Click to download the Proposal to change the timings of the school day letter

Re: Proposal to change the timings of the school day

26^th February 2024

Dear parents and carers,

I am writing to you to consult you on proposed changes to the school day at Woolwich Polytechnic School for Girls.

The reason for this proposed change is to ensure that students can safely access transport to and from school with the expansion of the Poly Sixth Form to include our girls.  

We are aware from our own monitoring that public transport frequency is not adequate to meet the demands of two adjacent full schools finishing at similar times, resulting in long waits for students and congested bus stops. We are also aware that buses are often full when students try to access them on their way to school from the Plumstead area, leading to lateness.

In addition, we are moving to staggered lunches as we are limited on our inside and outside spaces. Due to this we also had to change the length of our periods to 1-hour lessons to accommodate these changes.

We believe that the following changes are necessary to ensure safer dismissal of students as well as easier transport to school in the mornings.

For Woolwich Polytechnic School for Girls changes can be summarised as:

• A 15 minute earlier start time of 8.15am every day;
• A 10 minute earlier finish time of 2.55pm every day except Wednesday;
• A finish time of 2.05pm on Wednesdays which will include an afternoon registration;
• We will no longer need to have different finishing times in Week A and Week B, meaning that the finishing times above are consistent each week;
• The lengths of periods would be 5 x 1 hour instead of 6 x 50 minutes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays;
• The length of periods would be 4 x 1 hour instead of 5 x 50 minutes on Wednesdays;
• Staggered lunches of 40 minutes each for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4;
• Interventions that we run after school will also start and finish 15 minutes earlier, normally from 3.00-3.30pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays;
• We will continue to meet the minimum length that the Department of Education requires of 32.5 hours per week.

Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys, our brother school right next door, intends to start at 8.40am and finish by 3.20pm, creating a 25-minute gap between both schools’ start and finishing times. This difference in start and finish times will make students’ access to public transport significantly easier and safer, both to and from school.

The new school day timings would therefore be as follows:

Key Stage 3: Monday/ Tuesday/ Thursday/ Friday

	Start	Finish
AM registration	8:15am	8:40am
P1	8:40am	9:40am
P2	9:40am	10:40am
Break	10:40am	11:05am
P3	11:05am	12:05am
Lunch	12:05pm	12:45pm
P4	12:45pm	1:45pm
P5	1:45pm	2:45pm
PM registration	2:45pm	2:55pm

Key Stage 3: Wednesday

	Start	Finish
Personal Development	8:15am	8:55am
P1	8:55am	9:55am
P2	9:55am	10:55am
Break	10:55am	11:20am
P3	11.20am	12:20pm
Lunch	12:20pm	12:55pm
Period 4	12:55pm	1:55pm
PM registration	1:55pm	2:05pm

Key Stage 4: Monday/ Tuesday/ Thursday/ Friday

	Start	Finish
AM registration	8:15am	8:40am
P1	8:40am	9:40am
P2	9:40am	10:40am
Break	10:40am	11:05am
P3	11:05am	12:05am
P4	12:05pm	1:05pm
KS4 Lunch	1:05 pm	1:45pm
P5	1:45pm	2:45pm
PM registration	2:45pm	2:55pm

 

Key Stage 4: Wednesday

	Start	Finish
Personal Development	8:15am	8:55am
P1	8:55am	9:55am
P2	9:55am	10:55am
Break	10:55am	11:20am
P3	11.20am	12:20pm
P4	12:20pm	1:20pm
Lunch	1:20pm	1:55pm
PM registration	1:55pm	2:05pm

Should these changes be approved, they would come into effect from 2^nd September 2024.  The information in this letter has also been sent to local bus companies, our catering providers and a range of other interested parties to make sure that we gather a variety of opinions.

I appreciate that these changes may affect you, in terms of childcare or working arrangements for example, and in terms of your child’s education. For this reason, I would like to invite you to give your written feedback by emailing your responses to consultation@woolwichpolygirls.co.uk by Friday 29^th March 2024.

We will also host drop-ins for parents and carers on the following dates and times so you can give feedback in person. Those dates are:

• Monday 4^th March: 3.30-4.30pm
• Monday 18^th March: 3.30-4.30pm

I also appreciate that we consulted on changes to the school day in 2021. I intend this change to be long-term, lasting for years beyond the expansion of the Sixth Form. It is this increased number of students that necessitates the change.

We will release the results of the consultation by Friday 3^rd May 2024 via our website and My Child at School and the final decision will be made at that point.

Yours faithfully,

Ms. L. Williams