A new DfES report shows that full services extended schools in England are having a positive impact for children, their families and communities. The Universities of Manchester and Newcastle's study has clearly shown that the provision of extended services enriches learning (particularly in the most challenging schools), widens access to services for pupils and families and improves community cohesion. Although focused on England the report has a wealth of useful information for the development of community focused schools in Wales.

This report presents the findings from the final year of the three-year evaluation of the national full service extended schools (FSES) initiative. It draws on these and on the work of the previous two years to reach overall conclusions about the initiative.

The FSES initiative was launched by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in 2003. The original aim was to support the development in every local authority (LA) area of one or more schools which provide a comprehensive range of services, including access to health services, adult learning and community activities as well as study support and 8am to 6pm childcare. Local FSES projects received funding from DfES, and came on stream in each of three successive years. Most FSES served areas of disadvantage and in the first year were located in Behaviour Improvement Programme areas. By the end of the initiative, 138 schools were involved, together with a further 10 funded through the London Challenge.

The evaluation aimed to identify:

• the activities undertaken by participating schools;
• the processes underpinning these activities;
• the impacts of activities; and
• the outcomes of activities.

To download a copy of the report please visit the DfES website: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR852.pdf or download below.

Taken from Supporting Community Focused Schools e-news, a free email newsletter from Continyou Cymru. The website address is www.continyou.org.uk/wales.