Extended schools unveiled
The Government’s plans for schools to open from ‘dawn to dusk’ have been unveiled by Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.
Under the plans, schools would open between 08:00 BST and 18:00 BST to provide working parents with a reliable source of childcare and offer children a variety of activities, from sport to music tuition to homework clubs, outside normal school hours.
A Government-funded pilot initiative has already been running for two years, but today Ms Kelly announced plans to roll out the Extended Schools Prospectus across the country.
“Extended schools will not only help children in their education, but also support hard working families to manage their home and work life,” she said.
The Education Secretary continued: “Schools are at the heart of our communities and it makes sense to extend the services they offer beyond the traditional school day.
“By 2010 all children under 14 who want to could have access to breakfast and after-school clubs offering exciting activities from 08:00 BST to 18:00 BST.
“These would give them the opportunity to keep fit and healthy, to acquire new skills, to build on what they learn during the school day as well as have fun.”
Ms Kelly stressed that teachers would not be expected to run these services, saying that providers in the voluntary and private sectors would be brought in instead.
However, the National Union of Teachers has questioned the £680 million funding for the scheme, saying it will be too thinly spread across the 23,000 schools involved.
General secretary Steve Sinnott welcomed the lack of pressure on teachers to deliver the scheme but added: “For many schools, their ability to offer such activities will be constrained by the physical limits of their premises and lack of appropriate resources.”
Shadow Education Secretary David Cameron similarly welcomed today’s announcement but raised concern about the funding of such an ambitious project.
“We’ve seen what happens before when they announce worthy initiatives without providing enough money to support them – resulting in a funding crisis and lots of broken promises,” he said.
