Pathetic reporting! We are not taken to lunch my our teachers to make sure we dont run away! GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!

Sukhdeep, Peterborough,

I live in Peterborough and go to the Kings School. I have several friends who go to the TDA and completely hate it. There is more bullying than ever, already 8 pupils have been expelled, and there is more crime than ever.

I am therefore glad I have not been sent to this monstrosity of a school.

D. Sharma, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

Hi everyone. Right, I wrote a view, mine is second from the top. Right, I am in the school now in year 8, and I have to say, Its not all that bad. 1) We don't have to be escorted to lunch by teacher. 2) lessons are not the funnest thing ever, but the one hour and a half lessons fly by! 3) I definetly agree that not having a break is exhausting, I come home from school, and just sleep, and then I eat loads and loads, do my homework, and sleep some more! But i'm happy!! really! I am! I mean, i dont know why some of you are saying how bad it is, when you live across the other side of the uk, or the world!!!!! fine, its yor view, but dont influence the world saying Peterborough is bad, coz it not! I mean in the academy, what other school has a climbing wall, 2 gyms, a sports hall, 3 or 4 proffessional trampolines (they're HUGE!) and we get coached badminton by a under 17's world champion coach Billy Chen! So there! Its not bad, its gret, and yes it has some bad points, but all school do!

Tooba Malik, Peterborough, United Kingdom

i start the thomas deacon academy i will be in year 12.

it's ok for us sixth formers, we only have 8 lessons at the avademey a week, and sometimes we start at 10:00 and sometimes we start at 8:00.

but it's all righ because we do't have lessons all day like the younger ones. Also because we start university soon, it is good for us to get used to the fact of self study time, and been treat like an adult. I know the younger years might find it hard with not going outside, but if it dosn't work, then the academy has said that they will allow them to go outside.

i tink that personaly the academy is gonner be good and alot of fun.

i carn't wait to start!

emma brown, peterborough, cambs, uk

I am attending the Thomas Deacon Academy in September 2007, I will be in year 8. I think the facilities in the academy will be great, and I think we will have better learning opportunities then most other schools, but we're kids! We don't want to be employees, we want to be normal pupils, we are still kids, and we can endure the hardships of employment, at the right stage of life! I am looking forward to the academy, but only because I am one of those people who always want to experience something new. Also, all my friends are in different colleges to me, so I'll hardly see them, and I have just come out of year 7, which I believe is the year to make new friends, I don't want to do the same thing the next year! The only reason we haven't got a 'playground',is because, , it's a new school, and all, so the governors, and teachers want to make the school look good. They don't care about the student's views!!! In my opinion, 40% the academy is going to succeed, and 60% it is going to fail

Tooba, Peterborough, UK

play is one of the principal ways children have of learning about the world

m rundell, glasgow, scotland

I work in one of these academies, so I think I should point a few things out.

School is somewhere you go to learn. You don't go to mess about. There are normal sports days too, so there is no lack of exercise. Our academy also runs it's own events to involve the pupils from all over the school in fun activities. There is also a weekly broadcast highlighting the events of the last week. The kids really enjoy it because they aren't just watching, they are experiencing it, and thats something kids miss out on in normal schools. Now I understand just how much my school let me down. Kids like being treated like everyone else, being able to do things like experience recording a portion of a short broadcast and have your work broadcast all over the school where they are the big picture, not someone stuck behind a desk ordering children to do things.

City Academies are the future of schools to come. You have to see it from the students and pupils perspective to see its real potential.

Lee, Staffordshire, UK

This is Ridiculous!! How is this going to help anyone especially people with ADHD from which i suffer!! the only way i have found to deal with this is to get rid of my excess enegry allowing room for concentration! i know if i was in the structure of the day mentioned, i would definately play up!

Oz Hetherington, Peterborough,

I'm originally from Peterborough, having spent the first 18 years of my life there, though to be honest, I was quite happy to leave the place as soon as I could. One reason was that I got the feeling that Peterborough was a bit 'all work and no play' as a place.

So I was glad to hear that there was going to be a new school - but to hear that this school is cancelling 'play' was sad. It's the result of electing people without creative imaginations to positions of power. Creative minds needs unstructured space and time in which to organize their own rules for creative thought and 'play'. There's a lot in life we can't teach, the best tools to leave school with are the tools to teach and motivate ourselves.

Graham Plumb, new york, ny USA

I am a year 9 student going into year 10 in theacademy and i cant think what it will be like to have no time outside for 2 years and for the year 7's it is goning to be even harder and that nearly 4 years at school where they arent going outside. It also annoys me that Alan Mcmurdock said to me the academy will be just like having a job but if you have a job you are allowed to go outside and. And personally i dont care if there isnt the room for a playground the peterborough town park is next to the school so just get teachers in there and let us stay in there or just let us go on the field. 46 million to make a school but it doesnt cost anything to let kids like me and my mate outside.

luke reid, peterborough, Cambridgeshire

I used to go to this school, well Deacons School, which is now left under the shadow of this 'Academy.'

