services, the police; l leisure services; l adult and community education services; l Communities First and other regeneration agencies; l the LEA; l partner schools/clusters; 20 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 l voluntary sector organisations; l external providers, such as faith organisations; l existing partnerships, such as Community Safety Partnerships, Children and Young People Partnerships. Never be afraid to ask for help. ‘After one concert,’ reports a teacher, ‘I asked if there were any parents who could help. A retired composer, a choir leader and an orchestra conductor now run the school choir and the young composers’ club.’ It will be obvious that the type of consultation undertaken by a fairly isolated rural primary school needs to be very different from that undertaken by a large urban comprehensive. There are some general points, however. The point about consulting with organisations (see page 19) is very relevant here. You also need to consider just how representative ‘representatives’ are – clearly you won’t want to upset anyone, but some so-called representatives are self-appointed and represent only themselves. Also, consulting current users tells you a lot about what is happening now but little about why current non-users do not make use of the facilities. You will also need to be very open with your partners and get clearance from them for anything you ask which might be construed as committing them to something in the future. For example, you may want a police office on your site. This already happens in some schools and can work very well. However, to ask whether the local population would like this idea without having first discussed it with the local inspector isn’t going to make you any friends. Over what timeframe? You need to think about this carefully and try to get the best possible match between speed and ‘inclusion’. A consultation that drags on for months helps no one and gives a very bad start to the process. There is some evidence that tight deadlines concentrate the mind and that people respond better if they have a week rather than a month to get back to you. You may decide to set different response times for different groups – but you need to be careful that you don’t react to the results from one set of people (pupils, perhaps) before you hear from another set (parents, maybe). As a general rule, it is good practice to notify people that you will be consulting them in advance of doing so. Perhaps you could send a letter saying that you will be asking for their views, explaining why it is important that you get a full set of responses and giving a clear indication of the timeframe. Then a week later follow this up with the consultation itself, with a reminder of the timeframe. There are no hard and fast rules about how long the consultation should take, but, if you allow a month from start to finish, that would probably be about right. Nevertheless, you must give those you are consulting enough time to provide a well-considered response. What form should the consultation take? This is about methodology – the process by which you get responses. This ranges from large public meetings to private conversations – this is the best way of getting detailed feedback, but it’s usually far too time-consuming. As part of the process, you may want to think about sampling. Do you really need to circulate 2,000 questionnaires – one to every home in your catchment area? How about just choosing 200 addresses at random (and giving all households an opportunity to get further information in some other way)? There is no room in this short toolkit to go into great detail about consultation techniques. Each of these has its own advantages and pitfalls. Methods you might consider include: l questionnaires and interviews; l attending meetings of partner organisations; l using existing meetings/forums; l setting up focus groups; l asking people, perhaps via the local media, to let you have their views. The headteacher of Ysgol Y Dderi in Ceredigion held surgeries in each of the six villages the school serves to find out about what services and activities they wanted to access through the school. You will need to use a variety of methods to make sure that everyone can respond in a way they feel comfortable with. Think about what you need to do to ensure that you get the views of people from minority ethnic groups and cultures, and people with disabilities and additional learning needs, for example. If you are undertaking a consultation with people in the community, you will need to think very carefully about how you ‘badge’ it. The people whose views you would most like to get may well be exactly those who are most likely to ignore a communication from the school (those often referred to as ‘hard to reach’). A good way of tackling this is to work with a well regarded local community group and ask if they will issue the consultation document on your behalf – it is then far more likely to be favourably received. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 21 Remember that you don’t have to do this on your own – you can ask for help. Other agencies such as your local authority or voluntary groups in your area may have experience of conducting surveys and be happy to help – perhaps even for free. Betws Primary School in Bridgend LEA worked with Communities First and tied its proposal to the Bridgend County Borough Council Community Strategy: ‘We highlighted the following aims of the Bridgend County Borough Strategy as relevant to becoming a Community Focused School: l Giving children a flying start in life; l Access to a comprehensive range of education, training and learning opportunities; l Access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities; l A safe home and a supportive community; l Ensuring that children are not disadvantaged through poverty. ‘We gained information from Communities First about what young people in our community want. A questionnaire carried out by Communities First showed that young people in Betws need better access to social activities. They find it difficult to travel into Bridgend, because of sporadic public transport – a situation that is not unusual in much of Wales.’ What are you going to ask? You will need to strike a balance over how much information you give and how much you expect back. Some people may be prepared to respond to 68 detailed questions – but probably not many. So keep your questions to a minimum, and make sure that they are clearly expressed. This is likely to result in a much better response. Important topics that you may want to cover include: l why people do not currently use the school for various activities; l what stops them from doing so, and how these barriers might be overcome; l a ‘menu’ of activities or services that you might offer, with tick boxes; l sounding people out about how likely it is they would use the activities and services you are offering. Think about how you will give people the chance to put forward their own ideas rather than just responding to your suggestions (this could be in writing or face to face). Try to make sure that you get the right balance in the questionnaire between ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions. Closed questions are easier for people to answer, but you won’t get a real flavour of what people think unless you include plenty of open ones as well. S SC LA P Don’t offer things which you may not be able to deliver – over-promising is a sure-fire way of disappointing people. For example, you may want to know when people would like to use the school’s sports facilities. If you know that it would be hard to make these available on Sunday mornings, don’t include this in your options and briefly explain why. What are you going to do with the results? The results are in, saying all sorts of conflicting things – the pupils want more library facilities, but the young mothers want a crèche in what is now the library; the teaching staff are happy to work a bit longer on Tuesdays, but most users want extended opening on Fridays. So what do you do now? Again, help may well be at hand from other agencies. What you need to keep a close watch on is how the results relate to your vision statement – it is very easy to be pulled away from that by a few vociferous respondents. It may be right to revisit the vision at this stage, but do make sure that you don’t make any alterations to it as a knee-jerk response. Hopefully there will be some messages coming through strongly. These might well form your priorities for immediate action (‘quick wins’). It is equally possible that the main things people want will only be possible in the long term, once you have secured sustainable funding. In any event, you will want to move from analysis to action planning quite quickly, to keep the momentum going. Compile the results of your survey, publish them in some easily digestible form and develop an action plan based on them. Remember to report back to those who responded, explaining the decisions you have made, especially if there are practical reasons why some things can’t happen. Generally people prefer a clear statement about why something isn’t possible immediately, rather than empty promises. Finding out what is already taking place Clearly, before you consult people on what you are planning to provide, you will want to assure yourself that you are not treading on other people’s toes – especially if you want them to be involved as supporters or partners. You will also want to be sure that people actually want and need what you intend to offer. 