Council and democracy

Extended Schools - what are they?

Extended schools and children's centres are an important part of the Every Child Matters agenda. In Hertfordshire we are joining up the development of extended schools and children's centres into a single initiative.

Extended schools provide access to a range of services and activities - often beyond the school day - to help meet the need of pupils, their families and the wider community.

It's an area that's evolving all the time, but there is a core offer of extended services that the Government wants all children to be able to access by 2010. These core services are:

• childcare
• a varied menu of study support activities
• parenting support and family learning
• swift and easy referral to a wide range of specialist support services
• community access to ICT, sports and arts facilities, including adult learning

Currently, 15 consortia involve over 134 schools in piloting extended services - a list of your nearest group can be found in the electronic document (PDF) on this page.