You here at school, 'There is no school without the pupils.' Well there will be no pupils if there are no breaks. If its trying to be an adult orientated evironment like a college then freedom is what makes it, not more contraints. They aren't going to see this a what adults and teachers will do. They're just going from a small fish tank into a bigger one as far as their concerned. The schools that they are mixing together are known for not keeping their views to themselves, so if this is still being inforced by september, They will have chaos inside the building let alone outside.

I wish all the teachers the very best to keep that lot under control, ID cards to get in and out of door don't stop kids. There the central park literally 10 seconds walk away, why can't they go there?

Ben Reid, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

What happened to a healthy mind in a healthy body?
Were Mr McMurdo & Co. inspired by Mr Brockelhurst [in 'Jane Eyre']? Brockelhurst's Lowood school changed, eventually, after health disasters. Do the sponsors and the governing body have to learn the hard way at the expense of the students? What about students' mental health?

Will the widgets coming out of the machinery go straight in to the local factories? Or will they have locked themselves into their bedrooms and never come out like overpressured Japanese students?

Baska, Bartsch, Australia

Should be fun trying to convince teaching unions that teachers should give up the right to one break in the day....apart from break time duties.It's never going to fly.

Margaret James, Lee -on-Solent, Hants

Just saying that 11-18 year olds are the same as adults won't necessarily make it so. Alhough they are working their way to adulthood, they are not there yet. Physiologically they are very different. Pubity brings hormonal surges which Dr McMurdo must have forgotten, bless him. 11-18 year olds do need to let off steam in ways that those in their 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond don't. Then there are the issues around learning social behaviour. Some lessons can only be properly learned in the playground, independently of teachers and parents. If kids are to behave and to be treated like adults how long before they are expecting adult R&R? How appropriate would we find 13 year olds having a pint in the pub?
As it happens I attended a south London all girls comprehensive built in the 1950s, capacity: 2200. I was there in the 70s and 80s and we had both morning break and lunch. Instead of one playground we had a variety of spaces to be in. I don't remember it being problematic at all.

Hilary Reeves, Peterborough,

Lack of playtimes, I am outraged! As a teacher I feel disappointed with the lack of imagination and understanding to what is a vital part of the day. What about the governments agenda towards decreasing levels obesity? With no time for exercise during the day we are encouraging children to lead an even more inactive lifestyle. Are the school's policies related to the Depatment of Health's paper of 2004 "Choosing Health" and more importantly the much maligned Every Child Matters act in the same year. The government has stated its intention that all schools should become 'Healthy School'? Part of this award is that ~The school must promote and provide opportunities for physical activity, encouraging pupils to reach the recommended minimum of one hour per day. Is this being committed to? The school must also actively promote healthier choices at breakfast, lunch, breaktimes. With no breaktime, how is this done? Will they promote citizenship? Do children have time to grow as people?

Jonathan Bailey, Tewkesbury, UK

It really is a shame so much effort into creating a school so little effort in letting children be creative. Not all lessons of life are learnt in the classroom.

Tracey Murthwaite, Peterborough, UK

No play makes Jack a dull boy - and putting him in prison before he's even done anything wrong isn't going to help.

John Grove, Helmsley, North Yorks

Dr McMurdo appears to me to be exactly the sort of person who was bullied in the playground, but in his attempts to stop others being bullied he may damage the children he is trying to protect. It is as though his good intentions have turned him from the victim into a tyrant.

Hugh Birchall, London,

Doesn't this contradict Article 31 of the The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the UK ratified in 1991?

Article 31: 'States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.'

'Bob Arktor', Cambridge, UK

It really shows how little these people know and appreciate about children's development and needs. I wonder what they will get up to instead?

David Cook, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

I am speechless I think, and if you knew me you'd realise what a feat that is.
I have complained from the beginning of the Blair regime with itsexcessive emphasis on spin, that this was a government that was afraid of individuality and creativity. All is done in the name of 'efficiency' and 'progress'.
Surely the pressure put on LA to hit arbitary targets and top league tables has led to this authority adopting such a soulless and self defeating ethos.
This reads like a sci-fi short story. ( The Test by Henry Slesar springs to mind). Truly horrific.
(And as for those who have taken this story to have a dig at teachers and their perceived hours of working - try it yourselves. You sound as tho you'd fit into this regime quite well.)

