KENT County Council has received more than £4m in government cash to boost provision of out-of-hours school services.

The funding, part of an overall investment of £167m across the country, will enable schools to look after children between 8am and 6pm.

There will also be services available including parenting and family support, access to specialist services like speech therapy and community use of facilities such as computers.

Children’s Minister Dawn Primarolo said: “Extended services put schools everywhere at the heart of the community, offering invaluable experiences, extensions to learning and out of hours childcare of the highest quality.

“In an economic downturn it is even more important for schools to be working with parents and carers to offer as much support as possible to helping them get into and stay in employment wherever possible.

“Extended services give schools a unique opportunity to offer parents this support.

“We are already asking local authorities to pay particular attention to meeting families’ needs over holiday periods and to bring together the full range of childcare and supervised activities on offer for 5-14 year olds in a way that can be easily understood and accessed by families.”