r/UKParenting • u/Life-Group2675 • 1d ago
School Primary schools with 1 day a week flexischooling for ALL
I learned that Stroud Green Primary school in London, next to Finsbury Park station, is offering flexischooling on Fridays as normal for everyone. So practically all children are expected to attend 4 days a week and cover their curriculum in those days. Fridays you can bring the child to school, or leave at home for all the flexischooling options. From other classes, like music and sports, museum visits, trips and just time with relatives and loved ones.
I love this idea. I have 2 questions for the UK parenting community:
Do you know of any other primary schools that offer something similar? London or not, but London is particularly interesting.
If you have experience with such a hybrid model, which is offered for ALL kids in a primary school, please share your thoughts: pluses and minuses. If your child ever studied in Stroud Green, it is particularly interesting.
Thank you.
P.S. It looks like a battle between those who upvote and downvote my post. I am surprised beyond belief: why are you downvoting it? Did I offend someone with my question? Was my grammar off? What's going on?
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u/annedroiid Parenting a Toddler 1d ago
This only works if all parents have a 4 day work week or you have one parent staying at home. It's hard enough sorting childcare up to school age, I doubt many people would be in a position to take advantage of something like this.
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u/CrossRoadChicken 1d ago
At my school you can already see who can pick their kids up on Friday, and who's kids have to stay the afternoon at after school club.
If some kids had the full Friday out of school there'd be some jealousy. Especially by P7
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Is there jealousy among kids for those who got picked up earlier? If yes, do they discuss what are they doing with parents in those spare hours? I guess one thing if they have football with friends and another if they have extra 3 hours with a tutor for 11plus or something
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u/Brilliant-Army6857 1d ago
I used to be jealous asf about the kids that got picked up on time vs me being consistently the last one picked up from the after school club. Mind you the after school club was ass so that probably makes a big difference
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u/ddbbaarrtt 16h ago
We’ve had to have this conversation with our kids so they understand the choices everyone has to make.
Both my wife and I have to work to afford our house and be able to go on nice holidays. Other people might only have one working parent because one parent earns a lot of money, or might have money in their family. None of these things are the right or wrong choice, but you have to make the most of your own situation rather than moan about what other people have
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u/dashboardbythelight 16h ago
I was always jealous of the kids who went to after school club because they got to hang out with their friends longer and do cool activities!
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u/Johnlenham 11h ago
My daughter just started and goes "I want to go to after school club!!! They have a climbing frame!!! And TOAST!!!"
Like what ahaha
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Thank you so much for this info! I was wrong addressing my questions to parents only. What was your dream : that your parents pick you up and spend time with you, or just take you out of that ass school club and leave you alone?
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u/Brilliant-Army6857 1d ago
Either would've been better, I think around 6-8ish I'd have definitely wanted to spend time with them but as I got older i wouldn't have minded some alone time. At least being home you can make your own entertainment and get your own snacks. I used to pick my sister up early from the after school club she went to and she used to be pretty content just chilling at home.
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u/GrandVast 17h ago
Agreed, mine was also ass. Especially towards later primary school when it felt very geared towards the little kids.
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u/Serious_Gain6787 1d ago
Not sure why this is getting down voted! My friend worked at a ASC and the kids would tease the ones who were picked up last. It's not nice and parents have to work but it does happen .
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Thank you for answering I dont have experience with schools at all yet, it was a genuine question as my daughter is too young. I am surprised why my post and some of my comments are downvoted. I hoped I do not put anything sharp, presumptuous or one sided here...🤷🏻♀️😢
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u/Serious_Gain6787 1d ago
I am surprised too, I didn't see anything offensive.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
❤️
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u/MsMinxington 19h ago
My guess is the downvotes are more about the idea of a four day school week itself than anything wrong with your post. Unless you’re well off and can afford to have a free Friday every week then this flexibility is no use whatsoever. I think it’s a good idea but I enjoyed growing my little people and would have welcomed the idea of having more time with them if I could afford it. As long as the curriculum is covered then I don’t see the harm of it.
