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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if parents support a longer school day?

198 replies

namechangingf123 · 17/10/2013 22:56

As Michael Gove is proposing? Would it help you as a working parent?

How long would suit you/your child? And if you didn't agree with longer day (as I don't) would you/could you just pick DC up at 3.15ish as usual?

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 17/10/2013 23:00

I don't think we should be looking at this from the point of view of the parents.

What is best for the children is what we should be looking at here.

I don't agree with a longer day because I believe six hours is enough for my kids, although I know a lot of teachers who are under too much pressure to deliver so much within those hours...so I don't blame some of them for wanting extra time.

If my DCs school hours did change, then no I wouldn't just pick them up when I wanted to.

I'd abide by the school rules or home educate.

josephinebruce · 17/10/2013 23:01

More importantly, what effect would this have on young children who have already spent several hours that day working? I fully support the need for decent childcare after school, but this should not involve any extra work for the children - or the teachers. By 3.15 children need a break - some time to chill, play, relax and then go home.

SaucyJack · 17/10/2013 23:01

Six hours a day, every is more than enough IMO. They practically live at school as it is.

WorraLiberty · 17/10/2013 23:02

Mind you, I'm 44 and when I went to Primary school the hours were 9.15 - 4pm.

My kids school hours are 8.55am - 3pm.

bearleftmonkeyright · 17/10/2013 23:03

I think a longer school day is muddying the issue. What parents need is after school care. I don't agree with a longer school day. I don't think Gove is capable of distinguishing between the two. Mainly because he is not interested in education. Or children.

MoneyMug · 17/10/2013 23:03

School is there to provide children with an education, not to provide parents with childcare.

ShoeWhore · 17/10/2013 23:04

The current school day is easily long enough for my dcs.

After school they enjoy activities and unwinding at home, spending time as a family etc.

I also wonder when teachers would have time to plan/mark/eat/sleep?

17leftfeet · 17/10/2013 23:04

Younger than 7 my dcs wouldn't have coped

7-11 they would have been quite happy at school until 5 but I don't pick them up from childcare until 5.45 so would make no difference

11+ I think time for sports/clubs/social activities becomes more important so I wouldn't want them to have a longer formal school day

BlackberrySeason · 17/10/2013 23:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ShoeWhore · 17/10/2013 23:05

Totally agree that better wrap-around care is needed.

wannabedomesticgoddess · 17/10/2013 23:05

I do not support this at all.

DD1 has only started in P1 and is in until 2. She is exhausted all the time. She will settle, but even for the older kids, and teens in secondary, the day is long enough. I remember coming home from secondary and being so exhausted I fell asleep before dinner.

AuntieStella · 17/10/2013 23:05

It depends on the age of the pupils.

An hour or so on a homework club (homework, reading, quiet drawing; minimal supervision needed) could be a good thing - probably covering the middle school years (4-8)

EthethethethChrisWaddle · 17/10/2013 23:06

Well I work in a school so it would only make my working hours longer, and I'd rather spend them at home with my own children. So no, I wouldn't support a longer school day.

FloozeyLoozey · 17/10/2013 23:07

Longer school day but with more sports to fill the extra time. Would be cheaper for me as a full time working single parent than four days a week at after school club. And yes it is in ds' interests for me to work full time when it puts food on the table and shoes on his feet and a roof over his head! I don't work for fun, I work out of necessity! In an ideal world all children would be able to trot home at 315 but that isn't the reality for many people now, including two parent families.

WorraLiberty · 17/10/2013 23:09

Who wants to be forced into a homework club five days a week after already putting in 6+ hours of schooling?

I know kids who already have trouble coping with an hour in breakfast club, 6+ hours at school and then another 3 hours with a CM or after school club.

Fortunately the 2 kids I'm thinking of who don't cope that well, only have to endure this 3 days a week.

But extending the school day would mean spending longer at school by law.

Blu · 17/10/2013 23:09

I am a wohm, f/t.

Yes, It would help me as a working parent but no I wouldn't support it.

Too tiring.

Now, I find it convenient when DS chooses after-school activities, but that is his choice and he enjoys them, and is relaxed about it.

They are children, they should not be expected to be in a compulsory, structured environment for the same length as an adult day.

Provision of childcare is a different matter.

tethersend · 17/10/2013 23:09

Would schools' longer days be offset by longer school holidays as with Toby Young's free school model?

hiddenhome · 17/10/2013 23:10

No way. Both my kids are ready for home by 3:15. They also do out of school activities so longer school hours would be too much for them.

elQuintoConyo · 17/10/2013 23:10

Spanish primary school hours are: 9-1 then 3-5. Nuts.

NoComet · 17/10/2013 23:10

No way, good after school clubs, yes longer school day, no!

Children need space to be themselves, to do things they love and to be with peers they choose not just go to the same school with.

They need time to play in their gardens or local park and invent their own games.

Huge amounts of 'learning' went on it the park while the mum's chattered on summers evenings. Complex games involving dens and sticks and climbing trees. Totally impossible in the confines of school or an organised club.

Gove's holiday rules already make school feel like a prison sentence. He doesn't need to make things any worse.

gleegeek · 17/10/2013 23:10

No not at all. If children can't learn enough from 9-3 then I think that's pretty poor. Being there longer does not necessarily mean better grades...

My dd does ballet, swimming, piano, Guides, drama after school and sees friends and does her homework. All that would go (apart from homework possibly, but the clue is in the name, surely it would then be schoolwork???)

Our poor childrenSad Wrap around childcare is one thing, but more school hours of work? No way.

Moonstorm · 17/10/2013 23:13

There's no way I would support it.

Mellowandfruitful · 17/10/2013 23:13

Agree with every word bearleftmonkeyright said above. The school day should not be longer; better afterschool care should be in place. Not that Gove actually cares what happens to children.

JewelFairies · 17/10/2013 23:16

I want quality, not quantity.

MrsBungle · 17/10/2013 23:18

I wouldn't agree with it. My not-long-turned 4 year old's school hours are 8:50 until 3:30. The high school kids round here do fewer hours than that.

Our school has excellent wrap around care, I do think this should be available at all schools.