Tony
08-Mar-09, 20:50
It was suggested that Teenagers should start lessons at 11 o'clock. See below.
A head teacher who pioneered 20-minute lessons for schoolchildren has said that teenage pupils deserve a two-hour lie in.
Dr Paul Kelley, head of Monkseaton Community High School in North Tyneside, has called on all secondary schools to follow his lead and begin lessons at 11am.
Starting lessons later would mean the end of "teenage zombies" dozing at their desks - and could have a significant impact on exam performance.
Research suggested teenagers' brains were wired differently to adults' and worked two hours behind adult time, he said.
Memory tests performed on Monkseaton High pupils by neuroscientist Russell Foster, Chair of Circadian Neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford, showed the students' brains worked better in the afternoon.
This suggested young people's body clocks may shift as they begin their teens - meaning teenagers got up late not because they were lazy but because they were biologically programmed to do so, Professor Foster said.
Dr Kelley is adamant the timetable change would have a profound impact.
And he said depriving teenagers of sleep could have an impact on not just their learning but their mental and physical health.
He said: "Teenagers aren't lazy. We're depriving them of the sleep they need through purely biological factors beyond their control.
"The research carried out by Professor Foster showed that, from the age of ten, our internal body clocks shift, so its good for young people to stay in bed.
"We are making teenagers ratty by getting them up early."
He hopes school governors will approve the new timetable before the start of the next school year.
Last year, Dr Kelley carried out a trial at Monkseaton High that found pupils scored up to 90 per cent in a GCSE science paper after one session involving three 20-minute bursts interspersed with ten-minute breaks for physical activity.
The pupils had not covered any part of the GCSE science syllabus before the lessons.
A head teacher who pioneered 20-minute lessons for schoolchildren has said that teenage pupils deserve a two-hour lie in.
Dr Paul Kelley, head of Monkseaton Community High School in North Tyneside, has called on all secondary schools to follow his lead and begin lessons at 11am.
Starting lessons later would mean the end of "teenage zombies" dozing at their desks - and could have a significant impact on exam performance.
Research suggested teenagers' brains were wired differently to adults' and worked two hours behind adult time, he said.
Memory tests performed on Monkseaton High pupils by neuroscientist Russell Foster, Chair of Circadian Neuroscience at Brasenose College, Oxford, showed the students' brains worked better in the afternoon.
This suggested young people's body clocks may shift as they begin their teens - meaning teenagers got up late not because they were lazy but because they were biologically programmed to do so, Professor Foster said.
Dr Kelley is adamant the timetable change would have a profound impact.
And he said depriving teenagers of sleep could have an impact on not just their learning but their mental and physical health.
He said: "Teenagers aren't lazy. We're depriving them of the sleep they need through purely biological factors beyond their control.
"The research carried out by Professor Foster showed that, from the age of ten, our internal body clocks shift, so its good for young people to stay in bed.
"We are making teenagers ratty by getting them up early."
He hopes school governors will approve the new timetable before the start of the next school year.
Last year, Dr Kelley carried out a trial at Monkseaton High that found pupils scored up to 90 per cent in a GCSE science paper after one session involving three 20-minute bursts interspersed with ten-minute breaks for physical activity.
The pupils had not covered any part of the GCSE science syllabus before the lessons.