A BBC news story about a school that delays classes until the afternoon to allow older students to sleep later and study more effectively.
[n] - noun, [v] - verb, [phv] - phrasal verb, [adj] - adjective, [exp] - expression
9:00 in the morning and Cassie is still in bed. Most schools have already started for the day. But Cassie’s school now start later, much later. It runs from half past one in the afternoon until seven in the evening. Waking up later and getting more sleep has had a dramatic impact on life at home.
I used to get really annoyed from my mom trying to wake me up. Sorry, but now she doesn't really have to. I can just do it on my own.
I don’t see her looking tired. You know even if you're dirty, you feel tired and likely you know scuffy to someone. She’s much better.
They've changed the start time at Cassie's school not because they think they're sixth formers are lazy. The decision is based on more than 20 years of research into the teenage body clock.
The cards really are stacked against them because they are overriding nature by getting up quote early in the morning in order to be on time to school.
Overriding nature? What is the science here? We asked the students to explain it.
Our body clock is located in the brain, in the hypothalamus, and specifically in the super charismatic nuclei. These stars are responsible for all our 24 hour timing systems in the human body.
In adolescence as the brain continues to grow and develop, the body clock shifts to two to three hours later.
A 7:00 start time for a teenager is equivalent to a 4:30 wake up time for an adult.
I definitely think I'm less of a classic teenager. In the mornings. I've been a lot more co-operative and a lot nicer and I'll often be helping out, and I’ll often be doing chores out of a want rather than a requirement.
In my old school timetable, I felt kind of grumpy in the morning, but then I would wear out. But now it's just I'm feeling it all around cause I've got good sleep and good quality of sleep.
I find it easier to concentrate on lessons whereas before I'd sometimes be falling asleep in the first few hours of the morning. Here, it's so much easier to concentrate and just to focus on the work that I have to do.
Schools on a day to day basis are dealing with a whole range of issues, sometimes mental health issues. I would argue there's a public health issue really in terms of a nation of teenagers, particularly older teenagers, that are going to school chronically sleep deprived.
It's too early to say if the changes here will mean students do better in their exams. But it's hoped a wider study by Oxford University will help other schools to decide whether to change their timetable. Graeme Satchell - BBC News.