DEMOS

Extended schooling challenges schools to open themselves up to the world beyond the school gate. From other professionals to parents and community members, extended schools must become places where people of all backgrounds can work together for the good of each child.

This new role for schools has sparked fears of a growing educational empire. Schools Out argues that if this is to be avoided, extended schools must forge not only new structures but new cultures. In the past, school staff were driven in part by a powerful co-ordinating force; the possession of a common enemy. As social workers and parents join the staffroom gossip, schools need to replace this force with a compelling sense of mission. They must root their work in the needs of their pupils and their community, and learn to exist within open systems of children’s services.

To this end, Schools Out makes a range of recommendations. It argues that while today the talk is of extending schools, the real challenge is to shrink them, empowering other agencies and communities to treat the school as a public resource. The report suggests that to achieve this, community involvement will be vital. It argues that 1% of a school’s budget should be distributed amongst its parents in the form of ‘voice vouchers’, enabling them to make collective decisions about spending priorities for the coming year.