22 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 What’s already happening? It isn’t easy to find this out in some cases, because of the number of potential providers of services and activities. Obviously if the range of services or activities you may want to offer is very limited (just after-school clubs perhaps, and opening up your art room for community use), then it may be fairly straightforward to find out what else is on offer locally. You could probably do this simply by talking to local further education/community education providers and other schools. However, if you are being more ambitious and offering a much wider range of activities and services, your audit will need to be more extensive and it will take longer. At Tonyrefail Comprehensive School, the Community Focused Schools co-ordinator asked parents to complete questionnaires about what their concerns were in their communities – for example, crime, safety or drugs. She has used this information (as well as working with the teaching and learning coach at the school, who has wide knowledge about what activities are taking place at the school) to develop a menu of activities for the pupils, which includes belly dancing and circus skills. What information is already out there? Considerable amounts of data have already been collected on most communities in Wales through the census, and by other bodies (such as Communities First Partnerships and the LEA). Here are two examples of the problems that can occur if schools try to ‘go it alone’, without talking to other people: l One school went ahead with setting up wraparound childcare, without finding out about demand or current provision. As a result, a number of local childcare providers (such as childminders) went out of business. l A regeneration group decided, without contacting the local college, to seek funding to establish a brand new open-access IT suite in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. The group got the funding, and the new suite opened, about a month after the college opened its own open-access facility precisely 150 metres away. You need to start by thinking about what you mean by ‘your community’. Is it, for example, the same as the school’s catchment area? Is it the streets or villages near your school? Or is it potentially a much wider area? If you are a religious foundation school or a Welsh medium school, your community might be a whole borough or county, or it might even cross county or borough borders. Schools based close to local authority borders will need to consider whether they can provide services to people from the neighbouring authority, who may live just across the road. These are not easy questions to answer, but you’ll need to think about them if you want to target your efforts in particular ways and make sure you are serving local needs. Obviously if you are working in a cluster, much of this will have been considered when the cluster arrangements were being made. Data on the following topics is likely to be useful: l about your school – attainment levels; – attendance levels; – children’s behaviour; – the incidence of free school meals; – the incidence of children with additional learning needs; l about your community – ethnicity; – childcare provision; – how many people have no qualifications, or low qualifications; – unemployment levels; – information about health, fitness and lifestyles; – crime levels; – the incidence of low-income households, lone-parent households, single-person households and pensioner households; – teenage conception rates; – the incidence of low birth weight; – levels of car ownership. Most of this information will be readily available from sources such as your local authority or Communities First Partnership. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 23 Auditing Key questions for schools and school clusters t Are you clear on your agreed vision? t Have you identified other individuals/organisations that can help you with auditing existing provision? t Have you identified existing data that you can use and agreed on who will be responsible for compiling information from it? t Are you all agreed that the information you intend to gather is what you need to know in order to plan your provision? t Have you agreed on a plan for the audit? And for ongoing monitoring and evaluation? Key questions for local authorities t Have you shared your agreed vision with your schools and partners? t Do you offer your schools/communities support with auditing? Do they know how to gain access to that support? t Have you identified existing data that will help with the development of Community Focused Schools? Do you have an agreed plan for sharing this data with appropriate organisations? Key questions for partners t Do you support the vision for Community Focused Schools? t Do you know how you can help with the auditing process – for example, through contributing data that you already have? t Do you have an agreed role in monitoring/evaluation? What do we do next? The simple answer is to get on with setting up the activities that you have decided on as a result of your audit and consultation, and that are in your vision and action plan. The range of possibilities is enormous, as can be seen from the examples below, which come from just a handful of local authorities: l providing additional opportunities and support by creating a Personalised Learning Centre in the school; l creating a soft play area in the school for children under the age of 3; l providing community access to the school’s ICT suite so that it can be used for adult classes; l establishing a parent and toddler group for young mothers and lone parents aged between 14 and 19, and providing parenting classes and basic skills courses; l providing floodlighting for the school’s all-weather surface pitch, so that it can be used by after-school clubs, local organisations and community groups in the late afternoon and evening during the winter months; l establishing a gardening/cookery club in partnership with local adults and the ‘Heart of the Community’ charity to promote fitness and healthy eating; l setting up a ‘play pod’ in the school grounds to provide open access play for 8 to 12 year olds between 5 and 7pm, as well as a base for Youthworks and the police during the day; l establishing an after-school homework club for young people aged 11 to 19 who do not have facilities for study in their homes; l converting the school hall to create a community arts venue for after-school clubs, cinema showings and community performances; l involving parents in creating a website; l upgrading ICT facilities to make them suitable for adult education classes, to be provided in partnership with the local college of further education; l offering parents the opportunity to attend dance classes – including ballroom, modern and line dancing; l recruiting a community development officer to encourage members of the local community to become more involved with the school and to use its new facilities (such as its hydrotherapy pool and sensory room); l creating an environmental project – at a small rural school in the Brecon Beacons National Park, this involved setting up an outside classroom to integrate