Longer School Day

[eve1974]

Boris Johnson backs longer school day – 'It's the right thing to do'

I disagree. Kids need chill out time too. As adults we forget that learning can be hard work.

What say you?

[-SharonA-]

What worker gets six weeks off???
I guess a longer school day means less homework, so when their day is over they can do their thing in the evenings.

[davebro]

When did schools start finishing at 3pm. I'm sure we stayed till 4pm. (5pm if you got detention!). And 90 mins homework every day.

[dannyk13]

Depends on how much longer the school day will be.Probably be better to add any time on at the beginning of the day.

[dannyk13]

Dave, it was always 4pm in my day, the 30's/40's.

[pat2604]

More teaching time, with plenty of reinforcement with teacher support and no homework would be my answer. Less in the way of breakfast and after school clubs and child care. Teachers won't agree though! My experience with teachers hasn't been a good one.

[ummmm]

The way things are financially with both parents having to work full time it kinda makes sense.

My sons school has been doing this for years. It was just an option and they were only allowed in the library. My son would do his homework at school and was free after that

[burlyshirley]

I thought this was going to be implemented anyway due to all the schooling lost because of covid. Kids seem to be out of school very early these days. Me and my brother were at school till 4 p.m. every day (50's and 60's, a long time ago of course) !

[pat2604]

The way things are financially with both parents having to work full time it kinda makes sense.

It does ummm. I meant to add something like that to my thread!! Children and parents could spend much more time together in the evening relaxing. There's far too much emphasis on homework for children. Good teaching and making really sure that children understand what they are being taught is the best way to go in my opinion. There are good teachers out there who recognise this, but there are many that don't!

[MartinMillar]

Parents complained all through lockdown that children’s schooling was being neglected now here is a solution!
Are parents still complaining?

[pat2604]

Probably Martin! Life is full of complainers these days and everything is the fault of someone else, or the Government!!

[sandyRoe]

As the school day drags on kids would be getting tired and maybe not taking in as much as they might.
When I was at school the day ended at 3.40. It seemed long enough.

[pat2604]

Not if there were plenty of breaks and plenty of exercise Sandy.

[ichkeria]

Indeed.
It’s a terrible idea
We have this idea that more means better.
It doesn’t

[ichkeria]

So I agree with the OP

This feels suspiciously like a move simply to appeal to working parents

[mushroom25]

// Probably be better to add any time on at the beginning of the day. //

the problem with that was revealed by the "BST" experiment in the 1970s. it meant kids going to school in the dark in the winter, resulting in more road accidents involving pedestrians.

[carolegif]

My school day in infants and juniors was 9am until 3.30pm. At secondary school we didn’t finish until 4pm! (More with detention!) Now it seems to be 9.15am to 3pm, so it could be extended an hour.

[dannyk13]

Mushroom, thanks, never thought of that, so not a very good idea.

[MartinMillar]

My school day was leave home at 715 lessons started at 830 ended at 345 and home by 445 never did us any harm

[roslyn251254]

Yes some schools do finish at 3 pm or even just before...BUT they start at 8am-ish and many only have 30 mins for lunch.....they are still having the same hours of lessons

[pat2604]

My son at secondary school started at 8.30 and finished at 4.30 with 2.5 hours for lunch plus Saturday mornings. Granted he boarded, but there were day pupils too (a state school, not a private or public school). A brilliant school with great results run on completely different lines and a very happy school too.