North Lanarkshire schools are 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.

There will be no reduction to the key curriculum subjects. Monday to Thursday will finish at the same time and in place of that extra period on a Friday afternoon, there will be a range of exciting voluntary opportunities.

As a result of the pandemic, young people may feel they have missed out on the social interaction at school, involvement in sport, creative channels and skills development. The voluntary afternoon is an opportunity to make up ‘lost time’ in those areas, as well as gaining skills for learning, life and work.

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

You can find out more  by clicking on this link and by clicking on the image below https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/future-fridays-its-yours-make

Please see the attached letter from Derek Brown, Executive Director, Children and Families re the new structure to the school week from August 2021:

Click to access FINAL-parent-letter-32-period-week-8.3.21-002.pdf