Scotch College

Ringing in the changes

The Senior School rings in a new set of bell times.

Words: Stephen Kong • Dean of Students

Over many, many years they have become part of Senior School life at Scotch, but from the start of the School year, short-period days and early finishes on Thursdays for cadets and other activities have become things of the past.

The Senior School has rung in a new set of bell times. There is now a fixed-length day, with period one commencing at 8.35am and period six concluding at 3.15pm. Students and teachers no longer have to check what day of the week it is in order to determine when a period starts, or when the lunch break will occur.

The basis for all this is common period length (45 minutes) throughout the school week, to aid in planning, teaching and assessing. In addition, late finishes to sports training, especially in winter, were causing concern.

The changeover time between periods has been increased from four to five minutes. This is in response to the growth in campus facilities over recent decades, which has made it difficult to move between some teaching areas in four minutes.

Consultation with the Junior School and music school staff was undertaken to ensure minimum disruption to their programs, and some Senior School sports teams with training before School have had to modify their times.

There has been a very smooth transition to the new times, with approval from staff as well as students.