Extended Services for schools

What are extended schools?

Extended Schools provide a range of services and activities over and above the normal curriculum, often beyond the school day and including weekends and school holidays, in order to meet the needs of children and their families.

A growing number of Bristol schools are already providing these services.

Extended schools and services in Bristol

Our goal is to work with others to ensure that every single child and young person has the best chances in life.

In Bristol we have a good track record of partnership working and have a partnership model across the city for all children's services based on:

•     One City
•     Three Areas
•     Ten Localities

Every extended school belongs to a locality partnership. Each of the 10 partnerships bring together all the schools, from every age group with other local providers to support children's needs and help them to learn. This means being able to provide the extended services 'core offer' for children and families, which includes:

• Access to high quality Childcare on the school site or through other local providers all year round, from 8am to 6pm
• A varied menu of activities such as sport, arts, visits, enterprise activities and a range of study support for schools work including homework clubs, Aim Higher and gifted and talented programmes
• Swift and easy access to a wide range of specialist support services including health services such as speech therapy, mental health services, and social care
• Parenting support including information and help when children transfer between key stages and opportunities for family learning   
• Community access to school buildings and resources such as ICT, sports and arts facilities

To make sure this strategy is sustained and developed, we have a dedicated Extended Services leadership team. This team works closely with Neighbourhoods, Headteachers and a wide range of community groups and other agencies to ensure:

• Delivery of the core offer is developed
• Development plans meet local needs and priorities and funding is directed specifically to making a difference for children and their families
• Schools and communities are brought closer together in the way in which they plan collaboratively to achieve the Every Child Matters outcomes for all children
• Effective communication and joint working between CYPS and other partners
• Good practice is recognised and shared across the City to benefit of children
• Training, support and advice is made available to all partners

One way of demonstrating our impact is through the production of case studies which demonstrate the day to day impact of our work on the lives of our children and their families. Each partnership publishes case studies which can be found by following the links to Learning Stories.