the use of the pond and woodland area known for rare species of plants, insects, toads and so on; 24 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 l giving children with special needs the chance to practise the skills needed for independent living – one school did this by providing and staffing a house where students could stay for short periods, carrying out daily household duties and undertaking work (such as gardening) for neighbours; l setting up a parents’ group in order to provide training, support and round-table discussions for the parents of children with special educational needs; l establishing a community volunteering scheme for 14 to 19 year olds – sixth formers running local projects within the community have been especially successful with disaffected young people; l promoting community involvement by sixth formers; l refurbishing an old medical room for community use; l basing a youth and community worker in the school; l using funding to base a part-time Duke of Edinburgh Award/Millennium Volunteers development officer in the school; l employing a local artist to run a series of workshops for children and parents, with the aim of developing a project that would involve both the school and the local community. We can’t do this alone Developing partnerships and networks ‘Throughout the whole project it has been essential that we work with our partners so that we can pool resources and services, and avoid repetition. In so doing, we hoped to provide a greater range and variety of services but without each individual partner putting in more than any other.’ (Gemma Jones, Betws Primary School, Bridgend LEA) There will be lots of questions running through your mind when you start thinking about working in partnership: Why should we work in partnership? Who should we work with? How will it work? What might go wrong? Who should I approach first? What will they expect of us? What can we expect of them? We hope the suggestions which follow will make this task a little less daunting! S SC LA P Here’s how one local authority set out to build partnerships. Ceredigion LEA held a conference with partner agencies which agreed: l to develop strategic links with the authority’s spatial plan; l to appoint local co-ordinators to six areas based around local secondary schools and for co-ordinators to work with a local area committee; l to carry out an audit and establish need in the community; l to develop in response to local need; l to ask each statutory agency to appoint a liaison officer who would work with co-ordinators to bring partnerships together; l to utilise school websites as a Community Focused Schools resource, giving grant and other information. There is some useful information about partnerships in the toolkit that ContinYou Cymru produced for Caerphilly LEA – Take your partners in Caerphilly. Who should you work with? Many organisations are actual and potential partners in the development and provision of Community Focused Schools. Schools and other organisations can be providers as well as partners to each other. A partner can be any person or organisation with something appropriate to offer to the vision for developing Community Focused Schools. It could be anything from a parent offering mentoring to a major public company encouraging young people to visit its factory as part of an after-school business enterprise club. The local authority is itself a huge organisation. All of its various departments (ranging from social services to highway maintenance) can offer support to developing Community Focused Schools in various ways. Similarly, other large organisations such as health services, the police and the fire service will be able to support aspects of Community Focused Schools development in many ways. Below is a list of some other organisations that can offer support: l NCH Action for Children; l Sure Start; l Communities First; l libraries; l the National Childminders’ Association; l the National Day Nurseries Association; l Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin; l NHS Trust; l CAMHS Primary Mental Health Project; ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 25 l health promotion agencies; l parents’ groups; l SNAP Cymru; l Careers Wales; l Wales Pre-school Playgroups Association; l Play Wales; l church/faith groups; l Menter Iaith; l Barnados; l Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids Club; l voluntary and statutory youth services; l associations of voluntary organisations; l Groundwork/Learning through Landscapes; l arts and sports organisations; l local further education colleges. Top tip! Local businesses and enterprises like to be associated with success. They may be keen to play a role in achieving recognition and awards for your school and community – as long as they can bask in some of the glory too. Why work in partnership? The benefits to be gained from involving partners in Community Focused Schools can be anything from a sharing of the load to a life-changing experience for young people and communities. Schools and other providers may be innovative and resourceful, but they can’t do everything themselves. In smaller schools particularly, partners can broaden the range of experiences that the school offers. For example, it’s unlikely that a school would have anyone among its staff with the skills to run chiropody sessions for elderly residents. On the other hand, the local NHS Trust would have the skills, but it might not have an appropriate venue. Once older people are coming into the school, they may well offer to help in all sorts of ways. If smaller schools work together in clusters and with other partners, they will be able to provide young people and the wider community with a range of experiences and services that single schools on their own cannot offer. S SC P Why should partners want to get involved? There are all kinds of reasons why other organisations and individuals might want to become involved in Community Focused Schools development. It might be because there’s something they are passionate about and that they want to encourage others to take part in (photography or wood carving, perhaps), or they may want to put something back into the community. Or local employers might want to support the school because they realise how important young people’s education is and want to contribute to building a skilled, well-informed workforce for the future. It’s important to do all you can to ensure that partners find working with the school a fulfilling and worthwhile experience. If they have not gained what they expected from their involvement, it’s unlikely that they will want to work with you again. Making the case When you are inviting people to become involved as partners, it’s important to be able to explain to them the benefits of Community Focused Schools work – for example: l it enables people in the community to fulfil their potential; l it provides local people with opportunities to work with children, young people and other members of the community; l it offers schools the chance to try out interesting and innovative ideas and materials, to which they may not usually have access; l it breaks down barriers between different parts of the community, including those between schools; l it offers opportunities for the wider use of community facilities; l working together to develop Community Focused Schools will help to build more, and stronger, partnerships between different organisations, which will benefit the community as a whole; l it offers schools the chance to work together in new ways, as partners; l it is a way of pooling scarce resources; l it gives other organisations working with schools the opportunity to learn more about schools, their priorities and the curriculum they offer; l it is important for young people to be involved in the local community, as this can help them to feel valued, and it can break down the barriers that sometimes exist between young people and adults; l it helps to break down the idea that learning only takes place in schools. Everyone benefits through working in partnership on Community Focused Schools development. 