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Original poster

Primary finishes early every Friday

81 replies

Cocothebear · 14/01/2022 07:58

During Covid our school chose to finish early on Fridays (1.15) in order to clean/sanitise the school.

The school has since decided to make this standard so now every Friday we have pickup at 1.15 and there’s no after school club.

I don’t have a huge problem with this but quite a lot of the parents do which I can understand. I do feel like it’s a pointless day as it so short, past lunch my children say they don’t have time to do anything before collection.

The school say it’s worked best for you the well-being of their pupils and staff but I don’t understand how they can do this when almost every other school in the country does full hours.

So can any school choose to do this? I’m just curious how it works really.

OP posts:
BluebellsGreenbells · 14/01/2022 18:11

find it hard to believe that this is all started with Covid and then coincidentally became a funding issue

You find it hard to believe that an extra paid member of staff is needed to cover half a day a week per teacher -

2 form entry is 14 classes - or 28 half days

So one full time teacher and one 2 days a week to cover the PPA for each class teacher.

That’s an extra £60K a year out of the school budget. Yep - hard to believe isn’t it?

TheYearOfSmallThings · 14/01/2022 18:17

A school near us does this, but they provide free "tuition" (AKA after-school club) for the children of parents who are working on a Friday. It works out well for them because most part time workers choose to take Friday as their non-working day.

Howshouldibehave · 14/01/2022 18:22

I presume it’s so the staff can have PPA time (a legal entitlement) but they don’t have to pay staff to cover the classes.

What are their start/finish times on the other days? How long is their lunch?

3mealsaday · 14/01/2022 18:50

@sol7

I assume they wouldn't have a problem with their own staff leaving early on days when their DC's school shuts at lunchtime and there is no after school club then?

DH and I are both teachers and I find it infuriating when schools show so little regard for working parents when many teachers are working parents and as employers they often aren't willing to be flexible about their own staff leaving for childcare reasons!

I agree. It's also more trouble than having a full day off (which would make it easier to book a childminder/rely on relatives). I wouldn't really want to send my child in for such a short day...it would be easier to have them miss the whole day and sort childcare at home!
Teach343434 · 14/01/2022 22:18

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saraclara · 14/01/2022 22:37

@Teach343434

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Pretty certain that Mumsnet doesn't allow surveys on here without permission.
HairyScaryMonster · 14/01/2022 22:56

Discovered my dd in reception has a 90 min lunch break (early so can eat in bubbles but afternoon not starting earlier) so I can well imagine they're finding 2.5 hours of non contact time.

sol7 · 14/01/2022 23:13

Non-contact time for teachers cannot include the lunch break, which is unpaid.

LondonQueen · 14/01/2022 23:27

That's simply not good enough, like the children haven't missed out on enough! In my school to cover the staffing crisis we have none teaching SLT covering PPA time, a lot of us are simply going without, taking the time back later. We have also reduced our staff meetings to virtual and fortnightly so we can dedicate time to prep. Surely cleaning and sanitation is the job of the cleaners, not the teachers?

liveforsummer · 14/01/2022 23:31

I work in a school and we have this, it's been in place here since I've been at school at least so mid 80's. Works fine for us and nice to get a slightly longer weekend. Other local authorities have followed suit (pre covid )

LondonQueen · 14/01/2022 23:31

@saraclara
It's not about the childcare, it's about the fact that the children need as much time in school as possible, they have missed out on so much and still aren't fully back to normal. If anything they should be giving us even more funding for extra interventions etc, every child should be able to access this.

Hercisback · 14/01/2022 23:37

How exactly can you take the time back later?

Small primary schools won't have non teaching SLT, they don't have the budget.

As a teacher it would mess up my childcare. Would there be scope for TAs to run a paid for session until the normal finish time? It would depend on their contracts I suppose.

Dinoboymama · 14/01/2022 23:48

In scotland its common for secondary schools to close just after lunchtime on Fridays. Most councils do this.

liveforsummer · 14/01/2022 23:56

As a teacher it would mess up my childcare. Would there be scope for TAs to run a paid for session until the normal finish time? It would depend on their contracts I suppose.

