Schools must receive an adequate level of direct funding for the extended schools agenda to succeed, delegates warned today at a conference in London, writes Amy Taylor from the conference.
Speaking in response to a presentation by Ann Gross, divisional manager for extended schools and child care at the Department for Education and Skills, delegates said that without the funding schools would not be able to push ahead with creating extended services.
Gross, who was speaking at the conference on extended schools ran by children’s charity 4Children, said that £250 million was going directly to schools as part of the schools grant in 2006-2008.
She added that £430 million was going to local authorities for the same period for extended schools as schools had to work with councils to ensure services responded to local needs.
Gross concluded that extended schools were going to be a major point of discussion in the 2007 comprehensive spending review.
