longer school day, looking for teachers views.

[5madthings]

Hi, not a teacher but a parent, my elder two boys are in yrs 10 and yr 7 at high school, last year it became an academy, parents had no say in this. We were taken over by the Inspiration Trust, Rachel de Souza came and gave a lovely speach... since them there have been , any changes, no consultation amd the latest one is tjat as of sept the school day will be umtil 5pm three days a week, compulsory. For sports, hobbies and 'enrichment' activites ans independent study.

These 'clubs' will be run by current teachers and ta's, with the excpetion of sport where outside agencies being brought in.

As a paremt I am not happy abotu this, my boys will now leave at 7:30am and give traffic wont be home til 6pm. On the oen hand the free (no cost to paremts mentioned so far) is good as it enables many kods access to stuff they wouldtn otherwisee get and soemparents are happy of the free childcare.

I am not happy withthe compulsory nature of it and the impact on our family time, we made the choice (and sacrfices along with it re where we bought a house etc) to have a sahp, me, amd we dont need these extra hours.

My feeling is that its not fair on the teachers, whenare they gping to do marking and planning?! I have no idea if they will be paid more, I suspect not.

I am trying to see the positives and know that ds2 will enjoy the extra sport, ds1 will hate it. Itis unclear how much choice the students will have over what activities they do and how places will be allocated.

But I cant help but feel its not good for the staff, I dont want overworked, burnt out teachers teaching my kids! And i feel for them,esp those with young families.

Tbh I am quite disillusioned with the changes beign made to the education system but there deosnt seem much we can do other than change school, not really an option.

Am I right to be worried and concerned, or does this kind of thing work well and does it benefit the students? The insoiration trust have put a good spin on it amd are promoting it as very good for the students, I am feelign very pissed off that we as parents have no say or choice in wether our children attend.

I just wanted the views of teachers, maybe soem reassurance?

Sorry for typos being clambered on by toddler!

Theodore Agnew the trustee is the one who has secured the funding for us to have this after school enrichment... The irony of my sons namesake... Waves at animals ds1 doesn't know yet he is away visiting relatives, comes home tomorrow along with ds2, oh they will be thrilled...not.

And yes it's the compulsory nature of it, offer them and have them well ruband staffed by proper paid staff not the teachers who have enough to do. But don't try and tell me what my children have to attend out of school ours!

In Norfolk most schools are becoming academies :(

As a teacher, I'd be out of there. There is no way I would be apply to stay at work until that time. My own DC wouldn't be able to do the activities they do after school. I work most evenings, but one of the best bits of this job is being able to choose when to do it. If I need to leave at 4 to get DTD1 to her piano lesson then do my marking later on that evening, I can. If I choose to stay at school and run drama club til 4.30, I can.

I teach in an academy. We, too, are introducing compulsory enrichment from September. It will be at 2pm on a Friday.

Just looked at your link AnimalsAreMyFriends. Both the primary schools that are in the groups have a headteacher with the same surname. Husband and wife? Interesting ....

Ha ha I may have noticed some interesting links between members of the trust...

And of course the lovely Rachel de Souza is a dame now...

I've just had a gander at various websites too. Looks a bit full on.

As a teacher I would be fine with this if my contact hours didn't change and parents were happy with the situation.

As a parent of dd1 it might be ok, ds2 would have to move school as he wouldn't cope with this and dd3 - it would depend on the activities.. I might find myself inventing some extra-curricular activities a couple of days a week.

I would find this a massive encroachment on the quality of my family life. We do plenty of enrichment with our children. DD3 also needs time to work on her "novel" and "art portfolio" while introvert ds2 finds socializing from 8:30 to 3:30 exhausting enough...

It's probably worth getting a group if like minded parents together and insisting that the enrichment part of the school day be optional. Can they legally stop you taking your kids home at normal time?

Look here, Madthings, it's on our list for DS & involves train journey which is why I wanted to check times. I worked out that school day runs with 8:20am start, 3:30pm finish. Part of your school's group. See what Thetford does, too.

It seems like the Academy movement has come late but with a vengeance to Norfolk. Thankfully the 3 secondaries I know best are NOT becoming Academies & one of them has emphatically robustly stated they do not wish to be one. Stalham is going Academy, though (school day still 8:15-3:15, I think).

Fresh Air Club

Sorry, in case my last post causes confusion it is one of the Tuesday clubs at Cromer!

See the corner academy seems to run the enrichment activities and clubs well. After school but finishing by 4pm and not compulsory from what I can see!

I am happy for the schools to offer activities after school but not in the way our academy is planning to do it.

Well Cromer may be changing, too, in future. :(
thanks for the heads up, I guess, I know to ask when we go to the open evening.
maybe you could find a way to discreetly ask around the PTA or on MN local & even NetHuns.
I'll ask colleague if she fancies liaising but I think she's not the sort to cause a fuss, iyswim. She's going to mull it over & draft a letter, probably. As things stand her boy might have to walk down the dark lane for 15 nights in the usual yr, but the changes turn that into more like 50 such dark evening treks.

Isn't this what Gove wants, lots of extended days? Because Oriental schools are so great & their parents have so much faith in them that the Japanese-Singapore-Taiwanese parents all send their kids to Crammers & tutors in the evening too, the schools are doing such a great job!

NOT

I'm in Suffolk and the only school in our town is an Academy - but they haven't changed the school day at all. I will home ed if they do. Children need family life, not more school life.

Shouldn't y11s be doing revision and not sport after school?! (And also need time to relax too).

I'm in a different area but our local academy is planning to go until 4.30 after school, but with 1-1 english/maths or an extra gcse being cited as the reason. I was shocked.

I used to be a teacher and the thought of returning to all the changes and an even longer day is horrible.

The thought of my child having to go through all the SATS testing and the focus on levlling constantly and then to spend secondary in school/doing homework is really frightening.

We've similarly chosen for me to be a SAHM while I can afford it and I want my daughter to do gymnastics, guides, swimming etc as well as school.

Why on earth do people think more time in school - better results? Its like the idea of extending now to 2 years old :(

What's happening in Norfolk schools is astonishing. Just discovered that the school I wanted my dcs to attend will now be an Ormiston :( parents have no say whatsoever.