Agenda and minutes

Please introduce yourself and outline your role and responsibilities.

I am the Director of Sport at Castle Community College in Deal, and I have taught there for five years.  I am the assistant principal and also have responsibility for Health and Safety issues. Castle is a specialist sports college and a hub site for the Dover Sports Partnership.  We have advanced status in delivering Extended Services via the MIDES project, working with two local primary schools.  Dover Extended Schools (DES) is a successful framework for Extended Services in the Dover area.

In your view, does the provision of Extended Services help improve educational attainment?  In your experience, are there any other benefits that Extended Services bring about for pupils and for the local community?

There has been no specific research on this, but Extended Services engages and motivates pupils and keeps them in school, as they are interested in coming to school to take part in their favourite sport.  50% of Castle’s pupils have Special Educational Needs, and some of them would be out of school if it weren’t for Extended Services.  We also host Adult Education on site and at the Treetops nursery.  The school is open for use by the community from 8am to 10pm.

Extended Services benefits the local community, reducing crime and disorder and antisocial behaviour. Extended Services also brings employability skills, improves community cohesion by breaking down barriers, and fosters aspirations.

I used to work in a Grammar School, and when we had a sports fixture there we always had a good turnout.  At Castle, we have had to work very hard to increase the level of engagement to anything like that of the Grammar School.

In your view, what are the main economic, legal, social and operational challenges – if any – for the College, when providing Extended Services to the local community?

We are lucky in that the Head Teacher at Castle is pro- Extended Services, so staff have to get on board with it.  We use DES as a framework for Extended Services for the local schools, and every school in the Dover and Deal area now does Extended Services.

Costs are an issue, as we have to pay for extra staff and coaches to run sessions.  Attendance is also a challenge.  We had a new Astroturf facility installed, and built extra changing rooms, but the income generated by hiring these out has covered the cost of the additional caretaker we have had to employ to cover the longer opening hours.

Are there any other specific challenges and how can these be overcome?

Being clear of safeguarding responsibilities is a challenge. We ensure that all third party users provide us with evidence of CRB checks & coaching qualifications of individuals, along with insurance certificates and risk assessments. We also ensure that any coach we use is CRB checked.  We have a Child Protection policy.  We have an Extended Services policy now, which covers these things, but it would help if there was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Please introduce yourself and outline your role and responsibilities.

I am the Principal of Oakley Special School in Tunbridge Wells.  I have been there for 10 years and have all the usual duties of a Head Teacher.  The school has an annual budget of £2.5 million, looks after 150 children on two sites, and employs 75 staff.

Please outline the Extended Services that Oakley Special School offers, and the way in which these services are structured and delivered.  Why did the school pursue an Extended Services pilot initiative?

It was a good opportunity for a special school to be involved in Extended Services.  I was already running some parts of Extended Services at Oakley, so was keen to expand this.  I see it at a ‘one stop shop’ for clubs, counselling services, etc. Oakley is a full service school, and we signpost pupils to other schools.  I have a Community Youth Tutor who works as a part-time teacher and runs after-school clubs for young people. I have a part-time Family Liaison Officer who works as an interface with the parents’ forum and organises parents into activities, eg erecting bird boxes in the grounds. This allows us to get to know them better, and them to get know each other better. The appointment of a Transport Director is a great practical help. I buy in art therapy one day a week and counselling services one day a week.  We want to build up capacity to be a one stop shop. The network that we have become part of has been very helpful and has been the biggest factor in our growth and in sustaining what we do.

Are the Extended Services offered by Oakley Special School delivered in collaboration with other agencies?  If so, who else is involved?

Yes, we collaborate with the Youth Service and use the model partnership, as there are so many overlaps in partners’ procedures, like safeguarding. I have people who are experienced at site management, although the site is mainly used by our own school and we don’t have many outside lettings.  We use voluntary support agencies, through which young volunteers come into the school to meet and support pupils.  I feel strongly that the most important point of a pupil’s life is their transition from being in the school to being in the community.  Via the Youth Service, we get youth workers to work with us and get to know us and the pupils.  I think this is a very good model of inclusion, as when young people leave us at 18 to go to college or into employment, there is a club that many of them are happy to come back to, and we can continue to support them.  I think it is good that they consider their links with the school to be still there.

How do you rate the level of collaboration?

I think involvement is a two-way thing, and this is important. For instance, a group of our 16+ pupils recently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Please introduce yourself and outline your role and responsibilities.

I am the Head Teacher of Holy Trinity and St John‘s Primary School in Margate.  We are a through Primary School with two-form entry plus a nursery, and we have between 400 and 450 pupils.  We are in central Margate and our index of multiple deprivation is 2.

Please outline the Extended Services Holy Trinity and St John's Primary School offers, and the ways these services are structured and delivered.

We have what I call the ‘traditional’ school clubs before and after-school, including chess, table tennis, football and music.  We also have a breakfast club which is free and used by 50 pupils.  All these activities are staffed by Members of the school staff.  A few of the after-school clubs engage parents, and we have a link to Charlton Athletic.  We are part of the Quartet Group and we aim our activities at increasing families’ quality time to broaden their opportunities.  For instance, a group outing to the cinema or a trip to London are big adventures for our pupils.   These activities attract a good mix of families.  We also have an allotment club, run cooking classes, a holiday club run by the Family Liaison Officer (of which I have 1½!), we host adult learning, coffee mornings and pastoral care.

In your experience, what are the main benefits resulting from the provision of Extended Services?

The main ones are that it plugs gaps and gives opportunities for our pupils to enjoy things that other children enjoy.  It offers opportunities that their families might not have thought of.  It could mean that school for them isn’t just about English and maths but also about animation or table tennis. The breakfast club helps our attendance figures, and the football club in the morning means that pupils arrive for the start of lessons on time!  A child being on site before the start of lessons gives them the chance to talk to a member of staff about a problem and resolve an anxiety so they are then able to relax and concentrate on lessons, so increasing their performance in class.  Extended Services also increases the level of general engagement with local families.

Does the School offer activities for the local community in the evenings and holidays?  If so, how are these activities managed in the school, and by whom?

Yes, a local church uses the school premises for meetings on Sundays, and there are also clubs which do karate and several different types of dancing. A group which looks after a local cemetery also use the school regularly.  I feel this is a waste of our resources and it is a pity that the school facilities are not used more but I don’t know how to use the school better.  We have employed a lettings manager for the past 3 or 4 years, who also does the gardening, as the caretaker does not necessarily want the additional hours to cover lettings. A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.