One year on and the scale and speed of ambition is now clear. For school-age children, services will focus around the extended school which the Government expects to be the norm in half of all primary schools and a third of all secondary schools in just three years, and in all schools by 2010 (see news). Not all services will be in schools, but schools will be a hub within the community, providing one route in for parents and children, and support and co-ordination for all services in the area.
The DfES extended schools prospectus shows how this will work in practice.
It will bring together study support, family learning and health support within an 8am to 6pm framework and childcare guarantee for five- to 14-year-olds. Many extended schools will include childcare for all ages, and many will be expected to build a school-wide workforce of children's workers alongside teachers. By 2010 all local authorities will have a statutory duty to ensure this is in place.
Expectations for extended schools and children's centres have never been higher. The change in political priority is reflected in every local authority as the potential of the integrated centre to deliver this ambitious agenda becomes apparent - to offer opportunities for children to play, learn and develop their potential, to embed the new universal infrastructure of childcare and extended schools in the emerging Children's Trusts, and to truly place children at the centre, backed up by the investment they deserve.