Come to the first lesson or sleep longer: students at a high school in Baden-Württemberg should be able to decide for themselves. The school is trying out a flextime model for the first time.
Twice a week, seventh grade students in Plochingen in Baden-Württemberg are allowed to decide for themselves whether they want to start at 7:50 a.m. or 9:40 a.m. The high school is testing the flextime model for six weeks. What is it supposed to do?
So that the students can concentrate on their work in class, they should always choose on Tuesdays and Thursdays whether they come to the first or second lesson.
The test runs for six weeks
German and English are on the agenda on both days. The class is given tasks and can decide for themselves: do them in the first hour with the support of the teacher or sleep in and work on the tasks themselves.
The idea for the flextime school came in seventh grade German class. Teacher Till Richter told WDR that they had thought together about what could be improved at the school. The early start of lessons in particular was a point of criticism.
After the discussion, the students finally convinced the headmaster and the parents’ council of the test flextime model. After the six weeks, everyone involved will discuss whether flextime can be made permanent.
High school in North Rhine-Westphalia is convinced of the model
The background is that teenagers need more sleep than adults, especially in the morning. In fact, they go to bed later during puberty and therefore do not achieve their sleep goal. Researchers assume that the optimal time to start school for young people is 9 a.m. – not between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. as in many places.
The Plochingen high school is not the first to introduce such a model. Since 2016, an Alsdorf high school in North Rhine-Westphalia has allowed upper school students to choose whether they only start in the second period. This is possible because there are times outside of class hours when the classes have to learn the material themselves. When they do that is up to them.
