Welcome
"A group of schools working in partnership to provide access to a range of activities and services within the local community to improve achievements and life chances for all"
Welcome to the HarpendenPlus Extended Schools Consortium website, based around the Harpenden, Wheathampstead and Kimpton areas.
Extended schools aims to provide a range of activities and services that allows both schools and the community to benefit from a wider and broader access to learning and life.
What is an extended school?
An extended school consortium is a cluster of schools, ranging in number and covering early years provision (including children's centres), special status schools, JMI schools and Secondary schools.
It is designed to meet the diverse needs of parents and children in the schools and local community through a wide range of activities, events and training opportunities.
Schools are not expected to deliver these services and activities on their own but to work with other schools and with external partners and providers - for example, the health service, the local college, private and voluntary organisations.
Groups of schools can work together called Consortiums or Clusters and they do not have to deliver all of the services and activities on each school site. These core services are:
- childcare (including After School Clubs, Breakfast Clubs, Nursery Lunch Clubs)
- a varied menu of out of school hours learning activities
- parenting support and family learning
- swift and easy referral to a wide range of specialist support services
- community access to ICT, sports and arts facilities, including adult learning
These are linked directly to the 'Every Child Matters ' document and draw on the knowledge and expertise of a wide range of professionals from different agencies and services.
Benefits of Extending Schools Activities
For pupils and schools:
- Higher level of pupil achievement
- Increased pupil motivation and self esteem
- Specialist support to meet pupils wider needs
- Additional facilities and equipment
- Enhanced partnership working with the community
- Better school security
For families:
- Improvements in child behaviour and social skills
- Greater parental involvement in children's learning
- More opportunities for local adult education and family learning
- Greater availability of specialist support for families
For communities:
- Better access to essential services
- Improved local availability of sports, arts and other facilities
- Local career development opportunities
- Better supervision of children outside of school hours
- Closer relationships with the school
For more information on our partner Consortium Schools, please click here.