Consultations - Aligning the secondary school day

At a Midlothian Council Business Transformation Strategic Group (BTSG) meeting on Thursday 25 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 3 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.   

• Read the full report

Many thanks to everyone who gave their views. The consultation is now closed. 

What would the changes mean?

• Classes would start at 8.40am each day (Monday through Friday), and finish at 3.25pm (Monday through Thursday) and 12.15pm on Fridays. 
• The length of the pupil week for all secondary schools would be organised across 32 periods (classes) each lasting 50 minutes.
• Senior Phase classes would start and end at the same time in each school.  

Schools affected

• Beeslack Community High School
• Dalkeith High School
• Lasswade High School
• Newbattle Community High School
• Penicuik High School 
• St David’s RC High School

The proposed times in full

• A school by school comparison of current and proposed start and finish times
• Class timetables including breaks and lunches

When the changes would start

If given the go-ahead, the changes would start on Monday 3 June, the same day the six schools begin the new 2024/25 school year. 

The educational benefits

Over time, students could benefit because the proposal will: 

• Facilitate the opportunity for schools to collaborate. By aligning our school day start/finish and period times, we are setting the foundation for future innovative practice in relation to learning, teaching and assessment.
• Support the development of our Midlothian Aligned Curriculum Offer (MACO), to support our work in relation to excellence, equity, inclusion and improved outcomes for all Midlothian students.
• Facilitate the opportunity for a wider range of school partners, including E-sgoil, further education, higher education and businesses, to work with students.
• Increase the capacity and volume of partnership working across all six schools with higher education, further education, business and training providers.
• Help to embed aspects of progressive digital learning. We know this is an aspect of learning applied in many further and higher education establishments, as well as in many workplaces.
• Reduce the physical movement of students between schools to undertake in-person courses in other schools or through our School College Partnership. This will support our Net Zero objectives, should help to reduce school transport and ensure best value.
• Reduce the impact of travel and time out of classes for those students doing Edinburgh College courses or work placements associated with Foundation Apprenticeship. 
• Benefit Senior Phase students in some of our smaller schools over time by offering equal curricular opportunities across all schools.
• Make sure the school week is the same length across all secondary schools. 
• Allow further education providers to hold information/awareness sessions digitally for all schools at the same time, rather than organising six separate, in-person events.
• Improve opportunities for staff and pupils to work more closely with Saltersgate School, including supporting students to volunteer at Saltersgate. 
• Make it more practical for staff and/or curricular teams to collaborate during the established collegiate days because the Friday afternoon student finish times will be the same across all schools. 
   

 Informal drop-ins were held: 

• Beeslack Community High School:  Thursday 22 February 2024
• Dalkeith High School: Monday 19 February 2024
• Lasswade High School:  Wednesday 21 February 2024
• Newbattle Community High School: Wednesday 21 February 2024
• Penicuik High School: Tuesday 20 February 2024
• St David’s High School: Wednesday 28 February 2024
• Online: Tuesday 27 February (email midsecschdaycons@midlothian.gov.uk to register and get the link)