The school day should be extended - Are you for or Against?

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We never had homework clubs or anything of the sort- extra curricular activities, yes, but nothing for homework support.

Not to mention- if it was made to be compulsory (even if it was just 1 or 2 days a week) i'm sure it will make a real difference to some people.

Well that is an issue with your school not a governmental problem. There is nothing to stop anyone from staying behind themselves to study, schools can easily cater for this without the need for extending the school day. It would likely cause a decrease in attendance and an increase the number of those leave at 16.

Like I said, it would only work for 6th form and maybe the completion GCSE year. Simply because a child's mind isn't prepared for an 8hr day. If that is the case, any 6th former who thinks they need to put in more effort will do so on their own accord.

Reply 41

HotfireLegend

Original post by kiss_me_now9

Meh, **** it, lets just stick kids in an institution from the day of their birth til they're considered sufficient enough to do the jobs that we want them to do.

Teachers also don't work hard enough. Lets make them work harder by adding an extra two hours onto their day.

If the second part is not sarcasm: I think you'll find there are many teachers who already work pretty hard as it is... and that's without going into the details of co-workers and students they have to put up with.

Reply 42

Robbie242

I think possibly for GCSE but Alevel I prefer the freedom they give you the ability to choose 1. do homework revise and succeed 2. be lazy and fail adding 2hours wont do much as the majority of my days are frees atm, also people who can't handle a time jump into the workplace should just put up with it, you get paid at the end of the day.

Reply 43

affinity89

From a prospective teacher's view point, I'd say no. I was at school from 7am until 5pm as it was [and I still had to take work home], so having longer contact hours would just mean I would have to give up sleeping I think lol. :redface:

For the students, especially at primary [which is my focus], it would bring no benefits. Yes there is an awful lot to fit into the school day as the curriculum is vast, but children need time to play and to develop. Plus, a lot of primary school children take part in extra activities anyway - sports teams, dance classes, school-based clubs etc. If the school day was extended, I reckon things like that would stop. Not least because the children need quite a lot of sleep in order to function and learn to the best of their ability. :smile:

For older children, I think it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing. People learn in different ways and have to take responsbility for their own education. Having time outside of school to manage their learning, completing homework and other tasks, is beneficial to them in the long run - especially if they plan on going to university, where the need to learn independently and without much guidance is essential.

It has worked thus far, so I'd be in no great rush to extend the school day. :smile:

Reply 44

cl_steele

Considering the school i went to we didnt finish till 6, no.
Although ones finishing at 3 why not, they might be able to finally get some sport in instead of those pathetic things they call 'pe lessons'.

Reply 45

Cannotbelieveit

My school knocks off at 9:00pm so maybe I'm used to it, but I do think that State Schools days should be longer.

Reply 46

Negaduck

I think longer hours is a good idea but with a half day on Wednesday.

Reply 47

kiss_me_now9

Original post by HotfireLegend

Of course it's ****ing sarcasm.

Reply 48

HotfireLegend

Original post by kiss_me_now9

Of course it's ****ing sarcasm.

Oh, sorry.

Reply 49

07banksa

Having done work experience a few years ago, I still remember how tired I felt after working a week of 9 to 5. School does not prepare children enough for the fact when you work in the real world, you work all day. I agree that the extra hours shouldn't be all lessons, particularly for very young children. What age are they suggesting it start from?

Reply 50

Swadd

Hell to the NO. I think a lot of people who are still attending school (such as myself) would agree that a 9-5 school day would just be shattering. Ask the countless kids who are really tired after a normal school day and you want to extend that? Waste. of. time.

Reply 51

blueflower114

To be honest I don't think the school day if it were to extend would affect the performance of students much, this is simply because it's the quality of teaching within the school that will greatly affect upon pupils. If you have rubbish teachers then most of the time you are going to get a badly performing school.

Also I thought the school day finished before 5pm because in the winter it gets dark early, therefore not safe for children of all ages to wonder around in e.g. like going home.

I heard a few years ago that one school started at I think it was 10:00am simply because the pupils were not getting out of bed in time to come to school, this 'improvement' has positively effected the school with higher attendance rates.

Reply 52

Converse Rocker

So long as the same teacher isn't expected to do all these extra hours, I suppose it could be considered. When I was younger I quite enjoyed school and putting more emphasis on sports and other activities would be better for kids than going home and playing Call of Duty for hours.

That said, I'm out of school age, so maybe I'm being unfair.

