William Barcroft Junior School in Cleethorpes and Woodlands Academy in Grimsby have made a significant change to their weekly schedules by ending the school day at 12:45 BST on Fridays. In conclusion, the Harbour Learning Trust took a brave decision to raise the quality of learning in the classroom in order to engage the students. Richard Briggs, CEO of the Trust, backs this bold move.
Briggs said the early finish is meant to establish a climate supportive of improved educational achievement. He reiterated that children impacted by this school start time change will be given robust support and programming. Both in and out of school, they’ll now have more chances to succeed. This initiative seeks to ensure that students can still engage in productive activities on Friday afternoons, despite the earlier dismissal.
The reaction from parents has been mixed. The general complaint was expressed by Aaran Roberts over the new calendar. He went on to describe the requirement as “ridiculous” for making it harder on working parents. He emphasized the issues with challenges that happen when school days don’t match up with normal American jobs’ hours.
Peter Grant, a parent from Cleethorpes, expressed his support for the premature conclusion. He loved the flexibility it allowed him to spend more time with his kids on Fridays. He understood that the new calendar would pose new obstacles for many of their families. These households rely on a very typical 9-to-5 work schedule.
Fellow parent Demi Bourne expressed her support for the measure, details of which have not been released. The Harbour Learning Trust now runs five schools in total. As yet only William Barcroft Junior School and Woodlands Academy have decided to take the plunge and close early on Fridays.
One school William Barcroft Junior School took a dramatic step in changing its Fridays by reducing its lunchtime to just 45 minutes. None of the other schools in the Harbour Learning Trust changed their start time or lunch hour.
The impact of their decision to pursue an early finish has created conflicting responses from families in North East Lincolnshire. Others rave about the additional family time it allows. Yet, others express concern over the impact it will have on working parents and their day-to-day schedules.
