Campbell College to trial new Longer School Day.

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Campbell College this week announced a new fund enabling them to add two extra hours to the school day. If the plan is a success, it could be extended across all UK schools.

The stated aim is to give children a broader education. Many parents are simply relieved to have one less hour worrying about childcare - an added bonus.

Cathy Hughes, 45, is a law tutor at the University of Bristol. Her twins, William and Archie, 12, attend Monkton Coombe School near Bath, and have to be in school by 8.15 am and finish at 6pm. “After school they have prep or activities every day, so always finish at six. They also have Saturday morning school,” she explains.

Communications Director Catherine Webber with her children Imogen and Fin.

But despite the apparently punishing schedule, Cathy adds, “I think it’s an unreservedly good thing. I can’t see anything bad about keeping teenagers occupied and supervised for as long as possible. It seems crazy to kick them out on the streets in the middle of the afternoon. A longer school day allows for more things they enjoy, too. Mine love sport so they benefit enormously from doing more of it.”

Dr John Savage, Reader in Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, however, remains unconvinced.

“Whether an extra hour is beneficial entirely depends on what schools do with it,” he says. “The quality of education doesn’t increase the longer a child sits in school. Any bonus is purely about interaction and quality of teaching.”

A student solving a maths equationThe British school day is already lengthy at 9am-3.30 or 4pm. Photo: ALAMY

By European standards, our school day is already lengthy, at an average 9 am till 3.30 or 4pm and statistics show that it doesn’t necessarily correlate with better educational performance.

According to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries whose pupils do better on international tests - Canada, Finland and Norway- have a significantly shorter school day, from around 8.30am- 2.30pm.

"A study in North Tyneside in 2009 found that starting the school day an hour later improved grades in basic subjects by a significant 19."

“Despite this, I’m not aware of any studies that suggest an early finish is particularly helpful,” says John Savage. “The real question is what the extra hour is used for. If it’s for homework, say, or subjects pupils wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to study, that may work. But sports and the arts shouldn’t be piggy-backed onto the end of the day. As a father of five myself, I also worry about how tired younger children may get with such a long day.”

Peter Hughes, principal of Mossbourne Academy.

It’s certainly true than teenagers aren’t known for their up-and-at-‘em approach first thing. A 2014 study published in the journal Learning, Media and Technology, discovered that during the teenage years, changes in the body-clock mean the sleep cycle begins an average two hours later than an adult’s, making adolescents predisposed to sleep around midnight and wake after 9 am. Teenagers need nine hours’ sleep to function well, but most are averaging less than seven.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a study in North Tyneside in 2009 found that starting the school day an hour later improved grades in basic subjects by a significant 19.

"Our best learning takes place in the morning, that’s why we have our core classes first and the day’s last two periods as either ‘prep’ or ‘enrichment’."
Peter Hughes

But, according to one pioneering head teacher, starting later or finishing earlier is the last thing schools should be doing. Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney is now one of Britain’s best-performing inner city schools after a dramatic turn-around over the past decade under Sir Michael Wilshaw’s stewardship. While he left in 2012 to become the head of Ofsted, the prinicples he introduced remain.

Teaching begins at 8.30 sharp each morning and formal learning is over by 2.30pm with the school day extending to ‘enrichment activities’ and homework ‘prep time’ to 4.30 and often beyond.

Peter Hughes believes students benefit from coming in earlier rather than ending later.

Its current principal, Peter Hughes explains: “Not only do I disagree that teenagers need a later start time, anecdotal evidence suggests the opposite,” he says.

“At one point we started an hour later, with older students coming in at 9.30am and working till late afternoon, and it didn’t help,” he explains. “We found that at the end of the day, they were very tired and there was no positive outcome, so we reverted back to an early start. Our best learning takes place in the morning, that’s why we have our core classes first and the day’s last two periods as either ‘prep’ or ‘enrichment’.

“Prep- time is for the pupils to do their homework at school.” Hughes adds. “It means when they get home, that battle around homework doesn’t exist. Enrichment includes singing, band practice, rowing club.” Peter Hughes believes the ‘extended day’ is not just academically useful – “It helps the school to become a community, a place where pupils spend time doing things they enjoy together.”

The scheme will initially apply only to Secondary schools- but if it’s a success, could it work for primary schools too?

“My kids are still at primary school but it’s already quite a long day,” says Communications Director Catherine Webber, 44, mother to Fin, 5, and Imogen, 7. “I leave the house at 7.20, take the kids to the school’s Breakfast Club, and afterwards, they might have extra sports and then after-school club.” She cautiously welcomes the proposals, as, “we have to pay for some clubs and costs can stack up. If it’s compulsory and funded, it could save working parents a lot of money.”

The two extra hours may be a bonus to harassed parents and results-hungry heads – but whether or not the extra time will delight the teenagers used to waiting like greyhounds at the traps for the home-time bell is another question altogether.

This is a satirical website. Don't take it Seriously. It's a joke.

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