Students get to sleep in while their teachers learn

Western Springs College will soon start each Tuesday at 10am instead of 9am. Photo / Richard Robinson

An Auckland college is to delay the start of the school day by an hour once a week so staff can undergo curriculum and professional development training.

From the start of term two, Western Springs College, which has nearly 1000 students, will start each Tuesday at 10am instead of 9am - much to the delight of sleepy teenage students who can't wait to grab an extra hour's sleep.

Principal Ken Havill said the delayed start, which was endorsed by the board of trustees, would enable teachers to undertake training to manage the implementation of the new curriculum for Year 9 and 10 students which comes into effect next year.

Mr Havill said disruption to students would be minimal, with each of the four lessons in the day finishing five minutes earlier.

Morning interval would also be cancelled as students weren't starting till mid-morning, and the day - which currently finishes at 2.50pm for teacher meetings - would now go till 3.15pm.

In a newsletter sent home to parents Mr Havill said "a decision of this nature is not made lightly".

"This decision reflects the complexity of the challenges posed by the new curriculum document and a recognition on the part of WSC that high quality delivery cannot be reasonably expected without putting in place the structures to support implementation."

Speaking to the Herald, Mr Havill said he had not received any complaints from parents about changing the hours of the school day.

Board of trustees chairman Trevor Crosby said the board discussed at length how the school could provide teachers with the time they needed for professional development.

Finishing earlier in the day and training in the afternoon was one possible option but there was a concern about students "congregating and not going home" after the day finished.

It was decided starting the school day later in the morning was the best option - this was in part based on research about teenagers' learning habits first thing in the morning.

"Research shows for students learning a later start doesn't actually cause harm to students and it may actually be beneficial."

Parents and students the Herald spoke to yesterday tended to agree.

"What they say about teenagers is quite true - that their brains aren't really engaging at 9am," said one mother who was picking her child up from school yesterday.

Ministry of Education northern regional manager Bruce Adin said a small number of boards of trustees have decided to use flexible timetabling.

As long as schools are open for two hours before and two hours after lunch there wasn't a problem what time they started the day.