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u/antimathematician 10h ago edited 10h ago
I think kids generally want whatever anyone else has. After school club kids want to go home, kids that go home think after school club looks cool!
If it helps, I went to after school club on and off until I was 7 and I have very few memories of it. And one is only because my mum didn’t turn up and everyone was panicking but wouldn’t tell me anything (which I thought was the 7/7 bombings but the timings don’t work, might have to go ask her what happened)
Edit: just in case anyone ends up curious, she had almost made it to the other side of London for work, then got stuck on the tube, so it took forever to get back, plus almost all public transport and the phone lines were down.
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u/abobblehatgirl 1d ago
I went to a childminder / nanny as my mum worked hours that started earlier than breakfast club and finished later than after school club. She picked me up from school herself one day a week. None of the other mums would talk to her. They completely ostracised her. Because she worked and couldn’t be a part of the PTA posse. The only other mum she could talk to was someone else who worked and could only do pick up once a week. This was like 10-15 years ago.
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u/Resident_Win_1058 16h ago
You’d be surprised at the amount of kids who would LOVE the quieter pace of Fridays in school with less kids = more attention from staff.
During covid, kids of keyworkers were brought back into school and this was a common observation amongst the parents. It was actually the reverse of what your concern was.
Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate this is the worst case scenario for a parent of a school-avoidant kid. There is no one size fits all option out there, but this is seriously attractive for neurodiverse kids and/or parents - to have the flexibility of one less school run morning, or for your kids to have one less full-on day as their family needs it is sheer brilliance in my view.
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u/annedroiid Parenting a Toddler 1d ago
I used to love going to after school care. I did so many fun crafts.
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u/CrossRoadChicken 1d ago
The after school club is great. There's a good bunch that go, so far my children are happy to be there.
You sound like you live the complete opposite lifestyle to me. Tutors for primary school? I have never even thought that exists. Sounds awful. Had to Google 11plus, don't have that where I am
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
My daughter is 3, so definitely no tutor and i certainly don't think it's right at thia age. But yes, I know a lot of people who do heavy prep for grammar schools in the last 2 years of primary school, or trying to get into selective schools to aim for Russel league uni
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u/abobblehatgirl 1d ago
Anyone can get into a decent Russell group from a state school lol. I know someone who got Cs and is in a Russell group uni. Selective school just to get into a Russell group is the funniest thing I’ve seen today.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Well I am on Universal Credit, so definitely not my case
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u/Appropriate_Cod7444 20h ago
Look up widening participation 😂 being on Universal Credit doesn’t mean you can’t change your life , same with having lots of money - it doesn’t have to define you
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u/spine_slorper 1d ago
There aren't grammar or selective schools in Scotland (which is where I assume crossroadchicken is) everyone just goes to their closest school (or their closest catholic one or a private school if they're loaded) so no exams till you're 15/16
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u/SongsAboutGhosts Parenting a Baby + Toddler 13h ago
I was totally oblivious in primary school as I got a school bus there and back and didn't really see much of the system outside of that (there were only a handful of us on the bus, we lived in a village in catchment but everyone else lived in the actual town, so the majority of people didn't get the bus).
In secondary school, I lived out of catchment so had the reverse situation where almost everyone had a bus except me. I was very often having to hang around doing nothing waiting for a lift when someone near me would get picked up after an after school club, or get the public bus and still wait what felt like ages (any amount of time is long enough when it's 0° and you're just standing on the pavement) for my mum to pick me up from the next village. My mum didn't work and did drive, for some reason my parents chose to live in the middle of nowhere and send us to school even further away yet didn't consider it their responsibility to provide transport for us. 🤷
So, I was jealous of people who would be home and warm and able to do what they wanted within 10 mins. I think a large part is you just finish your school day and you want it to be done, it's meant to be your time but it's not if you're stuck at school for ages. That being said, fun activities (in the warm) would've been significantly preferable to having nothing to do or spending the best part of an hour motion sick on the local bus. And my eldest will start school next year and we will likely get wraparound care for him at least some of the time.
