Cardinal Newman Catholic High School in Warrington is asking parents and carers for their feedback on proposed changes to the school day that would begin this September. The school, which serves approximately 855 pupils aged 11 to 16, aims to adjust its schedule to ensure it meets the government’s minimum requirement of 32.5 hours of pupil contact time per week.
The proposed changes include removing the 10-minute afternoon form time and extending morning registration to 30 minutes, running from 8:40am to 9:10am. Additionally, the school plans to eliminate the early 2:10pm finish currently in place for pupils on Tuesday during B weeks, meaning pupils would finish at 3:10pm on that day, matching the rest of the week. Lessons on Tuesdays would also be standardised to one hour for both A and B weeks.
According to the school, these adjustments are designed to provide more time for morning activities, such as prayer, liturgy, reading, and personal development curriculum components. Staff and pupils have noted that these activities have been more difficult to deliver since the introduction of Yondr pouches, which restrict mobile phone access. The school stated that moving form time to the morning will resolve these issues while maintaining the benefits of the phone restriction policy.
The government’s minimum 32.5-hour school week expectation was introduced in 2022 and is now used by Ofsted as part of their inspection criteria. Cardinal Newman Catholic High School, which received a “Good” rating in its most recent inspection on 15 November 2022, is seeking to bring its current B week schedule in line with these expectations.
Parents and carers are invited to submit their views on the plans via an online form. The consultation period will close at 9:00am on Monday 15th June 2026. The final decision on the school day structure will be made by the school’s governing body during their meeting on 17th June 2026, with the intent to implement the new timings by September 2026.
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