Most schools to be service hubs by 2012

Almost all schools will become extended schools by 2012, Charles
Clarke told the General Teaching Council annual conference last
week.

Within seven or eight years, nearly all schools would be open for
more hours every day and would offer a wider range of services,
including social work and health care, he said.

The education secretary acknowledged the changes would be “a
significant issue for the comprehensive spending review”. He made
clear that he would be pushing the Treasury for more resources for
retraining, particularly as teachers would be working more closely
with other professionals such as social workers in future.

Every Child Matters: Next Steps, published alongside the
Children Bill, promises to look at “how to support all schools to
develop extended services that are right for their school and
community”.

Children’s minister Margaret Hodge told Community Care
last week that schools were currently “the most valuable asset that
we waste”. She said she wanted to see schools acting like
mini-children’s trusts, commissioning services for their local
community (news analysis, page 20, 11 March).

However, chief inspector of the new Commission for Social Care
Inspection David Behan said he hoped there would be “a very
thorough debate” about the plans for schools to be the main driving
force behind children’s services reforms. He said many children
felt alienated from the school environment and warned the proposals
could lead to “further social exclusion”.

– Every Child Matters: Next Steps from
www.dfes.gov.uk/everychildmatters/pdfs/EveryChildMattersNextSteps.pdf