You may have heard already but our secondary school week is changing. We’re moving to a four and a half day week from August 2021, which means that school will officially finish at 12.30pm on a Friday.

This follows a council review which recommended that schools should offer more structured pathways in work-based learning and routes to employment to enhance and improve young people’s prospects after leaving school.

There will be no reduction to the key curriculum subjects. Monday to Thursday will finish at 3.45pm and in place of that extra period on a Friday afternoon young people in secondary schools can voluntarily attend a wide range of extra curricular activities through Future Fridays.

It’s really exciting. Some people will have access to activities they’ve never done before, and for others, there will be workshops and projects to enhance existing skills or to learn new ones.

The fresh and lively programme spans the fields of employability, music, sport and arts, health and wellbeing, digital learning, outdoor education, and academic and leadership development to give young people greater opportunities to be job-ready, independent, confident and better equipped for post- school experiences.

After all, it’s your future, so grab opportunities while you can.