Guidance to grow extended schools

The School Improvement Planning Framework is a guide for schools on meeting the Every Child Matters outcomes, raising standards and maximising the impact of teachers.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families commissioned the TDA to develop the framework so that schools could get the most from the extended schools programme. The framework makes extended services a central part of planning what the school will offer, from services to individual plans for children.

Speaking at a 4Children's Extended Services in Schools conference last week, Caroline Coles, the professional lead for extended schools at the TDA, said the framework was about integrating planning to think about the needs of the individual child. She told the conference the TDA tested the framework in 150 schools, who helped design the final guidance.

"We know that standards and achievement are improved by good quality teaching and learning," she said. "We recognise that schools have to do a million things and prioritising is hard."

Coles said it was important to think about the investments schools are making and why they are making them, such as looking at what impact a breakfast club can have on a child's development. "The extended schools agenda can be seen as Every Child Matters in action. Schools that see it as separate must make it have an impact in the classroom," she said.

The TDA has been working with Ofsted, National Strategies and the National Governors' Association to ensure the framework is easy to understand, she added.

Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, welcomed the framework. "I think it was an important development," she said. "It was focusing on outcomes and personalised support. I would hope to see that the framework builds in other agencies around the school."

Coles said there will be a phased launch of the framework based on local authority demand and training workshops on how to use it for local authority workers who work with schools.

- www.tda.gov.uk/schoolimprovement.