Karen, Beverley, East Riding Yorks, Engalnd

It is ironic-in the worst way- and ultimately pretentious of course, that they use the name Academy for these schools. For Plato, a physical education was equally as important as an intellectual education. Of course for the very young he denied any value to either compulsion or to forced learning -hydrated or not- preferring the young to learn by play. There are many things our educational founder would not recognise today in regard to what passes under the name 'education' but what he would recognise is the drive to lure the youth to the 'state' with the promise of material reward. In this context it is in your individual interest to learn what is of interest to the state. Hijacking the idea of virtue, we call this education: Plato called it sophistry. Little wonder then that Plato founded his Academy outside the walls of the city?

A. J, Melbourne, Australia

Well I am glad my children won't be attending this school. No wonder there is an increase of overweight children in the world if they are unable to move around and play games during break times.
I certainly feel these students will be more than disadvantaged and parents planning on sending their children there really should reconsider. How will the teachers cope in the classroom with students who have not been able to release their energy at break time. Thought schools especially in Britain would
be wanting students to have more space to release their energy but instead it looks like this school is going backwards.

Pam Carmichael, Nairobi, Kenya

In an era where childhood obesity inches toward the top of maladies affecting children, to remove opportunities for exercise seems both ill-advised by sending a potentially harmful message to the students. And a reminder to all...the speed and direction of the train is the speed and direction of the engine...this school will reflect the character of the headteacher and it's NOT a school I'd like to attend nor send my children to. And as an educator myself, I'm afraid I'd not like to work there, either.

Paul Johnston, Asmara, Eritrea

Whether the students become bored with lessons or not, surely they need the opportunity to make friends and socialise? I suspect that this school will create angry, miserable students who feel incapable of casual conversation, and I sincerely hope that, if it actually opens, some of the teachers will take pity on the poor things and give them some time to relax during their lessons.

On a semi-related note, McMurdo sounds alarmingly robotic. 'We are not intending to have any play time'? 'Hydrate during the learning experience'?

Harriet, London,

Oh ye gods and little fishes, this is just silly. As bad as we get things in US schools, this is just boggling.

I would never send my kids to a school where the head teacher says silly things like "Pupils will be able to hydrate during the learning experience."

Dave Weingar, Levittown, NY, USA

There was no playground at my school. We had sports fields but God help the child who strayed upon them if it wasn't a sports afternoon (Wednesday and Saturday). During the 15 minute morning break the accepted activity was to mooch about until classes started again and at lunch break it was more or less the same deal (with in the sixth form an option of a walk into the town to stare at newsagent's windows). Oddly enough I do not feel psychologically traumatised by the experience. I went on to lead a fulfilling existence in the armed forces and am only mildly sociopathic.

Simon McLaughlin, Brentwood,

If there's no playground, where are they going to do PE? Surely building enough indoor space to allow every pupil to exercise at some point during the week would be even more pointless as they believe a playground to be.

Also, someone earlier said that they only have 30 minute lunch-hours. When I was at primary school, I took far longer to eat than that. So will the pupils here, as this is the only time that they have to catch up with their friends. Because they may well be expected to be "never bored", but I don't think that's because they'll be allowed to chat.

Hannah Catherine Bunn, Barnsley,

This is not education it is schooling - where the school is nothing more than a factory production line & the young human beings who have to suffer their formative years in this philistine system are mere tins of peas to be processed in such a way as to produce an object of production satisfactory to the needs of the owners of production rather than as human citizens in a free society.
Most adults in paid employment have a legal right to regular breaks & there is sufficient research material available demonstrating that human performance and concentration levels deteriorates after a certain amount of time when involved in work activity. Even Frederick Taylor, of Scientific management infamy, built in regular breaks.
Yet too many seem to be quite content to subject physical & mental demands on children / young people that they would not dream of considering for adults. Even from the point of view of bottom line philistine efficiency this idea is criminally lunatic. Why not go the whole hog and install the management clone chips into people at birth?

Dave Hansell, Sheffield, Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire

That's one more vote for my idea of having just as many middle schools and high schools as lower grade schools.
And playground politics prepares one for life. There are some bullies; you can trust some not all people; you need to modify your behavior to fit in with a group. Etc.

Lois, Nyssa, US/Oregon

This IS unethical and it WILL fail. In the mean time, how many children will suffer? I recommend that parents in the area investigate the benefits and joys of Home Education and stuff this cracked up nonsense.

Rosemary New, Newcastle,

Playtime is where children learn social skills and make friends, what kind of a society would we be without those benefits ? Maybe I'm cynical but is the land saved by not having a playground being sold of for massive amounts of money ? That would explain a lot.

