Children's charity 4Children warned that the move towards self-governing independent state schools could jeopardise the whole initiative and said that extended schools must be central to education policy 'not an after thought or an optional add-on'.
Schools are not legally obliged to get involved in the extended schools programme, although there is a statutory duty on local authorities to deliver childcare.
4Children chief executive Anne Longfield said, 'We are very concerned that moves to give schools ever more autonomy risks cutting our precious community resources adrift from their local neighbourhoods and other services that are crucial to meeting every child's needs. This has been described as a "pivotal" piece of education legislation, yet there is no mention of the Government's own policy to develop extended schools and encourage co-operation among schools and with other local children's services.'
She added, 'The Government appears to be giving out contradictory messages and undermining its ambitions for children - not least by dividing the standards agenda from the wider children's agenda, when in fact they are absolutely mutually supportive.'
Proposals in the White Paper include giving secondary schools in England greater freedom from local authorities and giving parents more say over how schools are run.
But MsLongfield she was wary of Government plans to 'put parents in the driving seat' because it was not appropriate for them to have 'a key role in creating the impetus' for extended schools. She said, 'Extended schools have the potential to redefine what schools are. Parents will have lots of views but are not in a position to make that happen.'
ContinYou, the voluntary sector organisation contracted by the Government to provide the extended schools support service to schools, local authorities and providers, was also critical of the White Paper's proposals.
Chief executive Phil Street said that although he had some sympathy with schools wanting to have 'more freedom to make decisions' without involving the local authority, the White Paper's 'advocacy for what amounts to total autonomy has gone too far'.
He said, 'ContinYou is particularly unhappy with the effect that floating off secondary schools will have on the future development of extended schools and extended services. The extended schools policy has been welcomed and embraced by schools. However, the success of this policy lies in partnership, co-operation and joint working. The White Paper's proposals will place new difficulties in the way of making this approach work effectively. It will create even more problems for governance and management of co-located services in schools.'