Provision of community-focused services and facilities by schools - May 2008
Community-focused schools (CFS) funding has enabled schools and local authorities to build on their existing practice to develop relationships between the school and the community they serve. In a few schools and local authorities, however, the impact of funding has been reduced by allocating the funding to too many schools.Most local authorities don’t monitor and evaluate their progress in establishing effective community-focused schools. They can’t set targets for improvement, or use their data to plan for the future. Uncertainty about the future of CFS funding arrangements has made it difficult to plan funding for the medium and longer term.Across Wales as a whole, the main benefit to local communities has been improved access to school premises and resources, especially for physical exercise and ICT. There has also been an improvement in the relationships between schools and their local communities.
Recommendations
The Welsh Assembly Government should:
- clarify future funding arrangements for CFS and ensure that the arrangements support local authorities’ medium-term and long-term planning; and
- ensure that future funding arrangements promote the Welsh Assembly Government’s CFS objectives more securely.
Local authorities should:
- ensure that they embed their CFS strategies firmly in corporate priorities, policies and plans; and
- work more closely with key strategic partners, especially health and social services.
Schools should:
- intensify their efforts to work with families to make learning desirable for people of all ages;
- intensify their work to enhance their reputation in the local community and to emphasise the value of educational opportunities; and
- increase community access to their facilities.