R.H., Ayrshire,

I currently go to school in deacons, I find this utterly un-ethical and I laugh at the jargon they use such as [Pupils] will be able to hydrate during the learning experience" utter nonsense, basically saying we can have a drink whilst we learn, woopty doo. This is rubbish the fundemental basics are all wrong, children/teenagers dont have a high attention span which means we need a break. The staff need to realise this, Its depriving us of human rights for god's sake. I find the issue depressing as I will have to face this in september. Its total insanity, have they lost their minds? Why on earth did they decide to do this as studies show that test results are higher when children have outdoor time. Humans always need recreation time even adults, they love a lunch break where they can go outside do they not? Its the exact same principal. Students shall be treated like workers not students, But where students so shouldnt we be treated like them?

thats my views on this "super school".

Liam Montgomery, Peterborough,

You can't blame poor Mr Blair for being an imbecile, you need to blame the idiots who were stupid enough to vote for him!

Nick James, London, UK

Nix said "Is this a very late April Fools' Day joke? Surely it has to be, doesn't it??"

This last 10 years had been one long Aprl Fools' Day joke. Unfortunately most of us aren't laughing.

towcestarian, northants, UK

You would be suprised at how many parents are purchasing houses in the catchment area of this school. This school is replacing 3 schools, the one on the site formerly Thomas deacon, and another two that where not doing well at all. Many parents are outraged at the catchment lines drawn for this school which forces children who live fairly near to go to other schools much futher away. I am sure that schools like this will increase number of Home-Educated children countrywide.

Lurker, Peterborough, UK

The involvement of business in education and the creeping privatisation of our secondaries into huge faceless 'Acadamies' is the type of policy one would have expected of the Tories. The fact that the current Labour administration is so right wing that it continues to implement these Acadamies is actually playing into the hands of the Tories, who rely at the next election on people with short memories about what Tory Government means in practice.

Claire James, Ruislip, Middlesex

"There will be a 30-minute lunch period when pupils will be taken to the dining room by their teacher, ensuring they do not sneak away to run around."

Lucky teachers. So, if the teachers are spending the break time escorting students to lunch, I am assuming that the teachers will get no break at all. The erosion of the lunch hour continues...

DH, London,

The destruction of British childrens lives continues apace with yet another Nu-Labour supported idea. Not satisfied with turning our children into neurotics with a constant barrage of testing and performance targets, of turning our children into social pariahs until they become hoodlums and criminals, this country is now going to turn our children into the fearful misery of Pink Floyd's The Wall. I wonder if the band foresaw Blair's Stalinist ideas all those years ago? Or whether it is all just a terrifying coincidence. Vote Labour, vote for forced conformity, no individuality, no creativity, no wisdom, no life.

Jennifer Hynes, Plymouth, England

Disgusting behaviour on governments behalf - nanny state is taking away our freedom. Why do we not make a stand?

Zoe Randall, Marlborough, England

I'll be the first one to laugh when the crime rates in peterborough go through the roof.

After all, if these kids won't burn off steam during the school day they CERTAINLY will after school and we all know that means.

haha.

Thank god I don't live in peterborough.

pete, york, uk

I left school 5 years ago, and up until I left I was playing fooball for 15 minutes before school, even after doing PE for 40 minutes in the gym it was followed by a 20 minute morning break which was spent playing football. Then I finished lunch as quickly as I could to, you guessed it, play football for 30 or so minutes at lunch.

I don't know how exactly a school without a playground would fit in with that.
How stuck up are adults getting that they now believe they can tell a child how to play?

Mark in Warsaw is right. Clearly the entire design of this school must have been rubbish from the outset. Who replaces three schools with one, 2200 pupils is too big.

Academys are good on paper, but bad in practice. Look at the ultra-christian Reg Vardy academy for evidence of this.

marcus, bristol,

Will the employees of this new school act like company employees and cut their holidays to four or five weeks a year?

Jonathan Capper, March, Cambs

after a few years, i expect to see "free range" schools...
i guess they r thinking children are like broiler chickens ...
what a stupid idea !!! school without a play ground.

T H, cambridge,

What about the childrens' health? No sunlight, no exercise? Joined-up-government at its finest I'm sure.

FGSFDS, FGSFDS,

I would not trust any headmaster who allowed pupils to 'hydrate. Revolting word.

All work and no play makes Jack and Jill very dull and compliant people. I'd sooner my children were in jail than this sterile, anodyne achievement-factory.

Roddy Campbell, Christchurch,

This is a brilliant way to further distance boys from any interest/success in school. Boys NEED to burn off energy, NEED the boost to self-esteem sport brings, NEED the competition to become competent adults. Girls will undoubtedly do better in this unnatural institution - to the joy of demented PC lunatics.

What's wrong with this country?

