Leadership in full-service extended schools: communicating across cultures

Abstract

Recent government policy in England has, as in other countries, encouraged the formation of Full-Service Extended Schools, which work closely with other agencies, such as health care, social services and the police, to provide a broader range of services to children. While research is showing some benefits of this approach, only a limited number of studies exist that have focused specifically on leadership in full-service schools. This paper looks at eight case studies where conceptions of the effectiveness of full-service schooling, leadership challenges and leadership development have been explored. Findings indicate varied views on the effectiveness of full-service extended schools, which appear to be linked to the extent to which leadership shows a commitment to full-service schools that focuses on the benefits to pupils, and to the extent of distributed leadership within the school. Key challenges are communication and developing shared goals and understandings across different organisational cultures.