Sunderland City Council

Sunderland City Council
Civic Centre
Burdon Road
Sunderland
SR2 7DN

Tel. (0191) 520 5555

Calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes

Community Access

Extended Schools Home

All schools have many facilities that could, and often already do, benefit their local communities.

These facilities include sport halls and fields, ICT, playgrounds, classrooms, libraries, assembly and dining halls and numerous other physical facilities and educational resources.

The extended schools agenda builds on the existing provision to ensure that schools open their facilities to their local communities. This can be during school hours and/or before and after the school day and at weekends and holidays.

Not only does greater access to school facilities benefit local communities, it also benefits schools themselves, not least by helping make them even more the 'hub' of community life.

The benefits of greater community access to school facilities include:

· Maximising the use of facilities
· Improved income from facilities
· Improved parent and community familiarity with, and involvement in, schools
· Improved sense of community
· Improved adult learning opportunities
· Greater involvement of community/groups on the school site
· Dual use of facilities, pupils working with their parents/families

Schools can extend adult learning opportunities by providing, for example, literacy and numeracy support as well as other activities to engage adults in learning such as languages, arts and crafts and other activities or qualifications.

Schools can also help adults, as well as children, develop skills that match the local skills gap and industrial and/or business changes in the area.

A number of schools are already a base for social care and/or health services in their communities. It is anticipated that many more schools will develop this role.

last updated 28/06/07

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Community Access