Long school day

[Blueberryme]

How has your y7 & 8 DC found the long school days?

We are applying to two of the 6 schools that we visited but I still feel unsure about how DS will find the long days.

School #1 starts 8.20am, finishes 4pm, bus home 4.10pm, will reach our town by 4.45pm.

School #2 starts 8.15am, finishes 4.15pm, bus leaves 6pm, will reach our town by 7pm. This school includes dinner and co-curricular or prep after school, so if DS opts for a co-curricular club then he’d still have homework to do.

I am well aware that this is the educational lifestyle that you are buying into, but I’m specifically how did your year 7-8 DC find it? Were they tired a lot? The y8 student who showed us around School #2 said he is tired most of the time and spends his weekends in bed either sleeping or watching TV. Is he the only one who feels like this? I am not happy at the thought that my child could end up living life like this.

For full disclosure, we are looking at independent options due to DC receiving inheritance that is stipulated to be used for purposes such as education (and we already have enough put aside for potential Uni costs).

I went to a private school in another country in the 80’s and there was never long hours like these, but I understand this is normal for independent secondaries in England.

My children are not privately educated but leave the house at 7.30 for their bus, so are up at 6am. They get home around 5pm. They both find the days very long and it's very difficult getting them motivated for homework etc, . I am envious of people in our village who's child re stroll home and are back at 3..30/45.

Mine do 8.15 til 3.30 from 4 years old and 8.15 til 4.30 from 8 years old. Not inc travel time.
Often have clubs or fixtures til later.
Theyre not working all day, lots of playing outside, music, sport.
They love it, are not tired, and frequently look very disappointed to see me when I collect them.

Just pick a school where theyll be happy and I think its fine.

They also get long holiday breaks dont forget.

What age is yr 8? In Ireland my dd17 is in 5th year. She leaves the house at 7.50, bus at 8. Dropped off at 8.30. School starts at 9, finishes at 4.
She’s home around 4.25.
On Fridays they finish at 1.15

DD is now Yr 9 and coping with 8.30am-5pm really well now BUT the first year ie Yr 7 she found it tough going, especially the first term. She also has a 40 min bus ride each way to add on to the day.

It's not just the length of day it's also the increase in sports ie 5 x days of games/PE per week.
Plus side is that she is now incredibly fit!

She still hates Saturday school though 😆

They cope op.

Mine are dropped at the school bus at 7am and return home at 6.45pm.

They do prep and sports and clubs at school. In theory there's no work to do when they get home.

Mine have always both loved Saturday school. Neither does sports though so that probably helps!

Saturday is the 1 day of the week they don't have sport unless they are doing a fixture on the afternoon 😆

Mine does 8am until either 3.45 or 4.45 daily with sport 4 days out of 5 and is tired by Friday but not excessively so. They get used to the routine quite quickly in my experience

Mine started her school (same hours) in year 5 and was fine. She’s year 12 now. Always had after school clubs etc and no problems. We do go to bed early though.

They soon get used to it, and will spend way less time watching brain rot on screens than most of their peers.

It can cause issues if they do sport/anything outside of school. Especially schools that have boarders assume the kids have no life outside of school.

which school did the kids prefer and which do you think suits them best. They will cope with the long school day and probably be better for it if less time watching a screen.

My ds' school ran the same hours, but ds would stay for an hour's prep and then caught the bus at 5pm, I collected him from the bus stop at 5.30 and we were home by 5.45.

He coped fine. Perhaps a little tired for the first few days, but within a week or two he didn't even notice.

DS was an August baby so was only 11 and two weeks when he started those hours.

Year 7 Mum here, my DS does 8 - 4.30pm which includes co curricular activities and has a 45min commute each way. Most Satursdays include some sort of co curricular commitments too.

He is absolutley exhausted.

However, similar to other posters, I think this is part of tough transition from Primary to Secondary and I heard they do settle into the routine. Im monitoring it.

