This paper will present the model of Full Service Extended School (FSES) provision that was designed for two partnering schools in an urban area of high deprivation in Northern Ireland. The concept of ‘extended schools’ or ‘community schools’ has gained a lot of international attention over the last 10-15 years, especially to describe the initiatives devised by schools and communities to address the connected issues of poverty and the attainment gap. The study being presented is part of a broader piece of research entitled 'Investigating Links in Achievement and Deprivation' (ILiAD) which is a three-year government-funded study. The ILiAD study aimed to understand the reasons for differential educational achievement within and between seven socially and economically deprived areas in Northern Ireland. A social capital perspective was used, which centralised the connections within and between individuals and social networks in a community as a valuable resource for educational achievement.

The authors will examine how the design of the FSES provision which was observed in one of the geographical areas from the ILiAD study fits alongside models of community-schools or full-service extended schools from the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. The paper will also describe the features and implementation of this particular model of FSES, and highlight the challenges it faces which need to be considered in the development of similar programmes. We will will then present the impact that this particular model of FSES has had on the young people and their families who have availed of the FSES provision.

Burt, R. S. (2000). The network structure of social capital. Research in Organisational Behaviour, 22, 345-423 Muijs, D., Harris, A., Chapman, C., Stoll, L. & Russ, J. (2004). Improving schools in socially disadvantaged areas – a review of research evidence. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 15(2), 149-175.