Extended schools

Cambridge Education @ Islington is supporting schools to develop of a wide range of services that support children, parents, families and their local community. We are doing so in partnership with Islington Council and others, as set out in Islington's Extended Schools Strategy.

Many schools have been providing extended services for many years, either directly or by working in partnership with other organisations. Our aim is to build on the best of those experiences within Islington and beyond, to support schools in the borough to develop their Extended School role.

The services that schools are being encouraged to expand and develop include:

  • Childcare
  • Activities for young people
  • Out of hours learning and study support for pupils, including sports and arts activities
  • Support for parents and families
  • Ensuring children and young people can access more specialist services when needed
  • Enabling the local community to make use of school buildings and facilities

Childcare
Children from most of Islington's primary schools are able to go straight from school to after-school clubs, either in the school or nearby. Some of these are run directly by schools, and some by voluntary organisations. For a full list of childcare providers in Islington click the link to the Islington's Children's Information Service.

Out of hours learning
The Learning Plus team support schools to provide a comprehensive range of after-school activities and breakfast clubs.

Our Schools Sports Coordinators work with schools to provide all kinds of sporting activities for children and young people.

Supporting parents and families
Our schools support parents and families in many different ways.

A growing number of schools are putting on Family Learning courses and activities; for advice with organising and funding Family Learning activities please contact Riona Aiken on 020 7527 4037 or at riona.aiken@islington.gov.uk

Some schools employ school/home liaison workers, bi-lingual community workers and other staff that are able to support parents with their children's education and development, and help them to access other services.

School fairs, parents' evening and other events are an excellent opportunity to provide information to parents; a list of organisations willing to bring stalls to school events is available here.

Community Use of Schools

Encouraging the community use of school premises is a key part of the Government's Extended Schools initiative, and one to which Islington Council and Cambridge Education @ Islington are both fully committed. Making school premises more available to the wider community can support school improvement, and the wider outcomes for children and young people identified in Every Child Matters.

You can download the full document by clicking on the following link  Guidance for schools. The appendices are also available from the downloads section on the right of the screen. This includes a series of template documents for schools to adapt. Some schools in the borough have a long history of making their facilities available to others, and we hope that this guidance will support others to do so too.

Summer Activities

Young London website now hosts a Summer Activities Guide, an extensive listings of free cultural, sporting and outdoor events for children and young people. Special highlights of the online guide include Playday 2007, Summer Uni London and London Summer of Sport, and links are given to all London Borough websites.

Fundraising

The Top Tips for Fundraising document may be downloaded from the menu to the right of the screen.

Area Children's Network

The Area Children's Network profile may be downloaded from the menu to the right of the screen.

Contact
David Wainwright
Extended Schools Development Manager
Barnsbury Complex, Offord Road, London N1 1QG
Tel: 020 7527 5229

Email: david.wainwright.camb-ed@islington.gov.uk

The contact details of all Extended School Co-ordinators are available by clicking this link.

More Information
For more information on the national Extended Schools programme, including guidance, advice and examples of good practice, see Teachernet