The London school where pupils only go in four days a week

You may have heard about a campaign to introduce a four-day working week to improve people’s life/work balance.

But there’s a school in Morden, south London that strongly believes this approach can have huge benefits for pupils too.

Pupils at Liberty Woodland School – a small independent primary and secondary – only go in Monday to Thursday, and have Fridays off.

Teachers, meanwhile, work until noon on Friday, during which time they can plan lessons and catch up on marking. They’re also on hand to support pupils online with homework if needed.

The school days are slightly longer, with pupils starting classes at 8.30am and finishing at 4.40pm.

Headteacher, Leanna Barrett, said the four-day approach not only improves the mental health of pupils, but also takes pressure off teachers who might otherwise be working on weekends and evenings.

In regards to pupils, she said: ‘I want them to use their Fridays to explore their passions, whether this is sport, music or for the older pupils maybe their future careers.

‘We have one Year 9 pupil, for example, who wants to work with animals, and uses her Fridays to learn more about British wildlife. She’s hoping to start volunteering somewhere soon.’

When it comes to teachers, she said the shortened week offers up more time to create high quality lessons, ‘which at the end of the day is what every teacher wants’.

She added: ‘Teachers want to do their job well, they take pride in their work, but often feel they don’t have the time to do this. By having Fridays free they can really focus on planning fantastic lessons.

‘Teachers also have more time for themselves and their families in the evening and on weekends.

‘Overall, their quality of life and mental health will be better, which in turn cascades down to their pupils.’

Asked if the shortened week causes childcare problems for parents, Ms Barrett said: ‘It’s something some parents might bring up when their children start at the school, but in practice it has not actually been a problem for anyone.

‘We have, however, recently opened a 9am-3pm play-based Friday club where parents can leave their children.’

As well as a shorter week, Liberty Woodland School – which opened in 2019 and charges up to £7,000 a term – uses a forest school approach to learning, where youngsters spend more time in and surrounded by nature.

All primary pupils take their lessons in yurts (heated in the winter), while secondary school pupils are taught at Ivy Lodge, a converted 18th century manor house with a biophilic and open-plan design to offer some of the forest school benefits.

Critics of longer school days say pupils struggle to focus after a certain time, but Ms Barrett believes the way in which pupils learn at the school – spending more time on their feet and outside – means this isn’t an issue.

‘The pupils are moving around and often outside so are energised in a way children who spend most of their time sat at desks might not be,’ she said.

Ms Barrett would like to see a four-day week at more schools, but acknowledged it might be difficult to implement at state schools.

”There would need to be free childcare in place, like a Friday club, for families with parents and carers work full-time,’ she said.

‘But I do think it could benefit a lot of children and teachers.’

In the US, reports suggest more than 2,000 schools in 26 states have introduced a four-day week – mainly it seems, to attract and retain teachers.

But it doesn’t look like there will be such a large shift in the UK any time soon.

The Department for Education (DfE) told the Guardian, which reported on the Liberty Woodland School’s four-day week, that there were no plans to reduce the amount of time children spend at state schools in England.

A spokesperson said: ‘Every hour in the classroom helps break down barriers to opportunity for young people and our plan for change sets out our mission to give every child the best life chances, breaking the link between background and success.’

The Metro has contacted the DfE for a comment.

Over the past 12 years more than 40,000 state school teachers left within one year of qualifying, Tes reports.

One teacher gave her view on the reasons why here.

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