Delivering extended services will bring extra responsibilities for school staff, but also new opportunities for personal and professional development. Staff might be directly involved in delivering services, developing and maintaining partnerships with public, private and voluntary sector organisations and other schools, and/or providing information and guidance for pupils and their families.
The national agreement
The national agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload was introduced in 2003 to enable teachers to focus on their core area of expertise – teaching and learning. The agreement has also led to an increase both in support staff numbers and levels of professionalism, with many support staff now trained and experienced in working with children and young people.
Many members of the school workforce will have skills that are directly relevant to extended services. However, there is no requirement for either teachers or support staff to deliver extended services, and schools will need to ensure that the progress made in raising standards and tackling teachers’ workload is maintained. Local authority workforce team members can provide guidance on all workforce issues.
New roles
In some cases, local authorities are introducing new roles with a remit to support the delivery of extended services. These include cluster coordinators, whose role includes fundraising and developing partnerships with the voluntary sector and other organisations to coordinate services across the cluster.
Following a successful pilot of the parent support adviser (PSA) role the DCSF is funding a national expansion of school-based PSAs as outlined in the Children's Plan. You can read more about the role in the PSA section.