26 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 S SC P S SC LA P How can partners work together effectively? A basic principle for working in partnership effectively is: each partner needs to be clear about what the purpose of the partnership is and what is expected of every member of the partnership. There are many other points to consider, which are discussed below, but, without this clarity of purpose and a shared understanding of expectations, no one is likely to get the best out of the experience. Finding the right partners The headteacher of Sandfields Secondary School in Neath Port Talbot says that by working with the Communities First partnership, Sandfields First, it has been possible to develop an adult learning centre for the community on the school site. He believes that this will have a key role in regenerating the local community. It is important to avoid over-committing yourself or overburdening the partners you work with. A suitable partner needs to be an individual or an organisation with whom you think you can work comfortably and productively. Ask your local authority for guidance, and approach others for advice – for example, ContinYou Cymru, Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA), your local Council for Voluntary Service (CVS), other schools, the families of children at your school or people in the community with skills or knowledge relevant to your vision for Community Focused Schools. It is a good idea to take some time over deciding who to approach – partnerships that are rushed into rarely succeed. Top tips! Here’s some advice from Robert Cornwall, Communities First Manager in Merthyr Tydfil. Engaging with your community l Do your homework – different communities will respond in different ways. Some will welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the school for mutual benefit. Others, particularly communities that experience social exclusion, may appear apathetic or even hostile. l Be clear about your purpose – it’s important that the school and its community are clear about why they want to become a Community Focused School, and that this purpose takes account of amenities that are based in the community as well as in the school. Most communities now have some form of community plan. This will contain details of the issues that need tackling and of the aspirations of residents. l Make connections – all communities have official and/or unofficial leaders, ranging from elected members of local councils to neighbourhood watch co-ordinators and similar community activists. Disadvantaged communities will have more formal structures, such as regeneration strategies and committees, action groups and Communities First partnership boards. Some will have paid community development staff. It is important that these groups are involved properly in the school plans for its community focus. Barriers to engaging communities fall into various categories: l institutional – relating to the organisation of the facilities (what courses, where they are held, when they start, suitability of access, and so on); l situational – relating to the personal circumstances of the individual (transport, other competing commitments, childcare requirements, and so on); l dispositional – relating to people’s disposition and motivation to learn (perceptions of their own capacity to cope, fit in, mix with others, and so on). Robert says: ‘It’s not apathy that causes people to stay away – and this is what all concerned with Community Focused Schools in disadvantaged communities need to consider very carefully.’ ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 27 What you need to do when setting up a partnership Consult early with children, young people, members of the community and others. l Make sure that you ask everyone who might be involved what they think about it and what they expect to gain from it. l Ensure that everyone knows what to expect – if you involve them in discussions and planning, you can make sure that you don’t raise false expectations. Build relationships. l Remember to keep your partnerships personal and local. Partnerships are based on relationships between individuals, rather than between organisations. l Be flexible – partners may need to make last-minute changes, for all kinds of reasons, and you may need to adapt to accommodate these. l Give your partners plenty of time to develop a relationship with your school or with other partners. Build in plenty of planning time so that everyone has a chance to put forward their ideas. l Communicate openly, clearly and often. Find what you have in common. l Work out how your vision for Community Focused Schools fits in with the priorities and visions of others, so that you can agree on some shared aims and objectives. l Build on existing situations – if a partnership already exists for some other purpose, try to work out how it can fit in with Community Focused Schools developments. Sort out funding and resources. l Work out what money you will need and make sure that funding is in place to cover all your costs. l If partners are contributing funding, they may want to see an evaluation report. On page 49 of this toolkit you will find some straightforward advice about why it is important to monitor and evaluate Community Focused Schools, and about how to do it. l Make sure that appropriate resources are being prepared (if they are needed) and that funding covers these. Build Community Focused Schools into what you are already doing. l Make Community Focused Schools part of your whole-school development plan. l Try to persuade your partners to make Community Focused Schools part of their development plans too – something that is built in rather than ‘bolted on’. Establish who is responsible for what. l Agree at the start who has overall responsibility for Community Focused Schools, and for particular aspects of your partnership project. l Make sure that all the partners are clear about who they should be dealing with (there should always be a clearly identified person to contact). Celebrate your achievements. l Involve all participants and partners in sharing and celebrating your successes. S SC S SC P S SC What to avoid Try not to: l make unreasonable demands on the time of your potential partners, which may frighten them off and will make it hard to re-establish your relationship with them; l wait so long before actually doing anything that the enthusiasm of your partners wanes and they ‘go off the boil’; l change anything that affects the partnership without consulting your partners first; l get discouraged if a potential partnership fails to take off. What can partners expect of each other? All partners should be able to expect others to: l do what they have agreed to do; l be flexible, take account of other people’s priorities and acknowledge the pressures they face; l keep in touch regularly. Briefing partners To make sure that a partnership works well, it is essential to brief partners thoroughly. The most important thing is that they have a clear understanding of the context in which you are developing Community Focused Schools. Because you are so familiar with what the school does, it probably all seems very straightforward to you, but it may seem bewilderingly complex to other people, including new partners. 28 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Key questions for schools, clusters and local authorities t Have you identified potential partners, including schools, statutory and voluntary organisations and individuals? t Have you included working in partnership within your development plans/strategies? Key questions for all t Do you have a vision/plan on which all members of the partnership have agreed? t Have you agreed on aims and priorities with all your partners? t Have you identified and discussed the benefits of working in partnership? t Have you identified and discussed the roles of the different partners in helping to develop and maintain the partnership? t Are you clear about your own role and responsibilities? t How are you ensuring that all partners share information and keep each other in touch with what’s happening? t Are your expectations of what you will achieve through working in partnership realistic? t Have you agreed on how you will celebrate and publicise your successes? Top tips! l Make sure that you convey clearly to partners what it is that parents, young people, the school and members of the community want from the activity or service being considered. l Agree with your partners on clear objectives and realistic targets that everyone understands. l If your partners are involved in producing resources, make sure these