Learning must be attractive to all, says Welsh education watchdog

They must also get local communities using school facilities.

In a report on community-focused schools, the Welsh inspectorate also urged local authorities and schools to work more closely together.

It found community-focused school programmes were more successful where there was a specific co-ordinator in place in the local authority.

"In many authorities, co-ordination of the community-focused activities of schools, either working individually or in clusters, is ineffective or weak," said the report. "As a result, there is unhelpful duplication of activity, its impact is dissipated, or community-focused activity is not well matched to the needs of the wider community."

However, the report did find that the Community Focused Schools Grant from the Welsh Assembly Government had "provided the stimulus for some worthwhile initiatives and developments".

Dr Bill Maxwell, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales, said: "The other most commonly-mentioned benefit is an improvement in relationships, communication and mutual understanding between schools and their local communities."