Kara Jung: Current school hours just set parents up to feel like failures

The traditional school day, like the nine-to-five work day, is an archaic concept out of step with modern life, writes Kara Jung – and it’s why we must revamp school hours.

Mum has spent all day cleaning the house, she’s got dinner prepped including the latest attempt at hidden vegetables to ensure the children enjoy a balanced diet.

She’s washed and folded the laundry and made it to the shops to buy a card and present for that birthday party her six-year-old has been invited to on the weekend and she’s sewn together an outfit for dress-up day at school later in the week.

She’s picked up suits from the dry cleaner, organised for the electrician to come and booked the kids in to have their dental check-up. She’s already admonishing herself for not looking into where to buy those new shoes for little Tommy because it’s time for school pick up!

This is the life of a 1950s housewife.

The reality today is that all these jobs still need to be done in 2022, but so very often they fit around a family dynamic that includes two working parents.

And here’s the zinger.

School starts at 8.50am and ends at 3.10pm.

So on top of that glorious conundrum of how the hell do you fit it all in, double-income full-time families then have to work out how to pick the kids up from school when your work day starts before 8.30am and doesn’t finish until after 5pm?

In February, Labor promised a $1 million royal commission to revamp the school day.

Now, eight NSW primary schools are set to take part in a trial to extend operating hours well beyond class times.

Schools will partner with community organisations and sporting clubs to provide activities and care before 9am and after 3pm so it won’t fall on teachers to work longer hours.

When I read about this trial today I could only think, how has it taken this long?

It is the great challenge of family life in the 21st century – the juggle.

And, if the stats are right, the job of running the household and the huge mental load that goes with it, still falls largely on mum for many.

It’s just mum happens to also hold down a full-time career as well as the role of full-time primary carer.

For many families the answer is OSHC or grandparents and babysitters. For most it is a nightmare juggle.

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Negiotating before and after school care comes with a guilt parents do not need. Picture: Thinkstock

I can personally recommend a stay-at-home dad, as is the case in our household.

If my kids are sick, it’s my husband who picks them up. He does school drop offs and pick ups and most mornings he makes their school lunches. He gets them to swimming lessons at 5.30pm if I get stuck at work on Wednesdays.

It is a situation I know is rare. If I get caught up at work, that’s OK – it doesn't require a flurry of phone calls and crossing fingers that OSHC isn’t booked out.

I see friends try to negotiate after school care, OSHC booking and the guilt of feeling like it’s a completely reasonable thing to be in two places at once, when actually that’s not a superpower even us mums have.

The reality is that the traditional school day, like the nine-to-five workday, is an archaic Mad Men-era concept that is out of step with the way we live.

And not just out of step in ‘a tad inconvenient’ kind of way, but more in a ‘no wonder we are the most medicated and stressed families in human history’ kind of way.

The NSW trial isn’t about longer lessons but more flexible school hour options and play-based integrated-after-school-care. The devil will, of course, be in the detail.

The juggle between parenting and working will always be a test, but parents deserve a test where you’re not guaranteed to feel like a failure every school day of the week.