DS1 (Y8) is out the door at 7 (because he wants to be in for breakfast) and we fish him out of boarding house (he’s day but attached to a boarding house) by the scruff of his neck about 7:30pm. He’s simultaneously exhausted and having an absolute ball. He does all his prep at school. And music practice. And something like 12-18 hours of sport a week. I agree, external sport is a little tricky but more than made up for by the internal opportunities.

I have 3 dc that have been in or still attend independent school. The children quickly adapt to the hours, it’s the parents who complain a bit. Our school is Mon - Fri 8.20- 4.15 for year 3-5, and upwards it’s 8.20. -4.45. Activities run by the school run another hour. And some sports train an hour before school. Saturday school is 9-3.30. We have long holidays so the kids get a lot of rest but school is full on but they love it.

DD is in Year 7. School day is 8.30am- 4pm. Definitely a change from the five minute walk to primary school but she has adapted well and all of her clubs are at lunch time which means she doesn’t stay after school and is home before 5pm. I’m sure this might change as she gets older but it’s helped with the transition. Homework so far hasn’t been too intense, so they are easing them in gently.

She was absolutely buzzing in the first half term and not tired at all. This half term the novelty has worn off a bit (plus it’s cold and dark) and she moans about having to get up early but she always comes home at the end of the day happy and chatty about her day.

I understand your concern and when deciding between two lovely schools we chose the closer school in the end so the coach journey was shorter. I do think this was the right decision for us. But they do seem to get used to the longer day and cope just fine. Plus they get super long holidays to recover! DD is loving school and is happy with her choice.

Mine is now in year 12 and I collect him at 9.30pm. He’s attached to a boarding house and has always stayed as late as he’s allowed.

He absolutely loves it - and adapted very quickly when he joined the school in year 10. One of the reasons I chose this school is to keep him gainfully occupied beyond standard school finishing time at 3.30pm (though I didn’t expect him to stay quite so late).

It’s interesting that people rarely baulk at babies and toddlers being in nursery 8am-6pm.

It depends on the child and their natural energy levels. One of my children would be absolutely fine with the setup you asked about. The other would never manage.

My 7 year old child’s school day is 8:20 until 4:15, some days the school day finishes at 5:00. He’s fine, it’s good for them

We are talking about Yr 7+8 = 11 and 12 year olds. Not 7+8 year olds but yes many toddlers and babies do longer days

I think y7 will be a big adjustment for most children, but I think sustainability has less to do with hours at school and more to do with how that time is structured. My send child was much more tired / drained in a school with a shorter day than she is in her current school. Her new school has longer days, but also longer breaks and more recharge time (sport, art, extracurriculars of her choice), and while she does still love nothing more than a lie in on the weekend, she is pretty happy and unstressed.

I would mandate that they use a couple of the extracurricular/ club slots each week for prep to ensure there a few nights a week where they can come home and just relax.

My daughter has just started private in y7. I drop her off at 8 and collect at 5:30 if staying for prep and 4:30 if not. She chooses to stay for prep 3 days a week.

She had coped with the transition from a 8:30-3:30 state primary day pretty well. She can feel the longer day but doesn’t mind it at all and appreciates the longer holidays.

If she wanted to get the bus she’d get home at 6:45 as we are right at the end of the bus route and I think that’s too late.

That's not quite true because they use the long bus ride to do this 😀

OP my DS does a similar commute and long day but he didn't start at the school until year 9. The first year was hard but now in year 11 he's absolutely fine and full of beans in the evening.

That is long ours is 8.30 till 3pm but we live 10 linute bus ride away

Year 7 is the equivalent of sixth class in Ireland. Children in the UK start secondary a year earlier for some mad reason.
Year 8 is then obviously 1st year equivalent.
GCSE's are done in Year 11 - Transition Year. Broadly the same range of subjects to be examined on but from what I see at a slightly more difficult level than my Inter/Junior Cert

Years 12/13 are Leaving Cert. You'll also see it referred to "sixth form" or sixth form college as it's common for students to move schools for that cycle depending on what they want to study as they will specialise down to 3/4 subjects