Getting started

When introducing community use at your school it is important that you create a model that is appropriate for you and your wider community.

Whatever the scale and range of facilities you have or are thinking of developing, there will be opportunities to open them for community use and also benefit your school. If you are a rural primary school, for example, you may have the only indoor hall or outdoor hard surface in the area. These can be valuable training/fitness facilities for local junior and senior clubs when linked to the match activity taking place on the village playing fields at weekends.

Alternatively, if you are a purpose built community school with dual use facilities planned from the start, you will experience great benefits by building links with local clubs and organisations and exploring how you can bring the community in to the curriculum.

Whether your school has an existing community use system, you are seeking to sustain current arrangements or you are opening up your facilities for the first time there are a number of key principles you should adhere to:

• Have a clear vision, strategy and objectives for community use. Find out how to create your school's vision.
  
• Do not be put off by the common misconceptions that surround opening school facilities. Dispel these myths with the help of our guide.
  
• Seek support because you should not exist in isolation - partnership is key to the development of effective community use. By developing your vision with key local partners, you will ensure you complement rather than compete with existing provision. Read our guidance on establishing partnerships.
  
• Adopt a sustainable management and booking approach that is appropriate to your vision and, more importantly, your likely income levels. Discover the delivery options available.
  
• Consider all of the implications that opening your facilities will have, such as the cost of cleaning, energy and training. Developing effective community use of school facilities involves more than simply opening the doors. Use our guidance to ensure your plans are sustainable.

Research undertaken in Scotland in the mid-2000s identified a series of factors that significantly increase the chances for successful community use - consider these when creating your plans:

• The presence of an effective policy and strategy
• Having dedicated staff and budget for the management of community use
• The senior management team supporting the workat the right times
• Simple letting procedures which are easily understood by users and operated well by providers
• Good communication with stakeholders
• Partnership working with local sports organisations, including leisure centres and clubs

To help you get started download our self-assessment toolkit which contains:

• Community use visioning tool

• Q+A statement tool

• Self-assessment tool