Daniel, London,

I teach English at a primary school in Shanghai. Pupils work a basic 8 hour day, plus extra-curricular activities paid for by the richer parents. These activities are usually extra lessons. When I ask my students what they want to do in the holidays, the first thing most of them say is sleep. These are 7-11 year olds. When they go to secondary (middle) school the schedule is even more gruelling. There is virtually no time for play.
This produces the desired effect for the government, in the form of lots of test passes and good figures for their own version of league tables, to be rolled out at party meetings. What it does not do is produce individuals with the ability to think for themselves, or to think of different ways of doing things.
Play develops children's ability to invent, imagine and share ideas with each other.
This is one of the reasons why China MAKES virtually everything for the world, but CREATES very little.
Watch out Britain. This is not the way to go.

Donald Maclean, Shanghai, China

Is this a very late April Fools' Day joke? Surely it has to be, doesn't it??

Nix, London,

I'm at a secondary school, and although we have pitches and areas to play in-between lessons, no pupils tend use the unstructured time to kick a ball around and "let off steam." Instead we sit in a classroom talking to one another and catching up on what happened at the weekend etc.

However after lessons and in games/PE time the majority of the school go out and play sport, kick a ball around and relax sitting on the grass. Weather it is supervised or unsupervised.

In primary school I think it is more of an issue for pupils of a younger age to be able to play, remembering I used to find this so fun. So this is possibly more of an issue.

So although the idea may seem strange and stupid, the real opinion lies with not the "experts i.e. the teachers" but the experts i.e. pupils. So having no play ground will indeed stop bullies, but a sufficient amount of scheduled time during the day will therefore need to be assigned so pupils can play sport weather with supervision from teach

WRW, Bracknell,

Simple maths shows the reality of the situation.
2200 pupils would require 100 areas for them all to play soccer.
Perhaps it is time that the tiny minority of lunchtime players were 'sent off' to allow the vast majority to enjoy their break?
There are sporting facilities that could be used for 'enthusiasts' if teachers could be prised out of their staffrooms to cater for the interest.

J D S, Cardiff, Wales UK

Never have I encountered such a blatant and wicked example of Labour's social engineering. We are talking children here, not dangerous maximum security prisoners forced to attend school as a punishment. If they tried this sort of regime with convicted criminals, Blair and Brown's human rights lawyer chummies would be up in arms. To be honest I didn't think the canker of left wing lunacy that festers in this land could sink much lower - obviously it can. Then again you can tell what sort of stinking temple to political correctness and Labour style 'democracy' this place is intended to be when the builders start using phrases like 'pupils can hydrate during the learning experience'. Lord help all the poor souls condemned to a sterile, lemming like existence on its monotonous treadmill of damaging, misguided socialist mediochrity - all trained for one purpose only, to deliver cheap focussed labour to the school sponsors and never deviate from Labour's PC agenda - truly appalling !

Bryan, Bembridge, UK

“[Pupils] will be able to hydrate during the learning experience,” says it all really. This is nonsense, even the language they use is NuLabour corporate garbage.
Surely this kind of fashion-led approach to education is now completely discredited, isn't it ?

Mike, Haslemere, UK

“[Pupils] will be able to hydrate during the learning experience”

Escorted by their teachers, sorry, learning experience facilitators, to the “wetland eco-pool” ?

Suzy Chapman, Poole, UK

Schools should run six days a week from 9 to 4 and that should include homework time. Then the children will have all the time they need to play. This a good idea.

Ted Baines, New York, USA

Pupils will be able to hydrate during the learning experience,” he said.

Thank you for those few words of compassion, Mr. Spock.

gwilym rhys-jones, costa del sol, spain

It is scary to think that people who were once children and pupils can forget thier own youth so disastrously. The arguments agisnt including a playground are fundamentally flawed and simply ignoring common sense: 'not having enough space' suggest and unbeleivable level of forethought in the planning and design stage, all the other excuses are trying to cover that up, because they are rubbish arguments. Obviouly a headmaster from the planet Zorg!

Mark, Warsaw, Poland

This is utter lunacy. Even now, in sixth form, if there was nowhere for us to play football at lunch, I would go insane. Do these people truly believe that children will not get bored with school? I'm willing to bet that 80% of the people involved in running this concentration camp don't have children. Children are not just smaller adults - stopping them having free, unstructured time at school is just going to create more truancy, as kids will always find a way. And there will be worse behaviour in the classrooms, since kids can't let off steam freely.

I will never send my children to a place like this. EVER. It is just wrong, and misguided, and heartless. These people assume that because they do not want to have a kick about with their mates, that children don't as well. I hope this forced education facility is boycotted and torn down as soon as possible

Jamie B, Chaldon, UK

The obvious answer is to hand out sedatives to all the kids as they come in in the morning. For the few who are still fidgety, get them on a treadmill in a wire-fenced area. Easy. And cheap.

FL, Edinburgh,

Surely a school sponsored by private enterprise would be the first place to recognise the value in providing student a place to learn the social skills necessary to compete in the modern workplace.