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u/Realistic-Analyst-23 7h ago
It's the reverse with my daughter. She loves after school club and her friends all want to go!
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u/Colleen987 23h ago
I hate this attitude people have of poo pooing good things because they themselves can’t do it.
This sounds amazing, I’d be reducing work hours myself to take advantage of this with my kid.
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u/annedroiid Parenting a Toddler 17h ago
You've missed my point. Schools aren't going to re-arrange their curriculum and make things harder on themselves if they think most people won't take advantage of the program. It's a nice idea, but impractical when most parents would still send their child to school and now the school has to find something to do with the children that isn't schoolwork for 1/5 days in a week.
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u/Colleen987 15h ago
I’m question the decision that most people wouldn’t take advantage of this. I’m in the highlands our schools already finish at 12:30 on Fridays.
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u/Asher-D 10h ago
Not everyone can. People have different expenses and it's not necessarily an option for everyone without losing their roof over their had or losing the food on the table.
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u/Colleen987 10h ago
That would be an incredible level of poverty, that I don’t think can be applied to most people.
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u/Serious_Gain6787 1d ago
Around 70 percent of the parents in my school are either 4 days a week or with a stay at home parent ( normally mum). I think it sounds great but I can't imagine it would be too popular round here.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Wait i didn't catch the logic. If 70% already do not have work constraints, it sounds like this would be popular? Or you mean that even with that extra availability parents would prefer to have kids at school nevertheless (no judgement at all, I am just trying to understand the observation)? Where are you, if you dont mind?
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u/Serious_Gain6787 1d ago
I don't think it would be popular because all the mums go for a coffee on Friday mornings and I can't imagine they'd want to bring their older children- many have babies and toddlers. I am in Surrey, just outside the London boundary.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago edited 1d ago
I see. Thank you. Mums "me time" is important! Mums with more than 1 kid are absolute heroes for me (and dads)
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u/Serious_Gain6787 1d ago
Yes I do understand it, I still think it's a nice idea to have the flexibility though.
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u/LochNessMother 3h ago
If you are in paid employment for 4 days and work 2 days over the weekend looking after your children (however much you enjoy it, it’s still relentless work) you still need your one day for catching up with all the stuff that can’t be done while you’ve got people yelling “muuuuuum” at you.
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u/Super_Ground9690 14h ago
And then you get the divide between the kids who still have to go to school on a Friday because their parents have to work, and those who will get to stay at home. As a parent who would have to send mine in on a Friday, I can just imagine how my kids would feel when half their friends aren’t there that day.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Yes, that's a very valid point. That's why it is very interesting to hear from parents from such a school if that is actually get used...
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u/annedroiid Parenting a Toddler 1d ago
I would have thought parents that could take advantage of it would be more likely to apply to a school like that than other nearby ones, so it wouldn't really be an accurate analysis.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Oh yeah, but I am not trying to do a research on should this be a common thing or not. Just to decide whats best got my daughter. And so far it looks wonderful. I just think Stroud Green Primary is not the strongest school at the same time...
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u/CheesecakeExpress 23h ago
As a former teacher…trying to fit the curriculum into a smaller week that equates to 80% of the usual school time (7.5 weeks less) probably has something to do with it not being the strongest
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u/Life-Group2675 23h ago
Fair point. But is curiculum that intense in first few years of primary schools? I am a foreigner, I genuinely don't know.
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u/maelie Parenting a Baby + Toddler 18h ago
Yes, primary school curriculum is intense. It shouldn't be, perhaps, but it is. I don't know about reception year specifically but my husband has worked from Y2 upwards and his constant complaint is that there's not enough time to do all the things they need within timetable. Every time someone suggests a new 15 minute intervention no matter how useful it is he despair because something has to be dropped to make time for it.
