School day

it’s a mistake to underestimate the importance of break and lunch time and the impact it has on learning.

Play time has been cut back and back - it’s a good thing schools are restoring it.

I worked in an independent with similar hours. The break and lunch time were much longer - we had the same lesson time as the state school I left.

It's DfE guidance but not compulsory from September (the 32.5 hours). Our school is adding an extra 15mins per day, but there won't be any extra learning as it's added onto break/lunch times. So seems to be a silly policy to "make learning equal across the country" as no extra learning is happening!
If schools are performing well, no one will say anything if they're under the 32.5 hour "guidance". However if the dreaded Ofsted come in and results aren't great and you're under the 32.5hours, then they will make you increase it whether you want to or not, so many heads are being proactive and making it look like it's their decision and not Ofsted's.

The examples in that report were pretty good, a couple set aside time for specific learning goals. I don’t see the problem really. It’s a little bit extra and clearly a lot of kids struggled post pandemic. There are schools trialing even longer days to make sure their kids are on target, I think thats great.

Absolutely agree, my DD2 summer born so just turned 5, has just finished reception with a school day of 8.45-3.15.
On top of this she does ballet after school on Mondays, after school club until 6 on Tuesdays and Rainbows on Thursday, and is absolutely fine. Fridays she is pestering me to go to the park after school, so definitely not tired.

It isn't if they think flexibly, infants doesn't have to be a shorter day, it can be a staggered day.
Our infants is 8.45-3.15. Juniors is a 'soft start' - they can arrive anytime between 8.45 and 8.55, register is 8.55. And finishes at 3.25. This allows parents who need to get going to work to drop at 8.45 and those who have to do infants and juniors to drop at 8.50ish.

Ours increased by 30 minutes last year. It’s great. Adds just enough extra time to help with getting there for school run before/after work. Still 2 hours a day less than they were doing in nursery and mine have never been shattered coming out of school.

My child does 8.45-3.30

I disagree, in the case of infant and junior schools it doesn't make sense at all. The fact breaks can be of any length means children still aren't guaranteed the same amount of schooling. The vast majority of primaries run the equivalent of 9 to 3.15 or more anyway as it takes that amount of time to cover the curriculum. There are just so many other issues I would tackle in Education first.

Our primary school day is is 40min longer than the Secondary. (8.45-3.30 vs 8.40-2.45). But the lunch is longer, as is morning break and they have an afternoon break.

They attended 5 primary schools, all had different length days but the lesson time was similar.. it was breaks and lunch that varied.

Our school day is 0830-1605 for everyone (private) followed by extra curricular clubs for another hour. My youngest just finished reception and had no issues. Why on earth would you begrudge additional education?!

What we're the timings and what are they now?
My ds primary is 8.40 - 3.10 ks1 and 3.15 ks2

Glad I'm not the only one. DfE =/= DofE and as a DofE leader I was most confused for a moment what this could possibly have to do with primary age kids!

Not in y1! Maybe secondary. By the time he’s home he’s completely shattered. It’s unfair!

If your son genuinely can't cope with an ordinary school day in Y1 it might suggest a problem with his sleep or diet, or some other issues. It is not usual for a child his age to struggle so much.

I wish my work had a nap corner........

It makes sense to have a set amount of hours in the school week across the country though. And it’s only 15 minutes for you, but OPs school is 2.5 hours a week which over the years at school will make a difference to some.

In NI primary do 9-2pm for first 3 years, even then my younger two dc couldn't make it through the day (youngest in year) and often were snoozing when I picked them up. School was awesome and had a nap corner

Good grief, schools really can’t win can they. This isn’t something they’ve done off their own bat, it’s a national requirement.

If your son isn’t coping next year maybe look at his diet, sleeping habits and what he’s eating at lunchtime. If that doesn’t work have a word with the teacher, but chances are as he gets a bit older he’ll be fine.

It's a pain in the arse for anywhere with the infant-junior model. Infant schools usually have a slightly shorter day so you can get between the two for drop off/pick up. My children's infant school is increasing by 15 minutes. As a teacher, I'm confident that 15 minutes between 3.15 and 3.30 is going to add nothing to the learning of 4-7 year olds. They're over it by then.

The Duke of Edinburgh? 🥲

It’s not unfair, this is literally to make it fair. Your precious son will be fine

When DD1 started school in 2005, the infants had a 10 minute afternoon playtime. The school was told to drop that because the infants weren't getting enough classroom contact time. Their school day was 9-3.15 with an hour for lunch (the canteen was too small so they needed the hour for 2 sittings) and a 15 minute morning playtime.

You haven’t answered what time your current school hours are ?

Secondary?

So between year 1 and year 7 he's going to be too shattered to do any after school activities or playdates etc?

Might be time for a trip to the doctor.

He's learning not working at the coal face. There are huge benefits to a slightly longer day as detailed in the gov document above. I think adding time to the start of the day is better as the children are more awake and alert in the mornings which is when core lessons (maths and English) take place.

Just make sure he gets enough sleep every night so he wakes up refreshed.