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Extended Hours Could Be A Disaster Or A Triumph

Extending school hours could have huge benefits for pupils and teachers alike, says Katy Parkinson – but only if that extra time is used in the right way…

Katy Parkinson
by Katy Parkinson
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I read with interest recently that secondary schools will be able to extend their day past 3.30pm if they choose to do so.

Headteachers will be able to bid for government funding, which will enable around a quarter of schools to offer an additional five hours of classes or extra-curricular activities per week. I believe there is huge potential in the government’s plans, but at the moment that’s all there is – potential.

Not just ‘more of the same’

It’s imperative that in those schools fortunate enough to be granted this additional funding, the money is put towards enrichment activities, and not just ‘more of the same’ lessons. We need children to engage further with their education, and by offering them an alternative – outward bound activities, challenging or creative tasks – we would go some way to achieving this.

Simply extending the school day with a continuation of curriculum lessons, delivered by the same teachers in the same style, would be counter-intuitive in the extreme. Imagine being subjected to yet more of the very thing you find the most difficult, the very thing you enjoy the least – and then imagine it as, say, a nine-year-old child, or a rebellious 16-year-old.

Do we really believe that prolonging those students’ misery is going to be beneficial – for them or their peers?

The Finnish example

A point of interest here is that in Finland, the average school day is just five hours long – and children there don’t even begin formal education until the age of seven.

With that in mind, it’s also interesting to note that Finland came sixth in the OECD’s latest available global PISA rankings – the highest placed European country.

There are, of course, an array of factors at play within the ongoing success of the Finnish school system – but what seems clear is that it’s quality, rather than quantity that makes the more vital contribution to the standards of a child’s education.

The attainment gap is already an issue in this country. In 2015, 37% of children identified by the government as disadvantaged achieved five or more A*- Cs at GCSE including English and Maths; the figure for ‘all other pupils’ sat at 65%.

Extending the school day to accommodate more of the same will only see that gap widen. Disengaged children will remain disengaged, while those who are academically able will continue to streak ahead.

Taking ownership

If, however, that extra time and funding is put towards extra-curricular activities, those taking part could benefit hugely in a variety of ways, particularly in terms of their sports, art and music provision.

When I was at school, we were able to choose our preferred activities for the last hour and a half on a Friday. I chose woodwork. and therefore always looked forward to Friday afternoons; when I completed a project and received praise for it, my confidence grew and grew. If extended days can be delivered in a similar manner, this country’s schoolchildren could know that feeling any day of the week.

As things currently stand, a large proportion of schools outsource their after-school club provision – understandably so, given the workload teachers have to juggle – though that’s a whole other issue.

I believe it would be hugely beneficial if those same teachers could take ownership of these additional sessions though – both for the children and the teachers themselves. Students respond more positively to teachers they respect and relate to, and extra-curricular activities promote great relationships. Sessions involving sports and music in particular will lead to more well-rounded staff in our country’s schools.

The extra time could, of course, also be used by schools to provide interventions for children struggling with core subjects such as maths and literacy. As noted earlier though, these interventions must be presented differently to standard lessons, draw on different tools, use different techniques and perhaps even be delivered in a different setting.

This is an initiative that really could change our education system for the better, but it must be executed correctly – or else the consequences could be far-reaching.

Katy Parkinson is the founder and director of Sound Training – a provider of literacy programmes for Y5 to Y13 mainstream pupils; for more information, visit www.soundtraining.co.uk or follow @SoundTrainingUK

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