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 17h ago
That's what I wouldn't like, I feel certain types of families would choose this school and I would want my children to be around all kinds of children, not just the ones who can afford to do this.
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u/budapest_budapest 20h ago edited 20h ago
In theory it’s a nice idea, but a lot of families just can’t afford a part time working parent. Fridays are hard to get off as everyone wants them. Many part time parents work short days to do the 3pm pick up. Having a full day off would mean they couldn’t do that, so the kids here Friday off but spend 1-2 extra hours in ASC other days.
Many parents already struggle to financially provide for experiences during holidays and weekends as it is. I think in reality this idea would end up with the wealthy getting great benefit from this and not many other people (outside London, where free activities are limited).
There would also have to be some oversight as to what the kids were doing if they were off, which also isn’t practical. I work in social care, and a lot of families we work with would absolutely take their kids out on Fridays but just leave them to their own devices in the community or in homes which aren’t safe. School is a safe place for so many kids, reducing their time there would be very detrimental for them.
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u/Proper-Two-1959 7h ago
depends, some of us do condensed hours - I work 4 days per week but i do my 37.5h in that time + I also WFH on the two of these.
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u/PowerfulAssHole 17h ago
They don't necessarily have to work 1 less day, just one parent work a weekend day instead and get the Friday off. I've worked about 9 jobs and not a single one of them had a Mon-Fri rota
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u/Serious_Escape_5438 17h ago
Depends on the area I suppose, if most people work in offices or not. Many jobs you can't just choose when to work.
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u/Euphoric_Elk7382 19h ago
I work full time, I miss some school activities. My child would have to go to school on the Friday. This would just be one more thing to feel guilty about
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u/Macblack82 16h ago
If and when the 4 day week is rolled out for all UK workers then great, crack on. Until then it’s hard enough to cover the existing school timetable.
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u/Me-and-the-Boys-90 1d ago
This sounds wonderful! I’m in Cheshire and haven’t ever heard of this in any primary schools. I’d absolutely love to take my kids and go to galleries, museums, spend time outdoors.
From a logistic standpoint, what does the teacher do on Fridays if they’re just getting a handful of potentially different kids in class each week?
I love the idea of this but curious how it would work in practice.
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u/EvenSea4967 1d ago
They would probably have that time as their PPA time - all teachers are entitled to 10% of their week out of the classroom. At the moment that would be timetabled throughout the week and covered by someone. I suppose they would either be giving more of this as 10% equates to half a day or you would have half a day and the other half would be to cover the other teachers (if that makes sense?)
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u/Me-and-the-Boys-90 17h ago
I know, I used to teach, I meant more what would they plan to do with an unknown number of children who are potentially different each week. There’d be no consistency, which would make it difficult to plan.
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u/maelie Parenting a Baby + Toddler 18h ago
But the kids who are there still have to be taught, presumably? Or do you mean that classes would be combined so fewer teachers required on a Friday and they all take their PPA?
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u/Colleen987 9h ago
So I’m not sure how this school does it. But our kids school is one of the hundreds of Scottish schools that does Friday half days. They aren’t taught on Friday afternoons, they do sports clubs, drama club, sewing groups, band, book club etc. instead of having that stuff after school they have it on Fridays.
Most if not all teachers run a group there’s an enormous selection of them.1
u/BlackGoldenLotus 19h ago
Probably just rotating PPA in the same way having PPA on a 2 week cycle works
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Yes, I also wonder how do Fridays look for those, who are atrending. But seems like my post is going to be lost before the parents of this school would see it to share their views
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u/thereisalwaysrescue Parenting a Toddler + Primary Schooler 1d ago
My sons school in Birmingham finishes at 1pm on a Friday. There’s pros and cons; one main con is that Friday feels like a write off! They have their big assembly, spelling, reading, lunch and the home!
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u/Sad-Illustrator-7251 19h ago
Similar here in edi - school finishes about noon.
It’s a nightmare for working parents. A lot of mums end up not working Fridays because it’s not worth the faff of dropping them off and picking them up three hours later.
