Pupils themselves are also crying out for more information, with more than half (55 per cent ) saying they want to know more about the activities offered through their school outside of school hours.*
To raise awareness of the extended services that more than 20,000 schools currently offer, the TDA has launched a new Extended Services Google Map Mashup, designed to help schools and clusters of schools share details of the extended services on offer and to ensure that school staff and local parents alike have a full understanding of available activities and services. Nine pilot schools have uploaded a full description of the extended services they offer onto the map, with schools and clusters across the country being encouraged to follow suit and so build a full picture of extended services across England.
Graham Holley, Chief Executive of the TDA, said:
“The poll demonstrates the need for schools, clusters and local authorities to up the ante in terms of communicating the out-of-hours services and activities on offer to parents and pupils alike. Put simply, the more parents understand the suite of extended services on offer and feel included in the decisions regarding their design and delivery, the more pupils will get involved and the more chances we have to help them be successful and happy. School leaders need to consider how best to demonstrate that extended services meet parents’ needs – for example, the poll shows that parents’ key concerns at the moment are personal safety, bullying and obesity. Extended services can be designed to help address these issues.
“Moreover, it is vital that all school staff understand that they, together with colleagues in local authorities, have a key role to play in promoting the extended services on offer through their school and helping parents access other services across the LA or cluster. The new Extended Services Google Map Mashup is designed to ensure that everyone working in schools is fully aware of the services and activities on offer in their school or cluster, and use this information to encourage participation. We know that schools around the country are offering access to fantastic extended services opportunities – the Mashup will be another way for schools to showcase what they have to offer the pupils, parents and the local community.”
One school included in the TDA’s Extended Services Google Map Mashup, pilot is Joseph Leckie Community Technology College, which offers a wide range of extended services activities from breakfast clubs, study support sessions and parenting classes to sports and music clubs such as self-defence, song writing and the ‘Fast Forward’ football programme.
Dr Coral Gardiner, extended services manager at the Joseph Leckie Community Technology College, Walsall said “Our extended services provision has brought many benefits to our pupils; helping increase motivation, improve behaviour, increase attendance and improving levels of attainment. However, we cannot be complacent. The TDA’s Extended Services Google Map Mashup, not only helps communicate internally and externally what we have on offer, but it also allows us to share lessons and ideas with other schools across the country.”
You can view the TDAs ‘Google Map Mashup’ here:
www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling/extendedschools/whatareextendedservices.aspx
Parents can also find out about the extended services that schools offer via Directgov http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Childcare/DG_172212 and also through their local authority family information service www.familyinformationservices.org.uk/
Schools can share their extended services learning using ContinYou’s Learning Exchange:
