Schools are not expected to provide these services alone, or necessarily to deliver them on site. Instead, they should work in partnership with other schools and agencies, including voluntary and community organisations, signposting existing services where appropriate. Schools are expected to consult widely with pupils, families, thier own staff and the wider community to identify priorities and needs.
By providing extended services, schools will be fulfilling their statutory duties to deliver the Every Child Matters outcomes, promote well being and community cohesion and reinforcing initiatives such as the Healthy Schools programme.
Childcare
High-quality childcare can enhance learning, give parents more time to work or study, and generate income for schools.
The core offer requires all primary and special schools to offer access to high-quality, Ofsted-registered childcare from 8am to 6pm (depending on demand), five days a week, 48 weeks a year. Secondary schools do not have to offer formal childcare, although some choose to do so to support families or enable parents to use other extended services.
Secondary schools should ensure that their before- and after-school activities provide a 'safe, supervised place' for children and young people, and that Criminal Records Bureau and health and safety checks have been carried out on staff supervising the activities.
Schools should charge for childcare and parents should be able to claim the fees back through the childcare element of the working tax credit. Schools should give special consideration to vulnerable pupils and those from disadvantaged families to ensure they can access services. Likewise, secondary schools can charge for providing safe, supervised activities.
Delivering childcare
Schools can provide childcare services in a number of ways, including by:
- employing staff to deliver services on site
- working with other schools to share resources, for example by setting up a rota system for childcare provision, and
- signposting to existing services offered by private or voluntary sector organisations.
Schools will need to assess existing childcare provision and consult parents and carers, pupils, staff and the local community about their needs before deciding which approach to take. Working with other schools or third-party organisations enable schools to tap into existing expertise and significantly reduce workload. However, where childcare services are being delivered off site, schools may need to provide transport depending on levels of demand.
back to core offer
Varied menu of activities
A varied menu of activities gives children and young people opportunities to excel outside the classroom, transforming attitudes and building self-esteem.
Both primary and secondary schools should provide access to a varied menu of extra-curricular activities from 8am to 6pm (provided there is sufficient demand) during term time plus flexible holiday provision. These activities could include:
- study support, ‘catch up’, ‘stretch’ activities and homework clubs
- arts activities such as dance, drama and arts and crafts
- sports activities
- other recreational activities, for example creative use of ICT, music lessons, languages, enterprise activities, museum visits and residential trips, and
- holiday provision and summer schools.
Research carried out by Ofsted shows that the wider the range of activities on offer, the higher the participation rate.
Secondary schools must make sure activities provide young people with a safe, supervised place to be, including completing Criminal Records Bureau and health and safety checks. They must also give parents clear information about what activities are available and whether formal registration is needed. Parents should also be made aware that the childcare element of tax credits can be claimed for regular supervised provision for children up to 15 (or 16 if their child has a disability), if the school is charging for this service.
Delivering a varied menu of activities
Schools do not have to deliver all activities themselves nor provide them on site. Instead, they can signpost parents to existing services. Schools will need to assess existing provision and consult parents and carers, pupils, staff and the local community about their needs before deciding which approach to take and which services to offer. Local authorities are likely to be a good source of information.
Why offer a varied menu of activities?
Research carried out by Ofsted found that sports, the arts and other learning activities can transform attitudes, build self-esteem and encourage more effective learning. Extra-curricular activities can also improve motivation and attendance and have a positive impact on learning.
back to core offer
Parenting support
Involving parents in their children’s education can help remove barriers to learning, raise attainment and improve attitudes and behaviour.
Parenting support aims to equip parents and carers with the skills to support their child’s education and to deal effectively with issues that could affect the well-being of the family. Schools will need to provide:
- local services, tailored to the needs of those parents who stand to benefit most from support
- transition information sessions for parents whose children are joining a reception class or transferring to secondary school
- details of local and national sources of advice and support
- access to parenting groups that use structured, evidence-based parenting programmes
- access to informal networking opportunities such as coffee mornings and cookery or ICT classes, and
- family learning sessions (depending on demand).
Providing parenting support
Schools need to take a proactive approach to ensuring that families feel engaged and able to ask for support if they need it. Parenting support services can be provided either by the school or by signposting parents to existing services. Schools will need to assess existing provision and consult parents and carers, staff and the local community about their needs before deciding which approach to take.
To help schools provide parenting support as an extended service, a role has been created – the parent support adviser (PSA). Some schools and local authorities already have similar school-based roles, such as family support workers and home school liaison officers.
Why offer parenting support?
Research carried out by Ofsted found that "services that were used by the most vulnerable parents were reported to have transformed the lives of some parents and had positive effects on their children." There is evidence to show that schools that work closely and effectively with parents have:
- improved levels of achievement
- more positive pupil attitudes and behaviour, and
- greater parent participation in, and support for, the life and work of the school.
Where parents are engaged with the school, they are also more likely to share information, allowing problems and misunderstandings to be reconciled before they escalate.
back to core offer
Swift and easy access
Swift and easy access to targeted and specialist services can help overcome barriers to learning and enable children and young people to achieve their potential.
Swift and easy access (SEA) is underpinned by preventative work, through other elements of the core offer, and the wider curriculum. Where problems emerge, SEA ensures the early identification of, and support for, a wide range of difficulties children and young people can face.
SEA involves schools working closely with statutory agencies and the voluntary and community sector to identify children and young people with emotional, behavioural, health or other difficulties as early as possible. The school and partnering agencies can then form a ‘team around the child’, planning and delivering a package of ongoing support designed to overcome barriers to learning and enable the child or young person to achieve their full potential.
That support package could include:
- speech and language therapy
- child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
- family support services
- intensive behaviour support
- counselling, and
- sexual health services.
Providing swift and easy access
Schools will need to work closely with the multi-agency or locality teams developed under the children’s trust arrangements to identify vulnerable children and young people and assess their needs. Increasingly these teams will be building links with schools. They may be based near or on school sites, enabling children and young people to access their services discreetly and conveniently. However, at times it will be necessary to make a referral to services outside school.
Clear communication and regular monitoring by all personnel involved in the referral process is essential. Many schools choose to identify a ‘named individual’ with specific responsibility for liaising between the pupil, their family, the school and the agencies involved.
Why provide swift and easy access?
By ensuring that barriers to learning are identified as early as possible, SEA can stop problems escalating and minimise any disruption to pupils’ learning. This kind of support is already shown to raise pupils’ levels of confidence, self-esteem and achievement, which in turn can contribute to raising standards and reducing inequalities.
Effective support through SEA can also help persuade some pupils to continue studying at school after 16.
back to core offer
Community access
Opening up facilities to the public can help strengthen schools’ position as the ‘hub’ of community life and generate valuable income.
Many schools are opening up facilities such as information and communications technology (ICT) suites and sports and arts facilities to the wider community. They are also offering space – such as their school halls – and running further education and vocational classes and adult learning programmes.
Providing community access
Schools with suitable facilities, or the capacity to offer learning opportunities to the wider community, will need to assess existing provision and consult parents and carers, staff and the local community about their needs before deciding which facilities to make available for community use.
Why offer community access?
Opening up school facilities is one way a school can fulfil its obligation to promote community cohesion. Local businesses can benefit from affordable conference or ICT facilities, and the well-being of the community can be improved by making sports centres accessible to all.
Community access also helps schools ensure that they are making full use of their facilities and generating additional income.
back to core offer