So little of what children learn in school has a practical value outside of education and we merely teach them a means to learn and how to appreciate the value of culture, art and science.

Competing in a modern world against the rising economies of China and India demands different skills of our children and being capable of forming complex interpersonal networks seems key.

LS, Birmingham, UK

This is what happens when business is allowed to run the education system.

"pupils should be treated like company employees and do not need unstructured play time"

Well, they're not company employees, they are kids. The rest of their working lives will be controlled by these grey-suited sad-acts. Let them have a bit of fun first!

Another example of the government selling out on its responsibilities to the country. Disgraceful. I would not let my child go to that school.

Simon, Cumbria,

Unbelievable!

I'm a secondary school teacher in a rather large comprehensive school. We have a number of outdoor areas as well as a large sports field. It is absolutely vital that pupils have the opportunity to "let of steam", socialise with their friends, exercise, have free, unstructured time during the day. Without this, there will be an decrease in productivity, an increase in apathy and certainly an increase in resentment of the school and its staff.

Why will these idiots who seem to be in charge of education these days not leave the education of our children to the experts ie the teachers? Poorly educated and disaffected automatons will be the result.

DPA, Hartlepool,

Brave New World, I love it!

As Gov. Blair is involved I supose it also has a room 101?

Chris Butler, Basingstoke, England

anyone who can say " able to hydrate during the learning experience " should not be designing anything, let alone a school.

G.D., Devizes,

Pathetic, yet a perfect summation of Bliarism - utterly soulless (and the man claims to be a Christian). Mind you - children running around, we can't have that, can we? Next thing you know, they'll be playing games and having fun.

Schools run like companies. Sums up education, education, education, doesn't it.

Jeremy Poynton, Fromeville, 51st State

How are children to acquire 'emotional intelligence', the key to success in life, without the opportunity to interact in unstructured free time?

"The 2012 Olympics will inspire a generation of British schoolchildren to achieve sporting greatness"?
Not without the opportunity for competitive play in early childhood!

Yet a further example of a lack of 'joined-up thinking' which besets our current rulers.

Melbourne Phillips, Woodbridge, UK

Perhaps they should install a few third world sweat shops on the school grounds in order to give the children an idea of what it will be like to work when they leave school.

Steve P, Leeds, England

CAM uk is correct , schools are now becoming pc, nu lab brainwashing operations. it would not surprise me if the project had been financed, partly, by selling of the play ground area to build yet another Tesco.

nt, london,

As a teacher I have to say that this could work as long as children are receiving daily structured PE lessons. The playground at the average High School in the UK can be a hostile place. Give it a chance, we cannot go on doing the same old thing as it is not working.

H.K., Birmingham,

Robots and drones.
Thats what they want us to be and that's what they are trying to turn our children into early.
No originality, no spark, no creativity.
It won't work - the human spirit is too strong.
What it will do is put young scholars off further education. Which with high fees and student debts is probably also the idea.
A nation of conformist drones, who don't challege chattering class nulab supremacy.
It makes me cross.

CAM, UK,

What an awful idea! Surely it is initiatives such as this one that help in the increase of child obesity? If children as no longer allowed to exert themselves physically, how can they be expected to prevent the pounds from packing around their waists? Also, surely this will lead to a decreased productivity, as children need to be able to have breaks in their day where they are free to do whatever they want, without which they are unlikely to be able to achieve maximum concentration - I can clearly remember being at school and counting down the minutes to play time, irrespective as to how interesting a class may have been. How can any person deem that children will never "get bored" during their day of classes?

Finally, the school I went to throughout most of my childhood had more than twice as many pupils, yet playtime occurred without any major incidents other than a few cuts and grazes - claiming playtimes are an impossible feat in schools that size is absolute nonsense.

C R, Edinburgh,

That's right, instil anomie from the get-go.

Plunge 2200 children into close proximity, a scale of social contact and interaction with which the majority cannot engage meaningfully and then deny them an outlet, a refuge, a means of reducing that depersonalising, overwhelming mass to a few friends in a corner of the playground, where they can choose their peers and interact on a human scale, ie make friends.

We pay the wages for the twaddle-speaking Nephelococcygians responsible for such travesties, what are they doing with our money? I'd like to know if they would send their children to such a school. I know if I was a parent in the neighbourhood I would be looking to move.

I despair of New Labour ever realising that they are supposed to represent the interests of the electorate, not conduct ill-conceived and unmonitored social experimentation.

Well, it might not be an issue for much longer... Sadly, the only problem with voting is that the govenment always gets in.

Kidd Garrett, Bristol, UK

Treating pupils like employees is clearly a marvellously progressive idea. How much will they be paid?

