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Extended schools - £1 billion boost

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES News Release (2007/0140) issued by The Government News Network on 25 July 2007

Every child will be able to access breakfast clubs, out-of-hours tuition and after-school clubs in sport, music and drama as Ed Balls today announced a massive investment of more than £1billion in the extended schools programme over the next three years.

Families will also be able to access services such as breakfast clubs, childcare, family learning and parental support, as well as having quick and easy access to specialist services for their child such as speech therapy.

The additional investment will mean that every school will be offering access to extended services by 2010. It was confirmed today that the programme remains ahead of trajectory with more than 5,000 - or one in five - schools now offering the core extended services.

Schools can provide extended services themselves, or deliver them in partnership with other schools or voluntary and community organisations, before and after the school day . The £1.1 billion will fund capital projects and running costs to ensure that by 2010, all schools can offer extended services to children such as homework clubs after school; additional sport and music tuition; drama and ICT clubs; or catch up classes in English and maths.

Two weeks ago Ed Balls also announced a £265m extended school subsidy scheme to ensure that children from disadvantaged families can access the full range of extended services, which research shows can gain a greater benefit from extended services, bringing the amount up to £1.3 billion.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said:

"As the best schools demonstrate, you cannot raise standards and close achievement gaps without focusing on all the needs of every single child and tackling every obstacle to their learning. Extended schools do just that - improving children's lives, boosting their attainment and placing schools at the heart of their communities.

"Extended schools help families juggle work and home life by giving parents greater flexibility and providing learning and parental support. But above all they give children the chance to take part in fun activities - they can practice sports, learn a musical instrument, have drama classes or simply catch up on their home work. All children should have the chance to learn new skills and have fun out of school hours - and extended schools will give them those opportunities."

Promoting access for young people is essential because research has shown that extended schools boost standards. The increase in pupil attainment in full service extended schools was around double the rate of the national average between 2005 and 2006. At Key Stage Four, the number of pupils achieving 5 A*-C at GCSE increased by just over 5 per centage points, compared to a 2.5 per centage point increase in the national average over the same period.

All extended schools will offer:

* a varied range of activities including study support activities;

* wraparound childcare 8am-6pm, all year round for primary schools ;

* parenting and family support ;

* swift and easy access to specialist services like speech therapy ;

* community use of facilities including adult and family learning and ICT.
Schools can also offer use of their facilities to local communities, where they can access services provided by other organisations such as after-school childcare by professionals; links with Primary Care Trusts to offer access to child healthcare services; parents' rooms where mothers and fathers can study together or find our how to help their child with their studies; or encourage parenting organisations to offer classes to improve parents' confidence and skills.

First-year allocations of the £1.1 billion will be released to schools and local authorities as part of their General Sure Start Grants and Standards Fund in the autumn.

The funding - as well as funding start-up costs - will for the first time support extended service co-ordinators in secondary schools and clusters of primary schools to ensure sustainability. It will also fund an additional one hour per week of teacher-led academic focused study support for secondary age pupils in around a quarter of secondary schools.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The funding breaks down as follows:

Extended Schools Total Funding  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11   Total CSR
      2008-2011                       (£m)    (£m)    (£m)      Period
                                                                (£m)
      Start Up                        191     201     35        427
      Sustainability                  40      100     155       295
      Extended Schools Subsidy Scheme 8.5     40      217       265.5
      Academic-Focused Study Support  0       90      90        180
      Total Extended Schools Revenue  239.5   431     497       1,167.5
      Total Extended Schools Capital  60      55      98        213
      Total Extended Schools Revenue  299.5   486     595       1,380.5
      and Capital 

Note: Total of £1,380.5 million minus £265.5m already announced for the Extended Schools Subsidy Scheme = £1,115 million

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