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School Playtimes for Year 1 onwards

22 replies

fruitcorner · 16/04/2012 11:36

Do all your children have afternoon playtimes after Reception? Our school has abolished them for all years after Reception, so the children have morning and lunchtime play only. My son is really missing his afternoon play but is this now standard in UK primaries?

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crazygracieuk · 16/04/2012 11:39

What time does school start and end? I think that there are guidelines for how long children have to be in class but not for how long breaks are.
My children are at school 8:45-3:20 and get a morning, lunch and afternoon play.

DeWe · 16/04/2012 11:40

The infant school doesn't ever except as a special occasion.
When they went to juniors they had afternoon playtime for the first fortnight as "they were used to it" which made them a bit Shock

School time is 8:45 to 2:45

fruitcorner · 16/04/2012 11:40

School day is 8.55 - 3.15 which is pretty standard , I think

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AChickenCalledKorma · 16/04/2012 11:45

No afternoon playtimes here. Reception have constant access to an outdoor space. Year 1 also have access to the same space, but don't have an official afternoon play.

All year groups seem to head outdoors from time to time, for outdoor learning/PE/running off steam, but not in a structured way.

School day is 8:55 to 3:10 (infants) or 3:20 (juniors). 15min morning break, 1hr lunch/play.

MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic · 16/04/2012 11:45

DD's school day is 8.50 to 3.30 - Infants have afternoon play, and Juniors don't (and it's been like that for the last 10 years!)

Most schools I'm aware of do the same. Year 1 seems very young to lose a break, unless your school has a very short day like DeWe's.

redskyatnight · 16/04/2012 12:12

Afternoon play is standard for all years (YR-Y2) at DD's infants school. School day is 9-3.

Afternoon play "at teacher's discretion" is the norm in DS's junior school. (mostly not)

LingDiLong · 16/04/2012 12:21

Oh, I've never heard of this! My kids primary school has morning, lunch and afternoon play. And the other school in our village does too because I can hear them out playing from my garden.

I just assumed all schools did.

NorbertDentressangle · 16/04/2012 12:23

Only KS1 have afternoon playtime at our school.

BackforGood · 16/04/2012 12:41

None of the schools I've taught in, nor those my dcs have been to have had an afternoon play fro years and years. Often the Yr1 teachers will take them out for a run around if they need it, but generally everyone seems to prefer a solid 2 hour block in the afternoon, rather than stopping and starting, only to finish 15mins later at the end of the day.

Gumby · 16/04/2012 12:45

Same as norbert

Beanbagz · 16/04/2012 13:10

School hours for my DS is 8.40am-3.30pm (DD starts at 8.30am) and they have morning & afternoon play plus lunch break.

Sometimes my DD's teacher (Y5) makes them work over afternoon break if they're working on something big but it's less than once per week on average.

RaisinBoys · 16/04/2012 13:13

KS1 have afternoon play. KS2 do not (much to DS's disgust!)

jo164 · 16/04/2012 20:22

My daughters school has no afternoon play for anyone including reception - although they do obviously have a lot more 'guided' play during lesson times. I guess if they have never had it at least they can't miss it if its taken away!

mrz · 16/04/2012 20:32

Morning and afternoon playtimes in all year groups except reception.

I previously taught in a Catholic school that scrapped playtimes to meet the hour requirements because additional time was needed for daily RE

FebreezeYourJeans · 16/04/2012 20:40

Reception
free access to outdoor learning environment.
Y1
morning & lunchtime & afternoon play until Christmas, then drop afternoon play.
Y2-Y6
Morning & lunchtime play only

School day 9am-3.30pm

RaspberryLemonPavlova · 16/04/2012 21:21

Infants 9.00 to 3.25. Playtimes morning and afternoon (and 1 and a quarter hours for lunch)

Juniors 9.00 to 3.30. Playtimes morning and four afternoons (lunchtimes 1 hour only)

Ben10NeverAgain · 16/04/2012 21:23

8.50-3.15 with 50 min lunch break. Only afternoon play for reception.

MirandaWest · 16/04/2012 21:27

Reception, year 1 and year 2 have morning, lunch and afternoon playtime. Year 3 just morning and lunchtime. School
starts at 8:55 and ends at 3:20.

Hulababy · 16/04/2012 21:31

I work in an infant school and yes, the children all get an afternoon playtime.

My DD goes to an independent prep and all years to Y6 get an afternoon play.

My friend's DDs go to a local primary and all KS1 classes have an afternoon play, but not juniors.

I personally think they need some time out in the afternoon, 10 minutes break is a good thing imo.

LindyHemming · 16/04/2012 22:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

roadkillbunny · 16/04/2012 22:41

I asked dd about this just yesterday after reading the thread about the jump from infants to juniors (dd goes into Y3 in September) where lack of afternoon play was mentioned.
Our school day runs from 8.50 (drop off is from 8.30 so many children are in the classroom from then but they don't start the 'working' day until 8.50) to 3.10 for infants, 3.15 for juniors. We are a fairly small village school (20 per year) and there is no real distinction between infants and juniors, they are not called by that, the whole school is the whole school with to divide as it were.
For the whole school there is morning and afternoon play and 1 hour for lunch, reception and Y1 have all day access to their own outside space, Y2 also has a small area of outside space but it is not used in a free flow way.
I can see the benefit of dropping afternoon play for the older children to allow for a longer uninterrupted learning time but I think in the long run that could be detrimental, by the afternoon the children are getting tired, their concentration levels are dropping and I would put money on the being more disruptive behaviour in afternoon classes then morning. Having that afternoon play allows the children to get out of the classroom, get some air and have a break thus helping to make the last hour of school worthwhile to their learning.
When I was at school I remember feeling very cheating when I moved to secondary and there was no longer an afternoon break however at least children at secondary level will change class midway through the afternoon allowing them to walk about and help concentration for that last hour of the day.
I wouldn't be best pleased if the school stopped afternoon play for the juniors but I would leave it to the school however if they stopped afternoon play for Y1 and 2 I think I would go in and talk to the school about it to hear their argument for dropping it and see if they could allay my concerns as it could be that there is no official play but they children have access to an outdoor area to have a sort play activity between structured learning sessions.

fruitcorner · 16/04/2012 22:58

Thank you for all the replies, it's very interesting to see that there's such variation between schools. I would be happier having no afternoon play if the children still got to go outside sometimes to have outdoor classes or just to let off steam but it's really not that sort of school ! I am going to ask whether at the very least year 1 could have afternoon break as year 1 is a big leap from reception with no toys etc and a much more formal learning environment .
Thanks again

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