Community Use

Community access to school facilities is now a widespread practice in our schools, and your BSF plans should consider the future potential for community access as well as accommodating current third party users.

Community Use on Education Sites 'The Win Win Scenario: Community Sport and Arts on Education Sites' has been commissioned by Sport England and the Arts Council and is intended for schools, colleges, local authority officers and a range of extended schools advisors and groups working on programmes such as Building Schools for the Future (BSF). It aims to highlight the benefits of community use and gives a comprehensive guide as to how to provide it successfully. The document is not meant to be read from cover to cover, rather than as a reference toolkit from which just the relevant sections can be used. The document has been divided into three main sections, covering a number of key areas. You can download the section you wish to use by clicking on the relevant title headings which can be found on the Sport England website.

VAT Guidance Document School Sports facilities which are open to community use, have a key role to play in providing opportunities for more people to participate in sport and physical activity. Sport England have commissioned Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP toproduce a guide to the potential VAT issuesof community use and possible solutions. The Executive Summary and section 13 'Summary of Key Points' will provide an introduction for all those involved in BSF. The full document is aimed at providing advice and support to the VAT/Financial Officer dealing with BSF within the local authority. To view the VAT doc click here

See our Consultation section for further details on the best way to address community needs.

Who do we mean by the Community? Parents, people who live and work nearby, established community and voluntary groups, feeder primary schools, clubs etc.

Early on in the process you will be required to identify which spaces will be accessed by the community, and in your output specifications you will need to stipulate hours and days of community access. Don't forget school holidays and weekends and consider seasonal variations particularly for outdoor provision which is not floodlit. Try to build in as much flexibility as possible to allow for future provision and changes in lifestyles and working patterns.

For help with specifying the design requirements of your community spaces visit our design help pages

There is lots of advice available, some of which can be accessed from the following links:

Information about extended schools including legal advice: www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/
www.continyou.org.uk/

Health & safety advice for PE and Sport activities in school: www.afpe.org.uk

Advice for club standards and running clubs for volunteers: www.sportengland.org/index/get_resources

The following documents have also been provided by Barnsley and Kirklees Council as examples of dual use documentation, which you may choose to adapt for your own use. Special thanks to Ruth Pawson and Amy Woodhead for sharing this information.

We have also provided Case Studies highlighting different approaches to community access.