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Will An Extra Hour In School Make A Difference?

With the announcement of a £1.5 billion package to make all schools in England into privately-run academies comes the news that an extra hour will be added to the school day; but will an extra hour in school make a difference?

As anyone who has ever seen or been in a classroom for the last lesson of the day will know, by the time 3:30 rolls around it is hard to keep pupils focused (and awake!). It seems that adding an extra hour to the school day will simply mean more tired students (and teachers) who aren’t really able to concentrate on what they are supposed to be learning. It all appears to be rather counter-productive.

Add homework (and class preparation time and marking for teachers) and it could be argued that a longer school day could do more harm than good.

You may wonder how an extra hour in class could actually be harmful, but when you add in health factors like stress, workload, and simply getting enough sleep – there is a definite issue brewing beneath the plan.

There is also the matter of after-school activities and the extra help that teachers provide outside of regular school hours. These would be dramatically cut if the school day was extended until 5pm, as planned. There just isn’t enough time in the day.

Of course, something needs to be done to improve the UK’s current standing on the global education league table (we sit in 20th place), but lengthening the school day doesn’t seem to be the answer.

Perhaps, instead, we should take our cues from those nations who are doing better in education – such as Finland – where the focus is on learning rather than testing. Maybe we need to find ways to use the time we have better, rather than extending the school day and trying to get more out of classrooms of already tired teens?

This would require more effort in offering support for teachers and students, but is surely better than the current longer school day plan?

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