School Day Alignment Consultation

Closed 8 Mar 2024

Opened 1 Feb 2024

Contact

midsecschdaycons@midlothian.gov.uk

Results updated 30 Apr 2024

At a Midlothian Council Business Transformation Strategic Group (BTSG) meeting on Thursday 25th April, the School Day Alignment Consultation proposal was approved.

The consultation period was held during February and March, with over 2000 responses submitted. 

This means from Monday 03rd of June 2024, all 6 Midlothian secondary schools will:

  • Begin classes at 8.40am, (Monday through Friday)
  • Finish classes at 3.25pm, (Monday through Thursday)
  • On a Friday, classes in each secondary school will finish at 12.15pm.

For those who travel by school transport, we are working with providers to move to a morning drop-off no earlier than 8.20am. Schools will keep families informed as that work progresses. 

It means that the overall length of the pupil/student week for all Midlothian secondary schools will be the same and organised across 32 x 50-minute periods. All 32 periods, Monday Period 1 through to Friday Period 4, will start and end at the same time in each secondary school.   

Lunch in all schools will be set at 40 minutes with a commitment to review this in autumn 2025 for possible revision in school session 2026/27. All schools are committed to reviewing this as the ‘result’ in the consultation was very close between those who agreed with the 40-minute proposal and those who did not.   

A report and details on the outcome of this consultation was published on 30th April and can be found below.

Files:

Overview

We want to hear your views on plans to align the start/end time of the school day across all 6 Midlothian secondary schools.

Under this proposal, Midlothian secondary schools would begin classes at 8.40am each day, Monday through Friday. In each secondary school classes would finish at 3.25pm each day, Monday through Thursday.  On a Friday classes in each secondary school would finish at 12.15pm.   

This means that the overall length of the pupil/student week for all secondary schools will be the same, organised across 32 x 50 minute periods.  The proposal is that the period times of Senior Phase classes will start and end at the same time in each school.  The allows schools to collaborate to develop an improved curricular offer for all schools.

The consultation begins on Thursday 1 February 2024 and ends on Friday 8 March 2024. A copy of the Proposal Document can be found at the bottom of this page.

Events

Areas

  • All Areas

Audiences

  • Parents/Carers
  • Local Residents
  • Children and Young People
  • School Staff

Interests

  • Education