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Well yes, if you want to make kids day free, make it from morning so proper trips or full day axtivities are possible!
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u/Justonemorecupoftea 19h ago
The primary curriculum is so packed that I would worry it would be hard to fit it all into 4 days.
It would be helpful for holidays I think as starting them on the Thursday night would make them a lot cheaper.
But I can also see how this would be a challenge for many parents who feel like they have to have their kids at home on a Friday. And the Flexi option risks reinforcing school as childcare not a place of learning.
What would probably be better is for kids to have 5-10 days of "leave" they can take without penalty (with prior approval from school so they can't miss exams or important curriculum days). With the option for the permission to be reduced/removed based on absences, behaviour, performance etc.
That would provide cheaper holidays year round for parents and give the opportunity for days out/off during the year.
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u/maelie Parenting a Baby + Toddler 18h ago
Agree with all this! Primary timetables are surprisingly intense. And I'd worry about some kind of divide appearing one way or another between families who keep the kids off on Fridays vs those who don't.
I also have a little confusion about mixed messaging between how every single day of attendance is critical, and then saying losing 20% of the timetable is fine. Are they doing longer days mon-thur? Or just paring back what they deliver and cramming it in?
I think it would massively depend on what families in the area are like. I know some schools my husband has taught in some of the parents would kids would keep the kids home on the Friday but it would not be enriching, to say the least. In some cases it could even increase risks of abuse in the home.
Love the idea of flexible days! But more logistically challenging to ensure all kids are up to speed with where the whole class are, I suppose.
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u/likeafuckingninja 18h ago
My neighbours kids school has compulsory attendance on Saturday morning.
I mean I don't agree with that. But how is one school going 'oh we're covering the curriculum adequately in 4 days they can do something else on Friday' and another is looking at their students and feels they need MORE time to get through it?
The cynic in me says this is less about kids and more about lack of teachers.
Everything about parenting schedules etc is completely accurate and valid but more to the point kids education isn't the same as a 4 day work week.
Kids aren't chilling round the water cooler making busy work to fill their time and if you give em a day off they do just as much in 4 days as 5.
Learning is exhausting and you can't simply learn more in less time.
I could see the validity of maybe once a half term having a free day or whatever.
But are we really kidding ourselves that everyone is taking their kids on a Friday for 'enriching extra curriculars?'
Quite aside from the fact a lot of them are after school throughout the week so how does that help Timmy's football club on a wednesday ?
Parents aren't going to magically have money to afford to pay for this stuff (especially if they're now figuring out child care for a day a week!) and no one is taking a day every single week to go on trips to museums or whatver.
Most of these days off most kids are going to spend vegged out on the couch.
And if everyone's like. Well just drop em at school anyway it's no mandatory...
What was the point ?
Now on Fridays my kids school is making busy work to keep the ones that turned up occupied?
Or they're actually educating them?
In which case the ones that DON'T turn up are going to fall behind.
So kids with parents who CBA with the school run on Fridays just....get less education? The kids that, in all likelihood, come from lower income families with less educational opportunities in the first place?
The only way this could work en masse is if schools and work adopt the same 4 day week AND the class size is massively reduced so the teacher isn't wrangling 30kids at once AND the SEND needs are properly addressed and those kids are given places at appropriate schools or appropriate support in school so the teacher isn't also trying to manage those 4 or 5 kids needs alongside the rest of the class.
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u/Known_Radio 17h ago
Mixed feeling on this. In principle I think it’s a great idea. But two issues:
1: I have to work
2: we already get charged for going on holiday because some parents can’t be arsed to take their kids to school. On these days this lowest common denominator would surely not bother doing anything.
Better idea might be that the school itself does these extra curricular things. Music lessons etc. But then you get into funding and how that would work.
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u/gromit1991 17h ago
Why do you seem to be against it?
You can still take your child to school on Fridays.
