Local authorities and their partners in children's trusts together have the responsibility to ensure the delivery of the five Every Child Matters outcomes. In this context, the Government intends that by 2010 all schools should become extended schools, offering access to a core of five extended services, designed to enrich and support the experience of children and young people, and remove any barriers to their achievement. Schools may choose to provide these services themselves, but are more likely to offer them through clustering arrangements, using the expertise of third party providers from the private, voluntary and community sectors.
The extended schools core offer comprises:
- A varied menu of activities, principally study support, including holiday provision
- Year-round, 8am-6pm childcare
- Parenting support, including family learning
- Swift and easy referral to a wide range of specialist support services
- Community access, including adult learning
Many schools already offer parts of the core offer and those with well developed study support programmes are already well on the way to providing a ?varied menu of activities?.
Both study support and childcare are important and related aspects of the extended schools core offer. It is important that children and young people attending childcare have access to the full range of study support opportunities that are available to their peers. The guiding principles are choice and flexibility in, and affordability of, high quality provision.
Sure Start Children's Centres for children under 5 years and their families will offer well coordinated integrated services and information, including support from multi-disciplinary teams of professionals. Children's Centres will want to consider offering opportunities for older siblings to attend study support activities or childcare provision in the local area.
A Prospectus ?Extended Schools: Access to Opportunities and Services for all' DfES 2005
Planning and Funding Extended Schools: A Guide for Schools, Local Authorities and Their Partner
Organisations, DfES 2006
A ten-year strategy for childcare: ?Choice for parents, the best start for children.' DfES 2004
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