James Kellar, Marlborough, UK

Don't you just love the Tim Palmer's of the world, ranting on about classic English education and then, hilariously, can't spell 'here'. Encapsulates the English disease - absolutely ignorant, but knows it all.

eric, harrogate, uk

So 'Pupils will be able to hydrate during the learning experience', will they? One must hope the Head isn't asked to help in English classes.

eric, harrogate, uk

Bullying certainly is a problem in the school playground but introducing adequate supervision should resolve that.

Break is a time when youngsters can socialise, catch up with each other and make friendships. If all they do is go to school, learn and get herded to the dining room I can't see that is giving an all-round education. Sounds more like a pressure cooker environment to me.

Liz Carnell/Bullying Online, Harrogate, UK

This seems eminently sensible to me. The problem with society today is there is too much freedom to move around. If everyone were confined to their houses instead of walking around outside think of the benefits : no street crime, fewer burglaries, no drunken youths on the streets, less pollution. The list could go on.

Everyone would work from home. We would never be bored. We could hydrate and ingest under controlled conditions.

I think this is a wonderful concept!

John, Birmingham,

No playground, no proper free breaks. How stupid! We are already hearing about teenagers who have posture problems because they sit at computers/games consoles all day. Then there is the obesity problem.

Company employees develop the habit of eating at their desk - not stretching their legs soon enough - why encourage it any earlier?
Kids these days need help to develop the discipline of taking fresh air and exercise - you don't always fancy it- but afterwards you feel more alive and ready to learn.
I feel desperately sorry for todays kids growing up. They get so little opportunity to be free, think creatively, enjoy life!

Helen, Berks,

These people should clearly be commended highly as they have obviously hit on some miracle formula if they can promise that children will not be bored at school.

The ability to reverse what has surely been the experience of the vast majority of students throughout history will surely be the school's lasting legacy

Chris Jackson, London,

“We are not intending to have any play time,”
“Pupils won’t need to let off steam because they will not be bored.”
"avoiding pupils falling victim to playground bullies."
"There will be a 30-minute lunch period when pupils will be taken to the dining room by their teacher"
"ensuring they do not sneak away to run around"
“playgrounds did not fit into the concept.”

I can't believe I'm reading this, I checked twice it is about a school and not a Guantanomo depandence.

... Poor kids, I would like to see the state of UK on 25 years time, no wonder child criminality is rising sky-high when children in their prime age are being treated like this.

Jan Ridder, Munich, Germany

I am appalled!
This is an infringement of childrens rights. It seems that prisoners will have more rights than these children. Children need education,freedom and fresh air.. Children need playgrounds!
Parents should stage a mutiny and refuse to send their children to THAT school until they provide playtime. Will blair be sending his children there? I doubt it.
Thank goodness for Home education!

Jan Kocan, Abergavenny, UK

"Pupils will be able to hydrate during the learning experience..." Have you ever heard the like! Talk about gobbledygook! Pupils "hydrating" during lessons causes countless problems and should be banned not encouraged.

Is the school day to be cut as compensation for the loss of free time? If so, there is something to be said for not having playtime, at least in the afternoon. If the pupils finish lessons at, say, 1.45 then a case could be made for this proposal.

A J McC, Doncaster,

Madness. Another trophy for this league table, target obsessed government. School is far too big and the absence of a playground for spontaneous play is utterly ill conceived. Time enough when children grow up for structured days. The Head says that children won't be 'bored'. That mindset frightens me.

Cerys Parry, Chichester,

Children need to play as well as work. So do adults. Blair has Chequers, why shouldn't children have some recreation? Add the lack of safe public places to play, and you have a recipe for misery. As another newspaper said some years ago on the subject of Matt Busby, "it is a simple, happy, natural thing to kick a football". New Labour all over again - diving into what looks like a good idea, and no thought for the consequences. In fact, with no thought.

John Bald, Liniton,

What Miles Delap really means is that “For a school of this size, a playground would have had to be huge. ... so we've sold the land for development"
Imagine spending your entire time at school being told what to do.

John Carr, Colchester, UK

Surely limiting the amount of free time children have away from the classroom will have a negative effect on their ability to form friendships and inhibit their social skills. You would think with a school this size, enabling pupils to form strong friendships would be crucial in ensuring their happiness. Instead of blaming the size of the school they should think of a more creative solution, such as staggering break times for different year groups so that fewer children are out of lessons at any one time. Why build such a huge school in the first place if you're not confident that you can control the kids in such large numbers?

Ellie Ahmed, London, UK

When will they learn!

This school is too big, with too many pupils and the lack of a playground is ridiculous.

And as for the Head Teacher "rehydrate during the learning experience" or is that "drinking in class during lessons". A recipe for chaos or are the "hydration experiences" being sponsored by Coca Cola or Lucozade!

New buildings do not in themselves make good schools.

