Objectives By 2010, all schools must provide access to a core ofextended services, with half of all primary and a third of all secondaryschools doing so by 2008. However, it helps if schools are given anincentive to undertake this work on top of all the other changesrequired of them, and have a clear set of benchmarks and standards toaim for.
Sandwell Borough Council in the West Midlands approached the challengeby developing a framework for self-evaluation and quality assurance forextended school provision.
The issues Sandwell was already involved in the Quality in Study Support(QiSS) recognition scheme for schools. It collaborated with four otherlocal authorities and the QiSS organisation to see how feasible it wouldbe to transfer the principles of this quality assurance system toextended schools.
Joanne Moore, qualities officer at Sandwell Council, explains: "Wedecided that we would like to develop something across the range ofextended services. The QiSS model is good because it is a developmentalmodel that is based on self-evaluation and peer scrutiny, rather than atick-box model."
What was done Together with the QiSS organisation and the other localauthorities (Kent, Tower Hamlets, Nottinghamshire and Norfolk), Sandwellbegan to test a quality assurance scheme. The resulting Quality inExtended Schools is a national recognition programme based on peerscrutiny of evidence. It is accessible at three levels: emerged,established and advanced.
Eighteen schools were involved in the pilot.
Schools have to produce evidence to show how they are opening up to thewider community and beyond the school day. A "critical friend" isappointed, which is either a school that has already gone through theprocess or one trained through QiSS.
Sandwell has also recruited five development officers to assist withextended schools' activities.
Outcomes The quality recognition scheme is helping schools develop.
Moore says: "The framework has been a real motivator. It has refocusedthe schools and identified where they need to go next. Schools that havestarted the process tend to want to go on to the next level and supportother schools locally."
The five pilot authorities are now using the scheme and other schoolsand local authorities across the country are beginning to getinvolved.
Phil Watts, Sandwell's head of extended services, says: "There are anawful lot of benefits to be gained from developing extended schools.It's not necessarily an easy journey but it is a worthwhile one."
TOP TIPS
DOS
- Think about setting up an extended schools unit or nominating officers
- Encourage schools to develop partnerships with other providers
- Talk to the statutory and voluntary sectors - extended schools bring
together a range activities
DON'TS
- Expect teachers to run the extended activities themselves
- Overlook the benefits of extended schools' activities
- Forget to talk to schools and children about what they want
