Junior & Senior Infants Shorter Hours

I too would love to know the answer to this. It can be very awkward for parents. In my kids school infants are finished at 2 and the older children are finished at 3 o clock. For many parents with children in older classes aswell as infants its not worth going home - but they are not allowed stay in the carpark.. It would make more sense for the whole school to finish at say 2.30pm.

The OP has raised a valid question - I dont think there is any need for you to be giving smart alec remarks.

I presume the answer to your question is that they get tired. I have a 5 yr old in Jnr infants and I dont think an extra half hour or 1 hour would make much difference to him. He used to do a longer day in creche from 9 o clock until 5 o clock.

Do you not think it would be easier if all the children in primary school were going home at the same time instead of a 1 hr difference in pick up times?

I completely misread the Op I feel a bit silly now ☺️ I was thinking of the beginning when they finish a few hours earlier but that doesn't make any sense, adjusting to a new routine has turned my brain to mush.. Lol!

Anyway, I still feel them finishing all at the same time would be easier but that is a little selfish for me because I don't fancy the waiting around for an hour each day, but to be fair my son will be bored also.. Whatever about regulations etc, the younger kids get tired more, they do less schoolwork than the older kids, and it's early days but my little fella is exhausted come the evening, his siblings would stay up half the night if they had the chance and there's only a few years in difference :)

In my kids (somewhat rural) school they have staff to mind them after school till 6pm. There are a good hundred of them milling about most days. It's only 2 euro an hour as well. I leave him in 3 hours a week he really enjoys it, especially after all the covid isolation.

As has been said, the shorter day is down to a mix of children's concentration level, easing them into a formal education setting (playschool/Montessori is very different structurally to school) & also fatigue. My little boy has been in creche since he was 10 months old (well apart from covid) & he started Montessori (ecce years) just a few weeks ago. The difference in him in terms of being tired at the end of the day is crazy. He's in for the same hours he always was but the new set up of learning has him wrecked!

In terms of difference - I know from seeing my nieces & nephews that there does seem to be a leap in ability to sit still & concentrate between about senior infant age & first class. Now it is all down to individual children (like the correct age to start a child into school at - some do better younger & others older where the choice is available) but schools have to cater for the general on things like this. They've also had a couple of years as well of understanding how school works & learning so are used to it a bit more by first class.

Bit of "lambha trasna agus teigh a chodladh" in the middle of the day and they should be grand for the extra hour

Hmm.. I think that answer is reflective too of the underlying rationale. Parents need to work, so child care is needed. If children are at home, then parents need to parent and they might be happier on screens themselves these days. Whatever about post primary, in some European states the norm is more for children to start school around 7, the so called age of reason. That would solve the OPs query.

I imagine the shortened day speaks more to resources - one teacher in a room with 25 children for half a day in some parts of the country - rather than educational best practice.

I can only speak as a parent but my 5 year old is certainly able for a ‘structured day / learning environment’ beyond 2pm.

Most private primary schools I am aware of have the same school hours in junior & senior infants as the older years.

Yes there is definitely a difference between senior infants and first class at this time of year, by the time the summer term of school comes around it’s less noticeable. The longer day does take a while for first class to get used to also it’s unsurprising for them to be fatigued at times for the first few weeks. Their work load has increased along with time spent in class. Broadly speaking senior infants are currently refining their fine motor skills, need repetition of the building blocks of reading and writing and early mathematical skills. First class have grasped the early stages of reading, writing and mathematical concepts. Our curriculum is divided in to four bands, children will have four big leaps in learning during their primary education. 1) Junior infants 2) 1st class 3) 3rd class and finally 4) 5th class. September is a challenge for those groupings in particular as they level up in learning, expectations and work load.

Our curriculum is by no means perfect but I think length of time spent in class is age appropriate.

As regards the school day for the older classes 3rd-6th, they could well be capable of a longer day but I’m not sure how the practicalities of a longer day would work. Purely my own thoughts but if it was ever looked at as an option teacher rotation would have to be considered. Pupils would be tired listening to even the most inspiring teacher for longer than they currently do! At least in a secondary school setting there is a fresh voice every hour.