Just as industry leaders are re-evaluating the standard 9 to 5, 40 hour a work week, Huntley School in Marton has reconsidered the number of weeks in a row that students effectively learn without a break. While most state schools in New Zealand will typically kick off term one with a 12-week term, followed by a two-week set of school holidays, Huntley School up until last year, was working the regular state school terms followed by three-week holiday breaks due to Saturday school.
After seeing a decline in the energy and wellness of their students as the term neared to an end, instead of classifying it as simple ‘tiredness’, Huntley School decided to trial a mid-term break in 2023. It worked so well, they have continued the schedule for this year.
In a 10 week term for example, Huntley teaches for five weeks, has one week off for mid-term and then continues for another five weeks to complete the term. This gives students the much-needed reprieve before jumping back into the busy schedule of a typical Huntley week. “Research shows that microbreaks are important to integrate into your day to improve performance, motivation and concentration. Our mid-term break acts as the microbreak students need to achieve their best throughout the term” Sam Edwards, Headmaster of Huntley School explains.
A key focus within Huntley’s curriculum is wellbeing. While exercise, food and nutrition are all key aspects to physical wellbeing, taking the time to simply rest and reset is an important element for mental wellbeing.
“At Huntley School, we have seen student achievement levels and engagement increase through to the end of terms, rather than fade off as observed when we had the traditional term structure”. In addition, by shortening the three-week holiday to two weeks, the academic slide, which most often occurs in reading levels, is reduced. All of this contributes to greater academic success by the end of the year.
“An evidence based approach to education and the ability to adapt to changes in what we know works best for students is just one of the benefits of attending an independent school like Huntley.” Edwards admits that changing term dates can come with challenges, such as provision of childcare, but the success evidenced by Huntley Schools trial shows it is a worthy goal to aspire to.