resources are suitable for the target group – for example, printed material should be written in an appropriate style and be pitched at the right reading level for the intended users. It is important to take into account any safety aspects of equipment that partners may supply. l Make sure that partners understand that they need to be flexible – schools and other agencies are dynamic places and things can change rapidly, which means that partners may need to adapt accordingly. Partnerships ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 29 What’s in this section? This part of the toolkit looks at the issues relating to leading and managing Community Focused Schools. It focuses on the wider school issues, but it will be useful for anyone working with and in Community Focused Schools. It covers: l leading Community Focused Schools; l managing Community Focused Schools; l the role of the governing body; l funding; l staffing. Section 3 Leading and managing Community Focused Schools S SC G Introduction Successful Community Focused Schools need strong leadership and strong management. So what role do leaders play? They: l provide the inspiration and the impetus for the development of Community Focused Schools; l help the school to be clear about what it is doing and why; l act as a catalyst for developing the vision; l provide leadership to help make things happen; l are able to look at the bigger picture and see what impact new developments are having. The role of a manager is to ensure that the developments outlined in the vision actually take place, and to oversee the day-to-day delivery of services and activities. In the early days of developing Community Focused Schools, many headteachers took on both leadership and management roles. However, this is unsustainable for a number of reasons. If we are serious about supporting Community Focused Schools, we need to ensure that appropriate structures are put in place to provide the leadership and management of Community Focused Schools at school level as an integral part of whole-school leadership and management. Bolting on will not work – it has to be built in. Whatever structures are put in place, the link between leadership and management has to be maintained to provide accountability, and to ensure that focus is maintained and the vision is not lost. The issues that come up as part of managing Community Focused Schools need to be fed back to leaders so that the vision can be developed further. Leaders and managers need to be involved in setting aims and outcomes as part of monitoring and evaluation (for more about this, see page 49). Leading Community Focused Schools The leadership of the headteacher, the senior management team (SMT) and the governing body is crucial in the development of a Community Focused Schools approach because: l it ensures that Community Focused Schools work is integrated into the core business of the school through the school development/improvement plan, and that it has the greatest possible impact on the life chances of children and young people; l it is the engine that will help to make things happen; l it can embed a Community Focused Schools approach within the school, and in its work with the wider community and with partners, so that this will eventually become the natural way of working; 30 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 l if school leaders are behind the initiative, it is easier to bring together people with shared objectives to focus on how they can work together to support children and young people, their families and the community; l developing Community Focused Schools requires a new way of working for many schools; leaders are responsible for creating, facilitating, managing and sustaining change. Leaders need to take their organisations through three broad stages as part of the process of change: l creating a climate for change; l engaging the whole organisation and enabling it to make the change; l sustaining change. The analysis above is taken from Collaborative leadership in extended schools, NCSL (2006) and is based on Kotter’s model of change (1995). Top tips! l Take a genuine interest in the school’s community and make sure that you ‘get out there’ and don’t just sit in the office. l Be ready to give extra time and recognise that it’s not a 9 to 3 job! l You need to be flexible and believe in this approach because things can get difficult at times. l The headteacher is the one who champions and drives the work and who can draw in others to support developments because of their status. l Have a pragmatic attitude – if you think too much about the problems, you wouldn’t do anything! l You can make it what you want it to be. l Let other people take responsibility for the practical side of running services and activities. The need for support Because of their existing role within the school, headteachers will be seen as the natural leaders for developing Community Focused Schools. Some heads will need support with this. While some schools have been working in this way for years, this approach is new to many schools. Headteachers will need access to support and learning opportunities to help them adopt new ways of working. ‘Irrespective of style, headteachers share three essential qualities in large measure – energy, enthusiasm and hope. These common qualities and this unanimity of view – that it’s doing a few key things right … solve the puzzle of making a school successful.’ (Professor Tim Brighouse, The jigsaw of a successful school: twelve essential pieces, RM, 2006) Headteachers need to be aware, though, that they don’t have to do it all. There are all kinds of people who can take responsibility for leading and managing Community Focused Schools. These might not be trained teachers, but they could come from a range of backgrounds – for example, from the youth and community service or from a health promotion agency. These staff will also need the right kind of support and learning opportunities to help them to lead Community Focused Schools. In England, the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) has been working with schools, local authorities and other partners to develop a comprehensive range of support and continuing professional development. Some of the information produced by NCSL will be helpful to schools in Wales. ContinYou Cymru is working with North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, ADEW and the Virtual Staff College to develop a postgraduate qualification that will help those leading Community Focused Schools – who will not always be teachers. The piloting of this will take place during 2006/07. Multi-agency working Some schools are starting to look towards housing multi-agency teams on school sites so that they become part of the school. It is likely that more local authorities and schools will be working in this way. This raises issues which will have an impact on the leadership of Community Focused Schools. Some of the questions that schools will need to consider are: l how to enable different agencies to understand each other’s roles, cultures and ways of working; l what the practical implications will be (will the other agencies need offices and rooms for meetings and consultations?); l how to integrate other agencies into the life of the school and enable school staff to understand their roles; l what problems there might be over communication – because different words can mean different things to different workers. It can be beneficial for the person running Community Focused Schools activities to have a non-teaching background. Someone who can testify to the advantages this brings is the extended schools director at a school in England, who comes from a social services background. She says that the knowledge and contacts she brought from her previous work have really helped her in developing services and activities in the school – and some of them have resulted in funding and resources for the school. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 31 Key questions for schools t Is there whole-school agreement on the vision? If the whole school isn’t behind the initiative, it may not succeed. t Have you decided whether you are going to start small and learn as you go along, or try to put lots of new developments in place from the start? t Have you tested out the approach you are planning to use on a small scale so that you can learn from this? t What leadership skills and experience already exist? What/who needs to be developed? t What knowledge and expertise about Community Focused Schools already exist? What/who needs to be developed? t Is the person leading Community Focused Schools part of the senior management team? t If leadership is not concentrated with one person, is everyone clear about where decisions are made and where accountability lies? Key questions for school clusters In addition to the questions for schools: t Is there agreement on the vision for the whole cluster and on overall strategic leadership – together with delegation of the leadership of specific parts of the work? t Are the schools in the cluster providing leadership in different geographical areas in order to achieve the vision that the cluster is working towards? t Are colleagues in different schools able to support each other and share good practice? t Is there a workable process for communicating across the cluster? Key questions for local authorities t Are you providing support for leaders who are developing Community Focused Schools? t Do you have a process for communicating about the initiatives, strategies and other developments which help drive Community Focused Schools, such as the Children Act 2004, community plans, the local authority’s vision for Community Focused Schools and its strategy for health and well-being? t Are you developing an authority-wide strategy for Community Focused Schools? t Are you promoting Community Focused Schools to other agencies, organisations and groups – statutory and voluntary? Leading Community Focused t Have you planned events where people can share good practice and the lessons they have learnt? t Do you have plans to provide training and support as part of continuing profesional development? Key questions for partners t Have you been involved in developing the vision and the plans for Community Focused Schools? t Do you understand the process for leading and managing Community Focused Schools in the context of whole-school planning? t Do you understand how you and your organisation can take a role in leading, managing and supporting Community Focused Schools? Managing Community Focused Schools Management means ensuring that things happen in the way they should, that everyone knows their role and how this relates to other people’s roles, and that everyone has the chance to suggest changes. Managers need to be aware that they are accountable for the operation of the activities. S SC G There are many approaches to managing and running community focused services and activities. It is likely that most Community Focused Schools will provide and manage some activities themselves, and that they will also work with others who provide and manage activities on the school site or under the school’s name. The development of an adult learning centre on the site of Sandfields Secondary School in Neath Port Talbot is being managed through a multi-agency management board, which includes the headteacher, the LEA (14–19 Learning Pathways, the youth service), the Local Action Centre and Sandfields First – the Communities First partnership. The headteacher sees it as his role to act as champion and to provide the vision and drive from the school’s side to make things happen. Schools will need to put appropriate governance in place to provide strategic management and accountability (see page 33). The model they use is likely to depend upon the way in which services are being provided. Some of the possibilities are given on the next page – or a school may use a mixture of these approaches. 32 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Direct provision The school provides services and activities directly (with the governing body having overall responsibility): for example, it offers out-of-schoolhours learning activities, or counselling provided by a member of the school staff. The Community Education Officer at Pentrehafod School in Swansea is a qualified counsellor and offers counselling sessions for pupils. Fairwater Junior School in Torfaen has been recruiting local parents and other members of the community to provide activities as part of the school’s Wednesday afternoon enrichment programme. Contracting The school sets up a contract or service level agreement: for example, it contracts a childcare provider to run an after-school childcare club or a holiday scheme, or a local lifelong learning provider to offer adult education classes, or the local health service to provide a drop-in health clinic. Hosting The school acts as a host for services and activities: it allows local organisations such as sports clubs, pensioners’ lunch groups and other community groups to use the school’s facilities. At Ysgol Y Dderi in Ceredigion, the Community Council, the local branch of the Women’s Institute and a mother and toddler club use the school’s facilities for their meetings. The youth club in Trinant, Caerphilly, had to be closed down because the building in which it was being held was no longer suitable. Through agreement between the youth service and Trinant Primary School, the club now takes place at the school three nights a week. Signposting The school signposts people to services and activities in the community – for example, to adult education classes or childcare provision. Co-location of services A number of different services share the school site – including, for example, a multi-agency team, an integrated children’s centre, a sports centre and a library. For schools working in clusters, day-to-day management across the whole cluster will be more complicated. We know from consultations with schools that headteachers and teachers do not have the capacity to manage Community Focused Schools developments and provision on a day-to-day basis. However, they say that they do not want to lose control of developments either. Managing Community Focused Schools Some schools are considering creating a new post – ‘Community Focused Schools Co-ordinator’ – and perhaps appointing someone from a non-teaching background who has the right skills and expertise. If someone without a teaching commitment becomes the Community Focused Schools Manager, this can help schools deal with workload problems and ensure that someone has responsibility for management on a daily basis. Fairwater Junior School in Torfaen has employed an Enrichment Co-ordinator to manage the out-of-school activities that take place on a Wednesday afternoon. Key questions for schools t Have you thought about who might be able to take on this role – for example, the bursar, the youth and community worker, a learning mentor? t Have you written a job description for a Community Focused Schools Manager? Is it a full-time or a part-time role? Is there someone already on the school staff, not necessarily a teacher, who could be promoted or have their role extended? (You can find some examples of job descriptions on ContinYou‘s website at www.continyou.org.uk/content.php?CategoryID= 972#sch-jobs and at ww.continyou.org.uk/cymru.) t Have you developed an induction programme for your manager? t If your manager hasn’t worked in a school before, have you thought about what you need to include in their induction about schools and education generally? t Have you agreed where the Community Focused Schools Manager sits within the staffing structure? If leadership and management are provided by the same person, it will be critical that they are part of the senior management team. t Who will be the line manager of the Community Focused Schools Manager? t Where there is separate leadership, have you agreed on processes for communication? t What structures need to be in place to support the manager? Will you set up a steering group for Community Focused Schools at school level? What will be the remit of that group? t If the school has external provision/managers, do you have an appropriate management model in place? ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 33 Key questions for school clusters In addition to the questions for schools: t Do you have a manager who is in charge of developments across the whole cluster? t Do you have a management structure in place for the cluster? t Does the cluster co-ordinator attend the senior management team (SMT) meeting of each school? An effective structure needs to be in place to link the cluster co-ordinator with the leaders of each Community Focused School, so that appropriate decisions can be made. t How will the manager(s) relate to the school leaders? Key questions for local authorities t Do you have an LA-wide strategy group to support school leaders and managers? t Could an existing group take on this responsibility? t Where does this group sit in relation to other groups? Key questions for partners t Have you been involved in developing the vision and the plans for Community Focused Schools? t Do you understand the process for leading and managing Community Focused Schools and whole-school planning? t Do you understand how you and your organisation can take a role in leading, managing and supporting Community Focused Schools? The role of the governing body You will want to ensure that your governing body understands and supports Community Focused Schools development. Schools and LEAs will need to offer opportunities for governors to find out more about Community Focused Schools. They could do this: l as part of the LEA’s governor training programme; l by providing ‘one-off’ events for a whole governing body or for a group or cluster of governing bodies; l at the meetings of individual governing bodies. To help schools and LEAs to provide this, ContinYou Cymru has produced some awareness-raising materials for governors, which are downloadable from ContinYou’s website – www.continyou.org.uk/cymru. ContinYou Cymru can also provide training and support. The governing body will need to decide on what model of governance it will use to provide strategic management and accountability for Community Focused Schools services and activities. Recent legislation gives governing bodies greater flexibility than they had in the past. Section 27 of the Education Act 2002: l makes it easier for governing bodies to provide facilities and services that benefit pupils, families and the community; l provides flexibility for governing bodies to enter into agreements with other partners in order to provide services; l enables governing bodies to charge for some services. 34 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Models of governance You will find information about this in ContinYou’s presentation for governors on Community Focused Schools (www.continyou.org. uk/cymru). Possible models of governance include: 1 direct management by the governing body: the day-to-day management is delegated to a member of the school staff. Depending on the nature and scope of the services and activities provided, the strategic management and decision making may be subsumed within the existing governing body structure, either by allocating it to a specific sub-committee, or by having an identified governor responsible for Community Focused Schools. 2 setting up a Community Focused Schools steering group: again, the day-to-day management is delegated to a member of the school staff. The steering group needs to include representation from the governing body and it is important to clarify what level of control the governing body will have: will the steering group have delegated decision-making powers? What kinds of decisions need to be ratified by the full governing body? How will the steering group report back to the full governing body? The membership of the steering group depends on the nature and scope of the services and activities offered. It might include the headteacher, a representative from the governing body, the Community Focused Schools manager, a parent/carers, a community representative, the school caretaker, a representative of the school council and representatives of organisations providing Community Focused Schools services and activities at the school. At Ysgol Y Dderi in Ceredigion, a community group, which includes two members from each of the six villages the school serves, discusses Community Focused Schools developments. This model can be used for the strategic management of provision offered by a cluster of schools. You will need to make sure that the group is not so big that it becomes unmanageable. It’s also important to have a clear understanding about the relationship between the steering group and the governing bodies of each of the schools in the cluster. 3 setting up a limited company: services and activities are provided and managed by the limited company, which is set up by the school or by a cluster of schools. The company is the accountable body. Governors and the headteacher can be directors of the company, as can other employees of the school. Governors will need to decide on the level of control they wish to retain. 4 working in partnership with a third party provider: this might be a private provider, or a voluntary or public sector organisation. The external provider takes responsibility for the day-to-day management of the services and activities. The governing body is still the accountable body, so mechanisms need to be in place to ensure that there is a strong link between the accountable body and the deliverer. Questions to consider are: what relationship there will be between the third party provider and the governing body; and whether the third party provider should attend meetings of the full governing body or of a sub-committee, or provide regular reports. 5 setting up a voluntary committee: this model allows for greater community involvement, and it can be used by a cluster of schools as well as a single school. Members are co-opted to a governors’ committee as associate governors. Others also attend without necessarily having voting rights. Such committees have significant delegated powers. This ensures that the final accountability still lies with the governing body, but it enables members of the community to support the development. The full governing body would not have the same control as with models 1 and 3. Funding – what are the issues? Of course funding is important, but don’t let the availability of funding, rather than the needs of the community, dictate what Community Focused Schools services and activities you provide. Nevertheless, funding is something that you can’t ignore. You will need to think about it properly to ensure the long-term future of the provision you introduce. It will be important to develop a co-ordinated approach to funding so that you are not spending too much time drafting applications and bids. Remember that you will need both significant long-term, designated funding so that you can plan your provision in a strategic way, and short- and mediumterm funding to support new developments. Try to make the most of existing sources of funding by seeing how they might cover Community Focused Schools development. Many of those seeking funding for Community Focused Schools and other initiatives within schools have voiced concerns about the need for greater co-ordination over funding, both among LEAs/LAs and between government departments, nationally and locally. This would cut out much duplication of effort and confusion over the criteria for funding from different initiatives. ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 35 Top tips! l Some parents may be unaware of Working Tax Credits, or may not know whether they are eligible or how to apply. Perhaps, as part of your Community Focused Schools provision, you could invite organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau into the school to advise parents on such issues. l Business in the Community runs ‘Pro Help’, a service linking schools with professional firms which can offer guidance and expertise on topics such as making funding applications. For more information on Pro Help, contact Calvin Lees, Project Co-ordinator for Business in the Community, on 029 2048 3348 or at calvin.lees@bitc.org.uk. Funding Key questions for schools t What do you want the money for and why? Have you developed an action/business plan? t Are there people within the school, the governing body or the local community who have expertise in writing bids and making funding applications? t Have you considered charging for activities? Many schools say that, if they charge for an activity, people value it more and don’t take it for granted. Charging is governed by legislation, but there are some things that you can’t charge for. Check with your local authority what the legislation on charging means for your Community Focused School. t Have you decided which activities you will charge for? Many schools, even in the most disadvantaged