Reply 53

llessur123

Christ no. Let children and teenagers have some time to relax and enjoy themselves before they have responsibilities, like they should. Far too much emphasise on "getting ready for world of work". We're basically creating factories where diligent employees are created, rather than institutes of learning. Teachers aren't babysitters either, that shouldn't even come into the equation. Something about this whole attitude of creating workers irritates me. Its like preparing people for slavery or something. Only as I've gotten older have I realised this.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 54

FrogInABog

My school days were 8:40 - 5:30 for the best part of 5 years. Admittedly, it was at a private school, so funding isn't a problem for the staff. Having said that, if funding wasn't an issue in the state sector, I'd say there was nothing bad about it. It does give you time for longer breaks and more sport/extra-curricular activities, which can only be a good thing. Of course, it takes a bit of getting used to, but once it's normal, you stop noticing the long days.

Reply 55

Shiny Dirt

Seems like it benefits parents more than the students, get to drop your kids off.

How is intuition and independence going to be learnt if youre being told what to do for 11 hours a day? Self-motivation is what you really need for the real world and i dont think 11hrs a day will teach that.

Homework is meant to be done in your own time for a reason- you need to learn to motivate yourself and also problem solving, so many people can't think for themselves because theyre being spoonfed answers all the time.

Reply 56

Alfissti

I'm rather surprised no one here has called upon the schooling day to be made shorter. Many of the countries with the best education systems have among the shortest schooling hours in the world, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany all have shorter schooling hours with many of the Scandinavian countries having the schooling day end by 2pm. I don't think it is effective to extend school hours, vast majority of children don't have that long an attention span and their concentration level plummets exponentially after 4 hours. You also need to take into account the late autumn to very early spring months where daylight hours are shorter, it is simply madness to still be at school till 5 even on the presumption that the final few hours are for non academic related issues. The whole discussion of this appears to be a stealth way of the government wanting to come up with a form of subsidised childcare without actually saying it. I think it is best to leave schools to be schools and leave the babysitting to the babysitters.

Reply 57

Martyn*

Children, as do adults, need unstructured time away from other activities. I am all for a shorter schooling day, say, five hours each day with Saturday and Sunday off.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 58

RibenaRockstar

Original post by bestofyou

then what is the need to extend the school day by two hours? Clearly those who wish to stay already do and those who don't go home.

I believe most schools have these during school hours or outside of school hours when most students participating are happy to stay behind. What is the problem? Why extend the day?

For many students, whether you can participate in these activities depends on whether there is someone available to come and pick up up afterwards (eg my school was in a semi-rural area, no buses apart from the school buses at 3.45) which enhances e idea that sport is only for the well off (they're the ones who are likely to have a parent/career available at 5pm with the wherewithal to come and get them)

Reply 59

nicola93

Absolutely not. I see this from two sides; myself as someone just out of sixth form, I can safely say 'hell no' to this from the student perspective. I took GCSE ICT in year 9 and had to stay at school several nights a week til 5:30 when we usually finished at 3:45 and it was like hell, especially in winter when I'd only just be leaving school and it was totally dark out. It left me drained by the time I got home and doing other work on those nights was like hell. It was worth it in the end but at the time it felt like it'd never end.
The other side is that my mum is a high school teacher, and quite honestly, the next person I see suggest that teachers don't work hard, I will cheerfully punch in the face. The people who genuinely believe teachers do not work long, hard hours are those who have never lived with one I'm sure. My mum stays til after 5pm several nights a week for meetings and stuff, then comes home, eats, and usually sits down to do marking/lesson planning/reports/trip organizing/anything else that might be going on at that particular time. That's not including the nights she has to go back for prize nights, speech nights, concerts, masses (Catholic school - she usually has to organize these too), open evenings, parents night etc. It's not even vaguely unusual to see her spending 3-4 hours working when she gets home, because she cares about her students and she wants them to do well. She also does an annual weeks residential which she organizes and leads. If she was sat at school til 5pm every night, when on earth, exactly, is she supposed to relax and have a life outside of the workplace? People say teachers have long holidays, and they do, but they spend large amounts of those working too. It's not all sunshine and roses. People like my mum do this stuff without thinking, or complaining, but when you consider that not only are they facing pay freeze after pay freeze, constant government interference as they try to turn every school in the country into an academy, pensions cut after money had already been paid in, etc, it is quite insulting when people turn around and say they don't work hard.

Quite a few people have mentioned that a 9-5 day would work better in terms of childcare for parents, and maybe it would, but since when has "school" meant "free babysitter"? Firstly, people who want to be teachers do it because they want to EDUCATE, not spend so much time with these kids that they probably see more of them than their parents do. Secondly, yes, we do have an issue with the cost of child care in this country, but putting the burden on the education system is NOT an answer. Perhaps increasing child benefits for working parents would do quite a bit to improve this situation?
Also, and perhaps this is just me, but I personally do not see the point in having a child and spending very little time with it. I was lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time with my parents and grandma as a child and I feel like it's helped me out hugely in terms of supporting my education. Surely we should be encouraging parents to try to organize their lives around their children rather than organizing their children around their work, wherever possible? :/