Sat May 19 2012

Extended Services

Extended Services - End of Service Letter

July 2011

Dear Parents/Carers, Children and Young People,

We are writing to let you know that due to funding cuts, St Thomas More Cluster -  Extended Services will unfortunately come to an end on 31st August 2011. Despite our very best efforts, we were unable to secure further funding.

Our team has thoroughly enjoyed the time spent supporting the needs of families within the cluster schools, and believe that our work in and around schools has made a valuable difference to people’s lives.

We are extremely proud of the work that we have carried out, some of which includes:

·         Setting up adult learning courses in ICT, Numeracy, Literacy, Healthy Lifestyles, Arts and Crafts and Employment Support;

·         Organising after-school and lunchtime clubs including Drama, Music, Dance and Homework amongst many others;

·         Providing affordable childcare during the holidays through our Holiday Clubs;

·         Increased partnership work with local services and agencies to bring about an enhanced quality of life for local communities;

·         Supporting families by delivering workshops including ‘Managing Behaviour’, ‘Raising Self-Esteem and Confidence’, ‘Tackling Bullying’, ‘Transitions’ and ‘Building Stable Friendships’;

·         Signposting parents/carers, young people and children to relevant agencies and services including Connexions, Youth Service, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and local Sports and Arts Clubs.

There have been some exceptionally positive outcomes as a result of our work, which will undoubtedly improve families’ lives. Service users have learned new skills, gained employment, embarked upon further training or education, and benefitted from raised confidence and self-esteem. Furthermore, by signposting families appropriately to relevant services, we have ensured that individual needs have been met; this has helped to bridge the gap between families and outside services.

For the future, one family worker - Marian Boland (07772547669) - will be remaining in post to support families with parenting needs. In addition to this, we have issued schools with a booklet containing contact details of useful agencies.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported Extended Services, and advise you to contact your school should you require any further information or advice. 

Yours sincerely

The Extended Services Team

St Thomas More Cluster

 

What are Extended Services?

Extended Services are a variety of activities and services available to children, young people, families and the wider community, usually in local schools or through other community venues. It is often provided beyond the school day.

 

 

The government wants every school to be offering its local community access to specific additional activities and services. The Government calls these a 'core offer' of services, which include:

  • Childcare: Available from at least 8am to 6pm, this may be on the school site or may be provided at a nearby school, local provider or child-minder. Included are breakfast clubs, holiday play schemes and after school clubs.
  • Varied menu of activities: Allowing children and young people to learn and develop outside normal school hours by pursuing special interests or trying out new things in a fun, stimulating and safe environment, e.g. sports activity clubs, language classes, homework clubs, arts activities. Some of these might be provided by existing clubs that are on or near the school site.
  • Parental Support: Giving parents access to information and guidance on issues that may affect their children and the wider family, including relationships, drugs and alcohol, training opportunities etc. Also Parent Support Advisers (PSAs) and Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) are available through schools to support parents and carers. This support will provide opportunities for parents to learn alongside their children e.g. family learning sessions, parenting groups.
  • Community Access: Wider community access to school facilities including IT, sports arts, adult learning etc.
  • Swift and Easy Referral: Providing access to a wide range of specialist services and information.

St Thomas More Cluster

Extended Services core offer is being delivered through a cluster of schools.  St Thomas More Cluster includes 10 schools.  Each school is part of the same cluster and works in partnership to provide extended services full core offer. 

The schools include:

St Thomas More Catholic Upper School

St Gregory's Middle School

Beauchamp Middle School

St James Lower School

St Joseph's Lower School

Priory Lower School

Edith Cavell Lower School

Livingstone Lower School

Brickhill Lower School

Scott Lower School