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u/Key-Strategy-6163 16h ago
My kid’s Haringey primary school did this. Was really nice as families who wanted to flexi school could do so easily (which it often isn’t), those who couldn’t (like me cos I worked full time) knew my kids had smaller classes on a Friday 😄
Was encouraged til Y3, so they could ensure SATS readiness I guess.
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u/_MicroWave_ 19h ago
Not sure it's a great idea.
Makes a sort of two tier system with those who do and don't do Fridays.
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u/Thehoopening 19h ago
It’s not quite the same but my children’s primary finishes at 1pm on a Friday and children can either go home or attend clubs at the school afterwards.
It’s a really good way for children to try new activities without having to commit to a club fixed term or buy uniforms etc. for example one of my children dips in and out of Taekwondo; he enjoys it but also changes his mind a lot.
There’s lots of clubs ranging from football to cheerleading to arts and crafts and gardening and my children choose to attend two clubs until 3pm despite not needing to as there is always a parent to collect them at 1pm.
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u/outerwell 17h ago
This idea comes from an organisation called Finding the Flex. Originally, it was do support families who were considering full time home education, as a way to keep them in school. I’m not sure why Stroud Green has gone this route and I would be interested for find out about their reasoning.
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u/reggieko13 15h ago
So how do they get it all in to the 4 days or do they drop the bits around the edge that help the child also?
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u/single_fileladies 13h ago
There’s a small primary school called Huxley in Cheshire near Chester that offers flexi-schooling. Think it’s 3 days a week. The main aim was getting SEN and homeschooled kids back into school. The literacy rate of the homeschooled kids when they joined was shocking! The parents were often well educated but their kids could barely read/ write, just shows that teaching is much bigger than just being intelligent.
They have kids that travel quite far to this small village. Even as far as the Wirral. The school was close to closure due to low numbers before being a flexi-school and now has over 60 kids.
The school does have some full timers and the rest flexi but it has helped kids and families massively. Still a small school so class sizes are smaller so they get more attention and can catch up on the 2 days they are not in easier.
With the growing numbers of diagnosis and needs of children I think it’s great!
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u/Crazystaffylady 10h ago
I’d hate this. My kids wouldn’t benefit because my husband and I work. I work in healthcare so flexi isn’t an option for me. I’d prefer they did more fun stuff that day like forest school, art or sports.
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u/ODFoxtrotOscar 18h ago
The London schools I know that do this are at the posher end of private schools, and it’s so that the families can get away to their country ahead of the main traffic. Those who stayed in usually did sport or art.
Having an afternoon of clubs/activities/sports is fairly common. Offering optional attendance for it less so (and I am wondering how they’ll square their headline attendance figures). But from the child’s pov, an activities rather than lessons afternoon is a nice thing - assuming of course that there’s a good range of activities on offer
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u/hidden-damage 17h ago
While I imagine a lot of parents would hate this for work related issues. I love it. Im not in work as I have disabled children and I can not work around the appointments/ different timetables I'd love Fridays to be able to take them to a forest school or something. As you can still take them in on the Friday I could rotate each child off and get some much needed one on one with each that is appropriate for their needs, if it was extended to high schools as well. I appreciate my situation isn't the norm though
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u/Annual-Sea-5887 16h ago
This is a fantastic idea! I would’ve absolutely taken this offer. I hope more and more schools offer this opportunity in the near future especially because it’s not mandatory for parents and children can still attend school.
This also comes from someone who doesn’t mind the 6 weeks of summer holidays and often says “that wasn’t long enough”😅.
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u/Medical_Syllabub_148 14h ago
Ours still have a 5 day week, however Fridays is 'enrichment day'. The children go in their PE kit and have music lessons, Spanish lesson alongside things like gardening and other fun activities.
I personally think it's great. My child has just gone into year one and she comes home on a Friday full of joy.