communities, make charges for breakfast clubs and after-school childcare. Some parents can claim back childcare charges through tax credits. t How are you making sure that the provision you are setting up will be able to continue? How are you linking this to consultation and self-evaluation? t Have you looked at what resources the partners you will be working with might be able to contribute, or what sources of funding they have access to that the school doesn’t? t Have you considered how your activities might meet the criteria of more than one possible source of funding? Key questions for school clusters In addition to the questions for schools: t Do you share the work of making funding applications for the cluster? t Can different people take on different tasks? Key questions for local authorities t Does the whole local authority support the development of Community Focused Schools? t Does your strategy for Community Focused Schools provide an infrastructure for supporting developments on the ground? t Does your strategy include ways of resourcing Community Focused Schools? And do you have an authority-wide strategy group with responsibility for this? t Have you undertaken an audit of existing services, identifying gaps and considering how services can be reconfigured to meet needs identified by Community Focused Schools? This should help to avoid duplication – finding new funding isn’t always the answer. t Have you looked at how you can co-ordinate funding from different sources, so that the activities and services schools are putting on achieve more than one set of objectives? t Can you advise schools on developing business plans and strategies for sustainability? Key questions for partners t Have you considered how working with Community Focused Schools to achieve shared objectives could help both of you to use resources (including time, funding and staffing) more effectively? t Have you already got contacts and partnerships in place that could help to take Community Focused Schools development forward? t Are there sources of funding to which you have access that might be willing to support activities that would meet both your aims and those of Community Focused Schools? 36 Community Focused Schools ContinYou © 2006 Top tips! l Funding applications need to show clearly what you’re doing and why. You will need information about your area to support your application. Go to www.neighbourhoodstatistics.com for descriptive statistics at council ward level. l Approach businesses or organisations that are closing down, moving premises or refurbishing to ask whether they have resources they could donate to the school. Sir Richard Gwyn RC High School in Barry was able to refurbish its art room with desks and chairs after hearing that the Customs and Excise Department was refurbishing its premises in Cardiff. l Register the PTA as a charity. It will then be able to apply for funding to sources which would not accept an application from a school. The PTA will then also be eligible for Gift Aid – that is, for every 72p donated by a taxpayer, it will receive 28p in repaid tax. For more information on registering as a charity, look at the NCPTA’s website: www.ncpta.org. Contact details for the Charity Commission are given on page 54. Staffing – what are the issues? Many of the points raised in the section on leadership and management relate to the staffing of the activities and services you provide. Teachers are not expected to undertake Community Focused Schools activities as part of their teaching contract. However, many teachers and non-teaching staff are already involved in providing activities and support outside the formal school day, usually to pupils and families from their own school. There are a number of reasons why staff may want to be involved in providing new activities through Community Focused Schools. They may want to: l further their own personal/professional/career development; l learn a new subject or skill – for example, by becoming involved in a music club or counselling; l work with children and young people in a way that’s different from how they work with them during the normal school day; l work with children/young people of different ages; l develop their skills in working with families and other adults. Planning the staffing of Community Focused Schools activities will give you opportunities to: l engage with the community; l bring other expertise into the school; l use remodelling to help you develop new roles and timetables. In addition, for people (teachers and non-teachers) involved in running services and activities, there will be the chance to develop new skills and knowledge – and for some the experience will be a stepping stone to volunteering, learning or employment. Top tip! When you’re putting together an induction pack for people who will be staffing community services and activities, you might include in it: l a ‘who’s who’ with contact details of the Community Focused Schools Manager and site staff; l the school’s vision for Community Focused Schools; l the local authority’s strategy for Community Focused Schools; l a timetable of activities taking place during the current term; l policies and procedures on child protection, behaviour and health and safety; l the school’s policy on accessibility. It’s important to make sure that staff are appropriate for the role in which you intend to use them. Some questions you need to ask are: l Do they have the right qualifications, skills and knowledge? l Do they understand how to relate to children? (or young people, families or adults, depending on the type of provision) l What experience and references do they have? l Do you have the right number of staff for the activity? You may also want to consider whether there are ways in which you can use this new expertise during the school day as well. At Fairwater Junior School in Torfaen, teachers are released for their planning, preparation and assessment time every Wednesday afternoon. During this time, volunteers and organisations from the community run a range of activities for the children, on and off the school site. At the beginning of every term, the headteacher of Ysgol Moelwyn in Gwynedd invites expressions of interest from his staff about who would like to be involved in delivering outof- school-hours activities. ContinYou Cymru and North East Wales Institute of Higher Education have developed a qualification for those working or acting as volunteers in informal learning (out-of-school-hours learning). ContinYou © 2006 Community Focused Schools 37 Staffing Key questions for schools and school clusters t Have you consulted with staff as part of your developments as a Community Focused School? t Have you made it clear that staff are not expected to run Community Focused Schools activities or services, but that there are opportunities for them to do so, or to be involved in some other way if they would like to? t What support are you offering to staff who want to be actively involved? t Do you encourage staff to get involved in different ways – perhaps through volunteering to help with an activity in which they will learn something new or develop new skills? t Have you included Community Focused Schools development within your plans for remodelling the workforce? t How are you keeping staff informed about and involved in Community Focused Schools developments and activities? (If they don’t know what activities or services you are planning to provide, how can they volunteer to take part in delivering them?) t How will you recognise the contribution of staff who take part in the delivery of Community Focused Schools activities? t What have you done to identify people within your community, beyond the circle of parents, carers and others who already have links with the school, who may have skills and knowledge to offer? t What kind of induction and training will you provide for those delivering Community Focused Schools activities and services? t Have you contacted organisations that may be able to offer advice and help with recruiting volunteers – the local Association of Voluntary Organisations, for example? Key questions for school clusters In addition to the questions above: t Are staff encouraged to get involved in running an activity in a school other than their own school? t Is induction and training available across the cluster? Key questions for local authorities t Are you offering