Primary schools stagger start times to fit in with parents' busy schedules

The pupils in Plymouth, Devon, can now start lessons at 7.45am or 11am rather than the traditional 8.45am, depending on which suits best.

The revolutionary fuor-week pilot scheme involving a split teaching day is being funded by the Department of Education.

If successful could have ramifications for schools across the country.

The voluntary two-tier day is being trialled at Southway Primary school and Tamerton Vale Primary, plus Langley Infants and Langley Junior schools.

After consultation with parents 50 pupils in Year 2 and Year 5 from the schools have opted to abandon the traditional timetable and start lessons at times different from the traditional 8.45am start.

Around 30 of the group have opted for the 7.45am to 1pm classes run at Southway School and the remaining 20 chose the later 11am to 4.30pm day at Tamerton Vale Primary.

All groups will be tested before and after the pilot in order to assess whether pupils' learning capacities have been enhanced by working at different times.

Parents who have volunteered their children will keep diaries of their progress to record any problems such as children being overtired. Mark Lees, headteacher of Southway Primary, said: "This is the first scheme of its kind in the country we believe.

"Reseach says different children learn better at different times of the day.

"And many parents are shift workers and have problems getting children to school in the morning too.

"Many pupils join breakfast clubs and after-school clubs, usually to help fit-in with their parents' work shifts.

"This experiment is a response to that and has aroused a lot of interest from our parents and other schools around the country."

Mr Lees said the results could have far reaching effect because the four Southway schools are to be amalgamated onto two sites in 2009 and the new schools' classroom design could depend on the outcome of the experiment.

He also said two teachers and two teaching assistants had been taken on for the duration of the scheme. "The results of the experiment will be published around October and we will evaluate whether to continue or not from there.

"But this has already had a big impact on pupils and staff at all four schools."

Most parents of the experimental group have opted for their children to also attend extra-curricular activities a the schools.

For those in the earlier classes those activities are after lessons from 2pm to 4pm, for the later classes it is before lessons from 9am to 11am.

Sally Cresswell, Tamerton Vale school acting head said: "There is greater demand for the earlier shift rather than the later shift, though that may be because it is summer and the mornings are very light anyway.

"I think we will learn some very useful things from it."