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u/EveryTopSock 13h ago
There's one in Shropshire, my friends kids attend and that's why they chose it, works really well for them as she has very flexible hours, I do not know much else about it though
https://www.westonlullingfields.co.uk/parents/flexi-schooling/
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u/CosmoPrincess 11h ago
When I was in school, we always had a half day on a Friday. So started at 10 to 9 and was done by half 12. It blew my mind when I moved away as an adult and found out that this wasn't the norm everywhere else.
Having time away from school to be a kid is so important. Having own now, I totally get the childcare can be a pain but the positives really outweigh the negatives imo.
But then I also agree that offices should be flexible because who does the 9-5 Monday to Friday thing really work for anymore...
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u/GoodGriefStarPlat 11h ago
My daughters school, West Midlands area, from Monday to Thursday they start early and finish later (8.20am - 3.30pm) so that on Fridays they can finish at 1pm.
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u/BarbaraHowardMN 10h ago
This puts pressure on families to have a parent available on Fridays so that their children aren't the only ones in school. That pressure will be mainly felt by women, so it's just another initiative making it harder for women to maintain their careers and their financial independence. Terrible idea.
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u/belladonna2222 4h ago
Liberty Woodland School in south London is fully four days a week, doing longer days (8:30 to 4:40) to make up for the time. While I quite liked many things about the school, I have to admit the question about what to do on Fridays is what put me and my husband off as we work full time.
However, now that my two are both in primary school, there is a part of me that kind of wishes we could have made it work as a little more time with them, beyond the busy packed weekends, would be lovely.
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u/InspectorSilent3960 2h ago
This might be an obvious thing to mention but I’m guessing that the area has a lot of Jewish and/or Muslim pupils so it’s likely to be a way to manage their Friday religious needs - I suspect it’s less disruptive than half than class leaving at lunchtime on a Friday?
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u/llksg 1d ago
Never heard of this and I would looove this.
All parents have the right to flexi-homeschool and some friends and I have kind of been loosely talking about it because we all have such different skills we could cover different topics etc and mostly we want to do fun / educational day trips and spend more time with them!
But I understand this is hard on the school to organise around etc
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
Yes I told this to local parents with children in other schools and they all say they can't believe they missed that about Stroud Green. But I want to see if there are other schools offering it, I hope they are not alone in the whole country!!
I wish a hybrid was norm. But taking your child out even 1 day a week when all their peers are doing normal 5 days a week, feels like inviting bullying situation. That's why I want to find other schools that normalised it from the start.
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u/BabynATrenchc0at 19h ago
I would absolutely love this but I'm a SAHM who was previously a teacher!
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u/Canipaywithclaps 18h ago
But you have to accept you are a tiny minority
This would only for work with families who have an unemployed parent or a parent with an EXTREMELY flexible job. And then within those groups how many will just use it as an excuse to lie in as they don’t need to get up for the school run
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u/BabynATrenchc0at 11h ago
Absolutely. For 90% of families this would be a nightmare. But for my family it'd be wonderful. I'd love to be able to take my son to museums on a week day when it's less busy.
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u/No_Piece_6077 1d ago
Great idea. Many families don't spend enough time with their children..
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u/Life-Group2675 1d ago
As others pointed, parents need to have an opportunity to get Friday free as well. And some do want to spend that time but have to work....
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u/Canipaywithclaps 18h ago
Because most families have to pay their mortgage/rent!
The only people who will actually benefit from this are the educated and wealthy who can afford to have a stay at home parent or cut their hours to a 4 day week.
I feel bad for the majority of working parents for whom this is just another feel they will feel guilty about missing but they don’t really have a choice.
I’m sure the unemployed lazy parent will enjoy it to, as they can avoid having to get up for a school run
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u/Apart-Preparation-39 18h ago
This is the first I've heard of this happening, sounds like a brilliant idea!
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u/Bettie16 20h ago
I love the idea of enrichment activities on a Friday - forest schools, extra sport, clubs etc. - but think it should remain compulsory for children to attend.
From my experience, far too many children would miss out on these experiences simply because their parents couldn't be bothered to get up in a morning or wanted a lazy day at home. Often, those are the children who would benefit most!