Longer school day: Wales pupils learn new skills

One mother said it was “fantastic” that her child was staying an extra hour at school, but could this soon be adopted across Wales?

In January, 14 schools experimented with lengthening the school day in a 10-week experiment.

The pilot followed a commitment by the Welsh Government to reform the school day and school year.

William, 10, from Abertillery, said he “really enjoyed” extra time and wants it to continue.

His mother Lucy, while pleased, is unsure whether expanding the pilot to all students is feasible and said it could make picking up more than one child more difficult.

So what did parents and school staff make of it at the end of the 10-week experiment?

The schools involved could decide how to allocate the five extra hours per week.

The Abertillery Learning Community in Blaenau Gwent ruled that fifth and sixth graders could stay after their 3:10pm to 4:10pm classes.

Activities included martial arts, dancing, cooking and drumming and were largely conducted by outside groups from the local community.

Staff were offered the opportunity to help run the sessions and 14 took up the offer, including teachers and teaching assistants.

The Abertillery Learning Community is a school for children aged three to 16 and is spread across four locations, three of which were involved in the pilot. It meant offering 150 sessions during the 10-week trial period.

The school says the focus was on student well-being and offered them opportunities to build relationships after missing out on the pandemic.

William has an extra hour at school every day except Wednesday, and martial arts is his favorite pastime.

“It was a skill I never knew I enjoyed and now we did the after school club and we had a chance to do it. I know now that I like it,” he said.

“Usually at school we have set things we do every day like math and literacy, but with the after-school clubs it’s a different thing to look forward to every day.

“Having my friends there was an added bonus.”

Was he tired? “Not really, really,” he replies.

“I think it should really continue because I really enjoyed it.”

William’s mother, Lucy, thinks the idea behind the pilot is “amazing” but isn’t sure if it would be feasible to expand it to all students.

“He absolutely loved it,” she says.

“It was really good in a lot of ways because he was with all his friends.

“He’s had an opportunity to try new things that he’s never tried before and yes I think it actually gave them all a boost.”

Some families struggle to pick up from after school clubs, but Lucy is a mobile hairstylist so she’s been able to work around new pickup times.

Her younger son Oliver was not part of the pilot, which sometimes meant the “minor inconvenience” of a “double pickup”.

“I would love to see it continue, as would William and I know my youngest Oliver would love the opportunity to try it too,” added Lucy.

However, she questioned the cost and practicality of offering it to all students and questioned whether there would be enough local groups in each area to conduct activities.

“I think the feasibility of rolling it out to every child in every class across Wales honestly seems a bit of an undertaking.”

Carrie-Ann Williams, a business support officer at the school, undertook the “enormous” task of scheduling the additional sessions.

“It’s been really difficult just making sure that every campus has the same offering and that every session is covered every day of the week,” she said.

“We’ve also had a lot of issues with Covid and some of the providers couldn’t show up for the session, so the staff had to be flexible and step in and run some of the sessions themselves.”

Unions are concerned about what reform of the school day could mean for school staff.

But she said Abertillery employees liked that they could opt in or out, and the extra pay they received meant they could “make a little more a week, especially with the rising cost of living.”

The children were offered something “that is not up to the norm, that they are not used to and that some families cannot afford”.

She has helped run a Lego programming club and as a result the school has purchased additional resources so that students from other grades can try it too.

Cooking classes proved very popular. “It was so rewarding to receive photos of parents of children making their own snacks at home,” said Carrie-Anne.

Everyone involved “enjoyed every minute of it,” she said. But while the hard work “definitely” paid off, it wasn’t easy sailing.

The number of sessions was sometimes limited, for example due to Covid risk assessments or space requirements for cooking.

There were 30 spots available per session for fifth and sixth grades, with the number decreasing on Fridays and towards the end of the 10 weeks.

“It was very high at first, but we saw them start to go down, especially on Friday afternoon because the kids want to go to the park and shut down their trailers.”

Realistically, could it be extended to all pupils in the school and across Wales?

“No, I don’t think so, just because of the logistics and the space and the schedules — I don’t think we could fit it for all vintages,” Carrie-Anne said.

The Welsh Government has said there will be a “thorough assessment” of the £2million process when it ends in all pilot schools next month.

It would examine the impact on different groups of learners, the range of activities on offer, the impact on and views of staff and the opinions of families.

A spokesman said initial feedback indicated a “very enthusiastic” response from the 1,800 learners who took part.

Unions have rejected the proposals, saying schools already have too much on their plate to introduce other reforms, including a new curriculum.

“This process is not just about longer days,” the Welsh Government said.

“We know that helping learners benefit from an expanded range of activities, including arts and sports, as well as social activities and academic programs, can be good for achievement, well-being and broader relationships.”

Changes in school times, which could mean an end to the long summer holidays, are also being examined.