Traditional timetable comes to an end: Schools set to choose their own hours revealed
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has revealed which schools will abolish the traditional school day as part of a trial to shake up the standard 9 to 3.
Education
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The state government has given the green light to abolishing the traditional 9am to 3pm school day and running activities like homework clubs after class in a bid to make school pick-ups and drop-offs easier for busy working parents.
A trial will start in eight schools around the state from term 3 whereby community organisations, local businesses and sporting clubs will work with principals to run activities outside of class times.
Schools participating in the trial will not necessarily change their existing class times but will be able to do so if they wish.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the activities on offer will be “high quality” and enable schools to use valuable community infrastructure like green playing fields.
“We want to offer greater support and comfort to parents, knowing that their kids are safe and happy taking part in a homework club in the school library, a dance class in the school hall or soccer practice on the school oval,” he said.
“We know it can be a challenge for families juggling the competing demands of work and family life around standard school hours and this pilot is about exploring options to help with that.
“The pilot will run in Terms 3 and 4, looking at how we can improve access to our school sites, particularly those that are under utilised.”
Schools to be included in the trial include Cawdor Public School in Sydney’s southwest, Orange High School and Matraville Soldiers’ Settlement Public School in the east.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said schools would work out what is best for parents and would see what has worked well at schools overseas.
“This isn’t necessarily about changing existing class times. What we are doing is finding ways to better support students and make it easier for working parents to manage their commitments,” she said.
“This research pilot will give us a better understanding of what schools are already doing, and how we can expand on or implement effective practices at similar schools.”
Grattan Institute’s Transport and Cities Program Director Marion Terrill applauded the government for trying out staggered start times and said it would help localised congestion on Sydney’s roads.
“If I had to speculate, I wouldn’t expect to have a big effect. It could help with very localised congestion in areas where there isn’t a lot of space for where there’s congestion at drop off and pick up times,” she said.
That was because it was more common for kids to go to a school that’s relatively close to their homes and probably not travelling.
Mum Kalliope Polyronis said co-ordinating how to ferry her children Tiana, 8, Jemma, 10 and Areanthe, 11, to after-school activities between her and her husband was really tricky.
“The benefit of something like this would be that (taking children to activities) essentially gets outsourced,” she said.
She works three days a week as a dietitian but said the school run and pick ups in the middle of the afternoon were holding her back from working more days. She would also prefer it if school started earlier so she did not have to stop to take them to school at 9am when she had already been working for an hour when she works from home.
“To be able to start work earlier and then have them there so we can pick them up after our normal working hours finish would be really helpful,” she said.
“It just means you can have more time at work without stopping and starting.”
Schools participating in the Research Pilot:
1. Cawdor Public School
2. Hanwood Public School
3. Hastings Secondary College
4. Kentlyn Public School
5. Matraville Soldier’s Settlement Public School
6. Orange High School
7. Spring Hill Public School
8. Tacking Point Public School
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