Extended schools and children’s centres

Extended schools and children’s centres are at the heart of the Government’s Every Child Matters: Change for Children Programme. In Hertfordshire, we are joining up the development of extended schools and children’s centres into one single initiative which, together with all other children's and young people's services, also form part of the Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership.

Extended schools provide a range of services and activities – often beyond the school day – to help meet the needs 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 after-school 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.

Over 120 schools – primary, secondary and special, together with five children’s centres – have been included in one of the 15 pilot extended school consortia across Hertfordshire. A list of the consortia and the schools involved are listed below. A coordinator has been appointed for each consortium in order to develop extended services.

Children’s centres, like extended schools, aim to integrate high-quality services for children and families. They include a core of services which are:

early education integrated with childcare (‘educare’)
family support and parental outreach
child and family health services
access to information training and career opportunities

Hertfordshire currently has six children’s centres:

In July, the DfES Sure Start Unit issued guidance about the next wave of children’s centres. Work has now been completed to identify catchment areas (or reach areas) for the extended schools consortia and 82 children’s centres that will cover Hertfordshire by 2010. These areas have been prioritised using a range of deprivation indicators to identify the 44 communities that will get a centre by 2008.

Children’s Centres and Extended Schools are one of the key building blocks for district-based delivery of children’s services. Hertfordshire’s strategic approach to this agenda will need to be in line with the priorities in the countywide Children and Young People’s Plan and the needs identified through District Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnerships.

This page last updated: 08-10-2007