When we teach about schools in the Uk or schools in the Usa our students are aften surprised when they read about the British (or American) school day. The typical school day starts at 8.45 and finishes around 3.30 pm and sometimes even later than that.
Sometimes students ask me: "What do they do at school for so many hours?" Well the British concept of staying at school and living the school is actually very different from the Italian idea of a school day. In Italy students generally go to school from 8 am to 1 or 2 pm, sometimes they have a short week ( not including the Saturday) but they have some extra lessons in the one afternoon (or two afternoons).
A typical Italian school day includes all the curricular subjects mentioned in the national guidelines by the Ministry of Education. When they school day is over students go home. The majority of Italian students ( especially those attending the primary schools) have activities in the afternoon such as sports, dance or music lessons.
This is the difference (one... of course there are many others) between the Italian school system and the British (or American) school system. Even British or American children practise sports or have music or dance lessons but they do it at school.
Some time ago I visited the Duncombe primary school in London. The headmaster explained that some of the children travel a long journey on public transport to come to school so this is one of the reasons why they try to keep children involved in different activities throughout the day. These are some of the activities that are currently offered at Duncombe:
Some of the activities are free whereas others are no but the school offers benefits for families in need.
I personally think that afternoon activities could be a very good idea.
I like the idea for students to "live" the school and not simply "attend" the school. I think that a lot of different extra-curricular activities could be promoted and taught and also some fun activities could be done!
For several years we have tried to promote different afternoon activities at school.
This was, for example, the SCHOOL CINEMA.
We all have interactive whiteboards in our classrooms now. So why not use them in the afternoon ( or maybe in the evening) and project a film that students can enjoy all together? Watching a film with your friends at school could be an exciting idea for children and maybe they could start to see the school in a different way, as a place to stay and do fun stuff too.
We all use films as part of our teaching in the morning, so why not promote it as a less structured activity in the afternoon?
School cinema is just one idea. There are many other ideas for afternoon school clubs or activities.
"Experts in child advancement suggest that participation in extracurricular activities on a regular basis is the best way to help children develop their individual personality, cut down on emotional stress, and enhance social or academic skills that could benefit them in the future. Psychologists even recommend after school activities as the preferred choice over confidence-building classes" (SPARK)
Think about it, it's worth it.
Thank you,
Miss Alex
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