I'm a TA, we finish at 12 on a Friday and don't get paid a second over the time that kids are in class. After school care os provided by childminders and private after school care services

Hercisback · 15/01/2022 00:02

@liveforsummer
I didn't know if you could then use a school room and run a private club parents pay for? Our children's after school club is run like this. It's a private business that uses school facilities and employs a lot of the TAs.

liveforsummer · 15/01/2022 00:13

[quote Hercisback]@liveforsummer
I didn't know if you could then use a school room and run a private club parents pay for? Our children's after school club is run like this. It's a private business that uses school facilities and employs a lot of the TAs.[/quote]
I guess a TA could apply for that job the same as anyone else, it's completely independent from the school so have their own recruiting process. I'd imagine they start 30-45 minutes before end of school though to set up and get to their pick up spots so possibly not suitable for that reason. I can't go til the last child in my class is collected so an awkward overlap

saraclara · 15/01/2022 00:36

[quote LondonQueen]@saraclara
It's not about the childcare, it's about the fact that the children need as much time in school as possible, they have missed out on so much and still aren't fully back to normal. If anything they should be giving us even more funding for extra interventions etc, every child should be able to access this. [/quote]
The children have to have a minimum number of teaching hours. It's set nationally.
If the school starts and/or finishes earlier/later than other schools, they can fit those hours in and still send the kids home at lunchtime on a friday.

saraclara · 15/01/2022 00:39

[quote Hercisback]@liveforsummer
I didn't know if you could then use a school room and run a private club parents pay for? Our children's after school club is run like this. It's a private business that uses school facilities and employs a lot of the TAs.[/quote]
I know of a school where all the teachers have PPA on Friday afternoon, but the lessons for that couple of hours are all ones that a TA can easily lead (also a music and PE specialist are employed to take classes for part of it), and it ends in a school assembly led by the headteacher. So the TAs are responsible for their class for about an hour.

That makes more sense to me than sending kids home.

liveforsummer · 15/01/2022 00:51

That makes more sense to me than sending kids home.

To me it doesn't make more sense than having full school hours covered by the qualified teachers just organised a bit differently. Assembly's aren't the best idea right now and still need supervision by a number of adults. A specialist pe teacher can only take one class, what about the other potential 24 classes

saraclara · 15/01/2022 01:29

@liveforsummer

That makes more sense to me than sending kids home.

To me it doesn't make more sense than having full school hours covered by the qualified teachers just organised a bit differently. Assembly's aren't the best idea right now and still need supervision by a number of adults. A specialist pe teacher can only take one class, what about the other potential 24 classes

That would be a big primary school.

The PE and music specialists had four half hour classes each and there were eight classes. So each class alternated PE or music each week (it wasn't their only PE lesson).

The assembly was supervised by the TAs. This wasn't in covid times though

saraclara · 15/01/2022 01:30

To me it doesn't make more sense than having full school hours covered by the qualified teachers just organised a bit differently.

It doesn't to me either. I simply said it's better than sending kids home. If the school really has no funds to cover PPA time, then it's an option.

Hercisback · 15/01/2022 06:27

@liveforsummer No they don't finish before the end of school. Teachers keep hold of the kids, then TAs do a sweep of the kids and split them into 2 rooms. Kids play outside or get TV of wet for 20 mins while TAs prep a snack. It works really well. It took some setting up to begin with.
Does your school not offer wrap around?

liveforsummer · 15/01/2022 06:35

The school doesn't offer wrap around, no. There is an outside company that covers several schools on the area.

I simply said it's better than sending kids home

I disagree. Going home before lunch on a Friday is something that's happened and worked here for decades. There also isn't a single TA at my work currently who doesn't have a 1:1 to supervise. Having seen threads on here about TA's having to cover teacher covid absences, that's far from an unusual situation and is pretty much the case in nearly every school these days . You can't supervise a class full of kids in a room with a child who needs to be able to leave when the noise gets too much

Caspianberg · 15/01/2022 06:38

Not in the uk, but primary school finishes at 11.30am here every day. Secondary at 12.30/1pm. Starts at 8am

Coffeeonmytoffee · 15/01/2022 06:41

Teachers are entitled to planning and preparation time. Schools can’t afford cover so they have to shut early. It’s lack of funding and the fact that the last minuscule teacher pay rise had to be met by schools from already restricted budgets.
You’re school might be in a wealthy area and not have many pupil premium kids who get additional funding. It’s probably the only solution the school can fund.
They should offer some kind of clubs for children who need it but that means more money so they must be pretty broke.