Community schools: families and communities at the heart of school life
Thematic Report
The report focuses on highly effective approaches to community schooling taken by primary, secondary, all-age and special schools.
Recommendations
To realise the vision for effective community schools in Wales in a strategic and sustainable way:
Schools should:
- R1 Build strong partnerships with families as an integral part of improving the wellbeing and achievement of all pupils
- R2 Refer clearly in strategic plans to how they will work with families, the community and partners to improve the wellbeing and achievement of all pupils
- R3 Employ family and community engagement staff to work with families, the community and wider partners
- R4 Work with the local authority and with statutory and third-sector partners to provide services that address the needs of families and the community, including co-locating services and utilising school assets
- R5 Evaluate the impact of community school strategies
Local authorities should:
- R6 Include in strategic planning actions on how they will develop authority-wide initiatives to support schools to be effective community schools
- R7 Strengthen cross-directorate working to plan ways of locating a range of services in schools
- R8 Ensure that 21st Century Schools planning considers the need for spaces / base rooms for family and community access
- R9 Support schools to appoint family and community engagement staff, including developing a role description for these staff
- R10 Provide professional learning opportunities for support school staff, governing bodies and strategic partners to develop community schools
The Welsh Government should:
- R11 Develop a set of agreed, defining characteristics for community schools, and consider how schools are classified as ‘community schools’ and how this term is used to identify specific schools
- R12 Promote the benefits of community schools, particularly in areas of disadvantage, with schools, local authorities and regional consortia
- R13 Strengthen the expectation for including actions on family and community engagement in school strategic plans
- R14 Refresh national guidance on community schools, using the Family and Community Engagement Toolkit (FaCE), and provide guidance on how schools can evaluate and improve their community school strategies
- R15 Ensure that 21st Century Schools and Colleges Programme planning, guidance and building standards take into consideration the need for spaces for family and community access