The impact of extended services in Kent

In 2011 The Learning Plus team of Kent County Council, approached Canterbury Christ Church University and requested they undertake an evaluation of the impact of extended services.

Learning Plus approached five providers of extended services who would be willing to provide data for this evaluation. These were selected under three criteria. They were geographically spread through the county and included different school types: special schools, primary and secondary and one was organised as a cluster.

Data was collected in three forms. A desk based review was undertaken of previously published studies of the impact of extended services. This was combined with a review of the QES self-evaluation and evidence supplied by each of the participating providers for the achievement of this quality mark. From this, areas of focus for primary data collection were established. These areas were: Attainment and Attendance, Motivation and Self-esteem and Family and Community. To gather further information in relation to these themes, a series of semi-structured interviews were arranged with representatives of the schools. During these meetings the researchers also discussed and collected any examples of quantitative data that demonstrated the potential impact of extended services.

In relation to attainment and attendance, Aylesham Primary School (part of the DES, Dover Extended Services consortium) provided evidence of greater improvement than would have been predicted without extended schools interventions. Christ Church CEP School provided evidence of greater gains than peers. Whilst a primary school in West Kent were able to demonstrate positive impact on the behaviour of a targeted group of siblings after an intervention.

In relation to motivation and self-esteem, members of the DES cluster used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to show a change in a child’s self-rating before and after a transitions project. Maplesden Noakes School reported improvement in teacher’s assessment of various aspects of their children’s skills and attitudes, including attitude to learning.

These quantitative measures were all supported by qualitative comments from staff. These indicated that in their view extended services, if not the actual factor, had certainly contributed a great deal to the positive impacts observed.

Impacts on families and communities are, by their nature, harder to quantify, however senior leaders from Milestone School, Christ Church CEP School and Dover Grammar School (part of DES) for example, all felt involvement in extended services had helped improve their family and community relations and improved their image more widely. Indeed, this was typical across the schools within the sample.

Many schools provided specific classes and support for parents, community groups and local businesses, thus having an additional social and economic impact. Furthermore, some schools reported additional benefits. For example, they obtained a return on investment through the use of their facilities.