Leading and Managing Extended Schools: Ensuring Every Child Matters

This series of books is concerned with how leadership in education can contribute to social change which brings greater social justice. This cannot be achieved unless it addresses some of the major issues in communities, such as inequalities in opportunities for employment, economic prosperity, health and general well-being. Both in the United States' ‘No Child Left Behind’ and in the United Kingdom's ‘Every Child Matters’, national governments have signalled intentions to do this, and in doing so, have placed the child – and therefore schools – at the centre of the attempted solutions to all of these issues. While both these countries, and indeed several others, have previously attempted what is generally called community education, these recent initiatives are different in the emphasis they put on the integration of education with other services such as health and social welfare.

In being excited by the extended school initiative in the UK, we are both well aware that good schools everywhere have always offered after-hours activities, clubs and facilities, contributing to what has been known as the ‘hidden curriculum’. However, in extended and full-service schools, these things are not just a valuable optional extra; they are integral to the local community's understanding of what a school is and what it provides. Through facilities such as Sure Start, Children's Centres, Neighbourhood Centres, as well as provision for senior citizens, lifelong learning becomes not just a pleasant possibility for those motivated to learn in the conventional sense, but something which addresses the core needs and aspirations of many families.

Drawing on the inspiration of a few examples of schools which appeared to be making a significant difference, we set out to explore ways in which leaders and managers of extended and full-service schools are already helping – or planning – to transform communities. We discovered that, in doing so, these leaders had found the very nature of their schools had changed and continued to change – in staffing, structures, resourcing and inevitably in leadership and management. Of course, there is a long way to go and much more to do, but we believe that even those who are only at the beginning of their journey to becoming an extended school will find [Page x]inspiration and, we hope, practical help in this book.

Firstly, in the book, we set the scene and explore the ideas in extended schooling, examining its impact on school features and on leadership. We then describe the implications for staffing, accountability, parents and the many new partnerships which develop out of this new kind of schooling. Resourcing is also explored and we have tried to suggest some ideas for readers' reflections in terms of possible actions to be taken. Case examples are widely used and we have drawn fully on discussions with social workers, health workers and community helpers as much as educationalists in offering these. Throughout, we have been reminded that the individual child/pupil/student remains central to all developments and that the ‘day job’ of the leaders is to keep that constantly in focus. The goal of achieving social justice, while at the same time reducing the underperformance of some schools, is likely to continue to prove difficult, but the signs of the impact of extended schooling on this are encouraging.

The schools we visited or contacted included nursery, primary, secondary and special and, since schools appear to use different terms for their learners, we have adopted the use of ‘pupils’ for children of primary education age and ‘students’ for secondary education age throughout the book.

We would not have been able to complete this project without the generosity (especially with their time) and cooperation of the many people with whom we have met and discussed their experiences and ideas. Some of these people were happy for us to use their and their schools' actual names, whilst others preferred more anonymity. We have respected their wishes in all cases. In addition, two people from Beauchamp College have been invaluable in enabling us to write this book. Kanta Chauhan has been a tower of strength with her patience, commitment and technical prowess; Bob Mitchell has been a huge help with the sharing of his knowledge, contacts and experience, especially in the field of partnerships.

We wish to thank Marianne Lagrange and Matthew Waters at Sage Publications for their support. David owes thanks to Janine, Tim, John, Tracey, Paul, Sam and Michael for keeping him constantly inspired in adult learning and, above all, to Jacqui for her unwavering faith in him, and Richard thanks Nora for her encouragement, her support and her belief.