What a morning in primary looks like: meeting, tools, projects, tasks and reading

The morning in primary has a clear structure, even if within that structure there is a lot of flexibility. This is the route through a typical day.

9 am · Doors open

Children and families are welcomed; families can share this part of the day with their children. Some groups meet directly at school and some start the day in the park next door. This is a relaxed time for getting back together: they chat, play, have something to eat…

9.30 am · The morning meeting

The door closes and each group meets with its reference adult or adults. It is the moment to take decisions, put forward proposals and organise how to carry them out. It is also the space to talk about conflicts, reach agreements or share experiences and anecdotes from their time outside school.

10 am · Tools

For an hour or an hour and a half, in small groups or individually, children work on and develop the skills they will later put into practice in projects: arithmetic, written language, spelling, grammar, music, the body, measuring instruments. You could say they are our “subjects”. Each group or person chooses a practice material from the selection made by the adult, who guides them according to each person’s developmental and learning stage. In tools, as well as formal knowledge, children train attention, planning and self-assessment.

11 am · Break time

Conversation, snack, board games in the rooms or active games in the playgrounds…

11.30 am · Workshops, proposals and projects

The long stretch of the morning. Everyone works on their own project or signs up for a proposal from a reference adult, in the school’s different areas or at the Pedagogical Lab. As they grow, children have to become more involved in and committed to their choices. Children can move freely around the areas assigned to their group and the proposals that unfold through the morning; activities are not usually compulsory, but the reference adults accompany them to help uncover what lies behind a refusal to take part in a proposal (insecurities, misunderstandings with classmates…).

1 pm · Second snack

A moment to pause and meet.

2 pm · Tasks

Sweeping, tidying, watering the plants. Tasks are compulsory because they have to do with caring for and maintaining the space, and they give real responsibilities within the life of the group.

2.30 pm · Reading time

Every day, before leaving. Reading is there for pleasure and for use, and written language arrives when it grows out of a real interest, without unnecessary pressure. Depending on their age and inclination, they can read a book from the school or the public library on their own, or join the group reading offered by the accompanying adult.

2.50–3 pm · Home time

From 3 pm, they go home or stay at the extended-hours service (optional) until 4 pm. At that time the after-school activities begin, also optional, which take place in the school’s spaces.

As we said at the start, the timetable is flexible, according to the adjustments the adults see as necessary within the group. You will find the full timetable, including early years, at A day at school. Would you like to see daily life for yourselves? Request a visit.