Karl Stefanovic abandons plan to shorten school hours to ‘improve students’ mental health’
- Karl Stefanovic denounces the idea of shortening school hours
- Plan aims to improve mental health and productivity
- Some QLD schools already have flexible hours
Karl Stefanovic is unimpressed by the idea of students cutting back on their school time in a move that experts say could benefit their mental health.
Many schools in Queensland have already introduced shorter school days with the aim of improving productivity and flexibility for both students and teachers.
Some schools allow students to leave early on Fridays, while high school students at other facilities get half days on Mondays.
The alternate setup was discussed Friday morning by former principal Tracy Tully and child psychologist Andrew Greenfield on The Today Show — but Stefanovic wasn’t on board.
“It’s not popular with me, that’s for sure,” he said.
‘I’m not going to wrap my kids in cotton wool, they can stay in school longer.
“I don’t leave work to pick up the kids on a Friday afternoon.”
Karl Stefanovic is unimpressed by the idea of students cutting back on school time in a move that experts say could benefit their mental health
Mr Greenfield said that for senior students ‘a breather’ from study was ‘huge’ from a mental health point of view.
“I think from a mental health perspective it would definitely benefit the older kids because I know what it’s like with the amount of work they have to do,” he told the breakfast program.
“So I think having a breather just to not necessarily work all the time and have some study periods, from a mental health perspective I think that could be huge.”
Friday at 12:45pm at the secondary campus of Varsity College on the Gold Coast, students will have the choice of going home or staying and continuing their studies.
Palm Beach Currumbin State High School on the Gold Coast also has a similar measure, allowing students to go home at lunchtime on Mondays.
Students at Mountain Creek State High School on the Sunshine Coast are also experimenting with start and end times.
Years 7 to 9 students arrive at 10.25am and leave at 4.05pm, while Years 10 to 12 students leave from 7.30am to 12.55pm.
Ms Tully said the reason shorter school days were not introduced across the board was due to logistics.
“The smaller schools don’t have the physical resources and the Department of Transport has a big problem with the buses, so the consultations there would take a long time and it may be almost impossible to rearrange those buses on all their circuits,” says Ms Tully. said.
Former principal Tracy Tully said the reason shorter school days were not introduced across the board was due to logistics (stock image)