Schools are for adults too - schools, adults and communities in the learning age
National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), 2002

This paper was written before the Extended Schools programme was rolled out nationally.

Summary
There is an assumption that successful engagement at school is key to continuing engagement in lifelong learning; poor engagement in school makes people wary of re-engaging later. This report reviews the policy environment and identifies initiatives such as Excellence in Cities (EiC), Education Action Zones and Sure Start (for under 5s) as providing opportunities for developing community links.

The report laments that a programme for transforming schools into a resource and site for learning for the whole community has not materialised. As a result, there are tensions for schools, as their efforts towards adult learning are not reflected in official measures of attainment, although the learning support and mentoring strands of EiC implicitly recognise its importance. Transforming the curriculum is not consistently promoted as a means of turning around 'failing schools' but is an option left to individual schools and enlightened local authorities.

One less controversial way that schools do get involved with their communities is through family learning, and the paper provides different examples of how this can be done. Other approaches, such as becoming a 'full-service school' involving school staff, educational welfare, early years and healthcare professionals, are also discussed.

Link
For NIACE visit www.niace.org.uk