The average school in the UK begins at 8:30 and ends around 3:15 - that is almost 8 hours of schooling on a given day, not including extra curriculars. Are these hours excessive?
One East London school is testing a new timetable for their school week, by sending students home early on Friday afternoons. Forest Gate Community School in Newham hopes that this measure will reduce their students’ stress.
Both teachers and students will hopefully reap the benefits of this, with extra time off on Friday afternoons, meaning a longer weekend for all.
This new timetable will give leeway for extra curricular activities on Friday afternoons, hopefully encouraging larger and more positive participation in the school community.
Students will have the option to have supervised study or ability to attend group activities or talks from guest speakers. This is in an attempt to both aid their learning and enrich their free time.
More schools are set to follow this trend, after schools report a more engaged student body after introducing shorter school hours. With time off, especially on Fridays, students have a longer weekend and come back feeling refreshed, having had more time to destress after the school week.
The “happier and less stressed” staff will also be able to deliver better and more productive lessons, having had the longer weekend to complete work and plan lessons, while also being able to relax.
Ofsted seem to approve the shorter hours, with many schools following this achieving “Outstanding” ratings.
