Should children spend more time in school?

Scottish pupils generally receive 950 learning hours in primary and 1,045 in secondary – but a survey finds a ‘range of views’ on these norms and a ‘prevalent theme’ that there are not enough hours
17th January 2025, 2:33pm

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Should children spend more time in school?

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/learning-hours-scotland-should-children-spend-more-time-school
Should children spend more time in school?

Most respondents to a Scottish government consultation on the time children spend in class with their teachers support the idea of minimum learning hours being set in law.

Scottish schools are currently required to open 190 days a year, but the number of hours children spend in class with teachers is at the discretion of the council - although most children receive 950 learning hours in primary and 1,045 in secondary.

However, in recent times, this has come under threat as local authorities seek ways to save money, prompting the government to threaten to enshrine minimum learning hours in law.

Now, a deal has been struck between local authorities’ body Cosla and the Scottish government, involving more cash for additional support needs staff and teachers. In exchange, the government is expecting councils to increase teacher numbers, protect learning hours and make progress on cutting class-contact time.

Support for legislation

But research published earlier this month by the government demonstrates that there is support for legislation, should ministers decide to go down that road.

Finding the right level to set as a minimum could prove more complicated, however, with only half of respondents backing the current minimum levels of learning hours in primary and secondary - and some making the case that 1,140 hours should be the norm across the early years, primary and secondary.

The survey - which attracted almost 500 responses and ran from 21 March to 13 June 2023 - found that 61 per cent agreed that the minimum learning hours pupils receive should be set in law. Some 29 per cent disagreed and 10 per cent were unsure.

It identified a divide between parents and teachers and organisations such as local authorities. While 69 per cent of parents and 52 per cent of teachers backed a law, most of the 14 councils that responded to the consultation were opposed (86 per cent).

In terms of whether the minimum level of learning hours was set at the right level, 49 per cent of respondents agreed with 950 learning hours in primary and 50 per cent agreed with 1,045 hours in secondary.

The report states that “the most prevalent theme” regarding the proposed minimum number of learning hours was that “they were too low for both primary and secondary school”. There was “a range of views”, but the most common was that there should be more learning hours.

“Reasons for suggesting a higher number included reducing the attainment gap, mitigating pandemic impacts and, in secondary schools, ensuring the full curriculum was taught,” the report states.

“Conversely, those seeking fewer hours were more likely to mention adverse wellbeing impacts on learners from long days at school or the need for more flexibility with younger primary school pupils.”

Aligning preschool and primary school hours

One local authority made the case for aligning preschool and primary school hours. Pre-school children in Scotland are now entitled to 1,140 hours of free nursery provision, but this drops when they start school.

Perth and Kinross Council said that aligning the hours could “negate the current issues experienced by a lot of parents seeking wraparound care and managing employment issues when their child starts school, having been in early learning centres for 30 hours per week”.

On learning hours in secondary schools, the report says that the most common suggestion from those in favour of an increase was a target of “1,140 hours a year, or six hours a day”.

One secondary teacher said: “I think secondary pupils could be in school longer than 5.5 hours a day. With more breaks, it could be increased to six...there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get through all the content, especially in the senior phase. S4-6 pupils could definitely do with being in school a bit longer.”

However, the Harmeny Education Trust, which runs Scotland’s grant-aided special school for children who have experienced trauma, in Midlothian, said: “During Covid, we noticed that longer breaks and smaller, focused learning situations had a positive impact on attainment and individual progress for our learners.”

After providing more “manageable chunks of learning”, it said, there were fewer incidents of challenging behaviour.

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