David Orr, Taunton, UK

When a head teacher uses expressions like 'Pupils will be able to hydrate during the learning experience' , and the spokesman for the sponsor and the school trust says 'playgrounds did not fit in to the concept', a lot of parents in the Peterborough area will begin to worry. 'Head teacher' is a misnomer. It should be Chief Executive Officer, or even Head Zoo Keeper or Factory Manager. Teaching doen't come into it.

I just hope it works.

Filey, Scarborough, England

Yet another fine example of Vice-President Blair's attempts to implemenbt an over-obsessive, patronising nanny-state in this country. 'Kids will be kids' is one cliché about to make headway for 'kids need to be kids,' and any arguments that a playground would be unmanageable due to the size in numbers of the student body needs to be closely examined against arguments that teachers are being left to do their job properly.

All this will serve to prove in due course, is of course, the continuing demise in the quality of the classic English education system. As per the Labour Party copy book, education is fast going the way of other public services - pretty soon, we shall be so molly-coddled that nought will be left able to think for themselves; to be able to make a valuable contribution to our society later on; or worse yet, only able to contribute only insofar as populating our prisions is concerned.

Hear's to 10 years!

Tim Palmer, Leicester,

"'We are not intending to have any play time,' said Alan McMurdo, the head teacher. 'Pupils won’t need to let off steam because they will not be bored.'"

Evidently Mr McMurdo doesn't understand children. Equally absurd is the notion that bullying will be eliminated by having no playground - now insecure but aggressive children will have to resort to psychological tactics in the classroom. I predict the failure of this program, chiefly because such schemes usually fail when they seek to ignore reality and replace it with utopian structures that simply don't stand up in the post-schooling world. Children will be utterly unprepared and far too immature to deal with life.

So what's the most important "lesson" to be taught here?

"You needn't worry about having a little freedom. We'll protect you, tell you what to do, because WE know what's best for you."

Now, where have we heard THAT before?

Cameron Galbraith, Irvine, California, USA

I remember an old school that had no playground. They had to have staggered times when a class at a time walked round the building.
Are the staff supposed to be being on song all day without a break too ? Really creative teachers will burn out.
I hope they have left room on the campus to build a playground later.
If they really think this absurdity will stop bullying they are mistaken. Don't they know what can happen in the cloakrooms and on the stairs ? A dedicated bully doesn't need a playground. Bullying is tackled by the staff and children working on the problem.
Why do these people think unstructured time is wrong ? It is vital. That is when youngsters practise their social skills. Do they intend that the children are liberated at the end of their school life having been directed and regimented all the way ? What sort of child would be attracted to such a school with 2,200 pupils?

Judy Vickery, Leighton Buzzard,

The fact that we have a head teacher who says things like: "Pupils will be able to hydrate during the learning experience," reveals everything that is wrong about education in this country today.

It's run by technocrats who are drunk on thier own dogma and have absolutely no understanding of kids

Richard C, Stafford,

This must be the finest glimpse we will get of the vision of the future provided by our current leaders: children don't need any free time because in the adult world for which they are preparing there won't be any. Every moment of all our lives will be structured by those who adhere to this vision. Orwell predicted this; he just got the date wrong.

Thank goodness we still have a vote. We must use it before our current leaders decide we don't need that, either.

Gordon Cardew, Norwich, UK

<<“We are not intending to have any play time,” said Alan McMurdo, the head teacher. “Pupils won’t need to let off steam because they will not be bored.”>>

<<McMurdo said refreshments, often taken in break periods at other schools, could be drunk during the school day. “[Pupils] will be able to hydrate during the learning experience,” he said. >>

This man hasn't a hope because he's convinced himself that the 'learning experience' can be so reformed as to be thrilling for all the pupils. The teachers at the Academy my son attends had a similarly utopian vision when it opened three years ago. The licence these Academies have to reinvent the curriculum can be a heady brew. Sooner or later this headteacher will come back to earth. Let's hope he doesn't crash and burn like the senior staff at my son's academy who were replaced after two years of experimentation with an idealistic curriculum so complicated and challenging that it could not be successfully implemented.

teresa meyer, london, uk

Dare I say it.. again. The PC boys have now decided that children no longer need a childhood... we will just box them up and send them out as drones. Do our vaunted and glorious leaders not realise that this will create more social problems than it will solve with children becoming even more anti-social and psychotic.
Ah I forgot, the plan is to employ lots of government psychiatrists to talk about their problems.. more money spent.. more problems created.. nothing new for our New Labour spin doctors.
My 2 1/2 yr old son is now talking in 4-5 languages, plays drums with rhythm, loves kicking a ball about and is growing up happy.. good job I left the UK.
PS. Even Japanese schools.. known for being some of the most intensive in the world have playgrounds!

James, Kuala Lumpur,