Strengthening family well-being and community cohesion through the role of schools and extended service

Introduction
Key
stakeholders The way
forward Evidence
base

Introduction

This summary tells us what works in strengthening family wellbeing and community cohesion through the role of schools and extended services. It is based on a rapid review of the research literature involving systematic searching. It summarises the best available evidence that will help service providers to improve services and, ultimately, outcomes for children, young people and their families.

The Institute of Education carried out the review on behalf of the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services (C4EO). The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) compiled the data.

Key messages

There needs to be a holistic approach to securing community cohesion and family wellbeing, involving all service providers working together.
Children’s Trusts have an important role in encouraging engagement and take-up in schools by sharing good practice, and providing support and training to motivate schools that have made less progress in providing extended services.
The decision on what services should be provided by extended schools needs to involve community groups and parents so that services are appropriate and meet the real needs of the community.
Sustainable long-term provision of services that integrate with existing provision is most successful. The benefits of short-term projects are quickly eroded.
Clear communication is important to building trusting relationships between families, support agencies and the wider community. Professionals must have the skills to build positive relationships with diverse groups who may hold different values and expectations.
Engaging parents in supporting learning in the home is the most successful way of raising student achievement and is where schools should focus their efforts in supporting parents.
Targeted support during early years and at transition points in school can make significant differences to children’s learning and aspirations. Key effects are improved behaviour, better learning outcomes and fewer exclusions.

Who are the key stakeholders?

Children and young people

Children and young people’s views are influenced by factors beyond school. Community cohesion strategies need to operate at multiple levels, not just at school, and children need to have time to explore and reflect on their experiences.

Children with deeper prejudiced attitudes before an intervention are least likely to report a change in their views, and in some cases, their attitudes harden. It is, therefore, important that the local situation is taken into account when developing a cohesion strategy.

Local authorities

Local authorities need to develop and maintain trusting relationships between different agencies and the communities they serve. Local authority community cohesion officers have an important role in advising schools and other children’s services on how best to make an effective contribution.

Schools and extended services

Schools and extended services can contribute to cohesion through linking projects with other schools, using the curriculum to promote shared values and offering extended services to parents and the wider local community so that parent and family engagement is at the centre of their developmental activity. Successful approaches for engagement with parents and families take into account the specific needs of the local community. Schools should offer themselves as a base for community activities out of school hours and during holidays to promote engagement with the wider community.

School leaders and teachers

School leaders and teachers must develop good two-way communication with parents. School staff need training so that they feel confident and communicate well with all groups in the school’s local community.

Teachers need to be convinced of the value of cohesion projects, such as linking projects with other schools, so that projects are integrated into wider classroom work and are successful. It is also important that schools listen to young people, for instance via feedback from school councils and from regular school questionnaires.

School governors

School governors need to be representative of the local population, in terms of class and ethnicity. A range of strategies can increase participation, including a dedicated governor recruitment officer, advertising in the local press and allowances for childcare and other costs.

Parents and carers

Parents and carers need to be involved with the school, for instance as mentors and with the services on offer to feel that they have a valuable contribution to make. Resistance from parents may be misunderstood as a lack of interest rather than originating from a lack of time or of confidence.

Families most at risk from lack of engagement should work with one person who can link them to the range of services on offer. A trusted point of contact helps those families that are reluctant to engage due to previous experiences of services, especially if they have found them fragmented. The use of parent support advisors by schools has proved to be very successful for these reasons.

Children’s Trusts

Children’s Trusts need to provide schools with good data about their local communities so that decisions on which services to provide are not based only on schools’ limited interactions with families.

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