Channel 4Getting up in a morning is never fun for anyone, but it seems it’s such an issue for this school, they’re considering changing their start time.
The Blatchington Mill Secondary School in Hove, East Sussex, has got such a problem with its students getting up to go to class it may have to move their daily start time, the Mirror reports.
The school may have move its start time to 9:25am instead of the current 8:30am opening, meaning the students would get nearly an hour’s extra kip in the morning.
Apparently the new plans come after research suggested teenager’s are not cut out for getting up early and their body clocks just do not operate in this way.
The largest ever sleep study is currently underway at Oxford University, regarding teenager’s sleep patterns and needs, which they hope will reform the way school’s operate.
The website linked to the study, Teensleep claims:
In adolescence biological rhythms change in such a way that makes it difficult for teenagers to go to sleep and get up early.
Therefore, asking an adolescent to get up at 7 am to start school at 9 am is akin to asking a 55-year-old to get up at 5 am: this leads to a significant amount of sleep deprivation.
This sleep deprivation interacts with biological rhythms, creating a period of low energy and tiredness which lasts into mid-morning.
The lucky school is undergoing a consultation period at present, where its teachers, parents and pupils are being quizzed about the potential new start times.
The school, which was apparently attended by former topless model, Katie Price and footballer Gareth Barry, will propose to finish at 4pm instead of 3pm too.
Ashley Harrold, the Headteacher explained:
With everything we do in school we want to take an approach of looking at research to see how to do things better for young people and families and then implement this in the school.
We don’t think that school is the way it is and can never be changed.
There may well be big logistical changes we could make. Actually, our experience is that pupils are generally quite focused in the morning and there’s not a massive issue with morning lessons.
But we are looking for marginal gains to get a more harmonious learning experience.
This new venture has been met with mixed responses from parents but could be the key to getting teens out of their beds and into the classroom.
A lie-in without getting detention? Sounds ideal.
