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Extended Schools

Hello and welcome to the Extended Schools website for Sheffield City Council.

What service do we provide?

The central Extended Schools Team act as a resource for extended school coordinators/organisers, and schools, across the city.

We provide advice and guidance on the latest government guidelines; we offer training to enable the implementation of the extended schools agenda; and we monitor extended schools activity throughout Sheffield, by collecting data in our annual audits.

For more information on the service we provide, please find the Extended Schools Service Document available from the downloads section at the bottom of the page.

What is an Extended School?

Extended schools are a key vehicle for delivering the Government’s objective of lifting children out of poverty and improving outcomes for them and their families.

An extended school works with the local authority and other partners to offer access to a range of services and activities that support and motivate children and young people to achieve their full potential. These services and activities, also known as the “Core Offer”, are:

A varied menu of activities, combined with childcare in primary schools

Community access to school facilities

Swift and easy access (referral) to targeted and specialist services

Parenting support.

Extended schools are at the heart of Every Child Matters (ECM), raising standards and ensuring that children:

Are healthy

Stay safe

Enjoy and achieve

Make a positive contribution

Achieve economic well-being.

Targets

Sheffield has smashed its extended schools targets for 2007. 56 primary schools and 15 secondary schools are now offering access to the ‘Full Core Offer’.

The achievement of this target, set internally by Sheffield City Council, showcases the strength of extended school provision in Sheffield and provides an excellent foundation for the progress of the initiative.

Work has now started in earnest as the extended schools team and school organisers across the city attempt to meet the 2008 DCSF (Department for Children, Schools, and Families) target, by which time a half of all Sheffield’s primary schools and a third of its secondary schools must be offering access to the ‘Full Core Offer’. By 2010 all schools in Sheffield must be offering access to the Full Core Offer.

Complaints and Compliments

We welcome both positive and negative comments on the service we provide: it tells us how well we are doing. We are happy to receive these comments in person, via email, by phone, or on the dedicated feedback forms distributed at all of the events we host. All of the feedback we receive is saved and analysed so that we can offer the best possible service to our customers.