Length of school day, including start and end times, at London day schools?

[Bonsoir]

Could anyone tell me, for the purposes of comparison, when their DCs' school day starts and ends?

I'm looking at schools in Paris that start at 8am and go on until 5.30.

At DS prep school I drop off about 8 and registration is at 8.25. Can drop anytime from 7.45.

Years 3 and 4 finish at at 3.30. Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 at 4.00. Two or three times a week there are activities which go on until 5.

In the Senior School the day seems to be 8.25 to 4. Again, lots of after school activities until about 5.

Thanks

Bonsoir, a lot of London day schools now seem to be doing an extended school day, so that all of the homework is done on site and not at home. There are a couple of schools near me, where they go from 0830 to 1700.

DD2 does 0830 to 1615 every day, DD1 does something similar, but they finish at 2 on a Wednesday.

Thanks

Some Paris schools do étude surveillée though unfortunately not the one's I am looking at! They go on till quite late with étude - 7pm plus.

8:15 to 4:30.

8.20 -3.45 (4.30 on Games days) but often extended at both ends of the day by activities so Wednesdays are currently 8-5.

One morning break (15mins) and lunch (45 mins)

8:20 to 4, extended by extracurric to 6pm on four days out of five.

Thanks.

Is 8.20 to 6 tiring? How much homework does your DC do each evening?

About an hour and half homework on average. One weekend day is pretty much given over to homework for 4-5 hours. School day not tiring to DD - she did nursery 8-6 from six months so its pretty much the norm for her.

That's still quite a big week, janinlondon. How old is your DD?

I'm looking at a school for DD where there is a significantly enriched curriculum (international section) versus the French norm so it's hard to get a grip on what the pace of life will be like based on normal schools around us.

She is 15. They have Saturday commitments too......it seems to be pretty much the norm among all her friends, even those at other schools nearby.

DD goes to art school on Saturday already and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, so I need to factor that in too.

I'm not against a full time table at all but I don't want to kill her with work.

DD's school is 8.15 to 4.30pm.

EC activity takes place each lunch time and after school until 6pm (though none of this is compulsory, most girls do a fair bit).

Homework was minimal in years 7 and 8, building in years 9 and 10 to the horror of year 11 .

Matches/reahearsals etc often on Saturdays.

But looooooooooooooong holidays.

bonsoir
it would take me a while to find the link and the thread but somewhere there is a link to the legislation about teaching hours in state schools in the UK
basically its standardised and has not changed since the 1950's
and because most UK teachers in all sectors are in the main unions, the number of classroom teaching hours in independent schools is darned near the same

the days are longer but the terms are shorter
and the sports / enrichment / homework hours are not part of the official 'teaching' time

The commute would need to be minimal but even then those hours are tough. With teenage DC needing a minimum of 9.5 hours sleep she would need to be in bed by 9pm to get up at 6.30pm. A 30 minute commute would leave 3 hours in the evening to chill/eat/shower/do homework/practise instruments - that's not a lot of time. It could be as much as 3.5 hours I guess if up at 7am.

My DD manages a similar schedule but refuses to do anything on a Saturday :)

MY Ds (y7) at a prep school starts at 8.30 and finishes at 6.10pm m-f and 8.30-12.15 on Saturday/

During the week he has homework every night of the week factored into this and 3 nights activities all within this time frame. Wed afternoon is mostly matches and saturday is lessons

Its a long day - but when he's home he's home iyswim and little other school related stuff to do

DP would drive her in the morning so she wouldn't need to get up before 7am. The Bonsoir household doesn't linger over breakfast.

But I still think it's an early start...

We have been having very early starts for years ( choristers) and you just get used to it.

My DC have always been ones to go to bed early though. Even as teens they ask to be tucked in (bless) before ten ( weekends included).

I agree up to a point that one just get used to things. Nevertheless, it's tough living out of sync with the world around you. Paris wakes up and goes to bed later than London.

The 9.5 hours sleep thing has been a real game changer in our household. I've never been a stickler for early bedtimes but thought I'd give this a try when DD (13) was getting argumentative and behaving in a way that was becoming difficult to manage as she just seemed unable to help herself at times. It was instigated as a'punishment' which she chose rather than losing her iPad for a week. She was so surprised at the difference it made to her overall mood that she has kept it up ever since. That was a few months ago and things are much much calmer around the place now.

Is going to bed at 9.30pm still too early by Paris standards Bonsoir?

bonsoir
try Berlin - it would drive you potty
BUT
teenage sleep hours are variable - my two have a 5 hour gap
and
dd of a good friend has never needed more than 6 hours

• currently doing MRI phD at Oxford ....

My DD (like my DSS1) has never needed much sleep so I somehow doubt that's going to happen. What she needs to relax and be happy is "down time" for reading/playing/singing on her own.

8.15 - 3.20. State secondary school.

About 1-1.5 hrs homework a night though usually due in following week so can be rejigged a little if dd has after school sports and other clubs.

Dd walks and leaves at 7.30 because she likes to get there early. Is home by 3.45pm unless staying for after school clubs.

I love the fact that she has time to unwind when she gets home.