Principal David Hunter said the school was previously like the majority of other New Zealand secondary schools, which have two one-hour lessons, followed by a short interval, another one-hour lesson, a one-hour lunch-break, followed by two more one-hour lessons.
However, the school is trialling a new lesson schedule which consists of two one-hour lessons, a half-hour break, two more one-hour lessons, another half-hour break, before finishing the day with another one-hour lesson.
''The main rationale is making the most of the quality time early on in the day.
''It's often referred to as optimal learning time.
''Psychologically, after that second break, having one hour left before the end of the school day, for a lot of people is easier to approach than having two hours left before the end of the school day.''
Mr Hunter said the schedule type was becoming more popular with secondary schools and was already being used by several in Otago.
''One of the challenges we've had is eating habits, where people are conditioned and routined to having a big lunch break.''
That was passing, he said.
The new schedule started with the school year, and would run until the end of term 2 in early July, he said.
''At the end of term 2, we will sit down and review how it's gone and its effect on student engagement, and conduct some qualitative analysis of how people feel about it.
''Rather than concreting it as a change, we're particularly interested in seeing the effect it has on student behaviour in the afternoon.''
Mr Hunter said early indications were the new schedule was popular among staff and pupils.
''So far, so good.
''We're pretty happy with it.
''It certainly feels as though the day goes a bit quicker.''
