What is golden time?
On Friday afternoons in primary schools across the UK, children put down their pencils and instead play on the computers, get stuck into craft projects or run outside to start a game of basketball. Far from just another playtime, this is golden time: a period dedicated to rewarding children who have kept the school rules all week.
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But what actually happens during golden time, and how do children earn – and lose – it?
Golden time explained
Golden time is a positive behaviour management strategy used in many primary schools, although it sometimes goes by a different name, such as rainbow time or reward time. It’s a period of up to an hour, usually on a Friday afternoon, where children stop work and spend time doing special, enjoyable activities that aren’t on offer at other points during the school week.
Sometimes – for example, in special schools or Early Years classes – there might be a shorter period of golden time once a day, rather than one big chunk at the end of the week.
Golden time is intended to reward good behaviour, rather than learning or academic achievement. ‘The majority of children behave well most of the time, but their behaviour doesn’t get noticed,’ explains Jenny Mosley, the education consultant who invented golden time in the 1980s. ‘Golden time celebrates those children who have followed the golden rules.’
Following the golden rules is key to golden time. Again, schools may have different names for their rules, but they generally fall into the following six areas:
- We are gentle
- We are kind and helpful
- We listen
- We are honest
- We work hard
- We look after property
‘No matter how many children you ask, or what type of school it is, they always come up with the same six basic values-based rules, even if the wording is different,’ says Jenny.
Children who keep to the golden rules all week get to join in with golden time at the end of the week.
What happens during golden time?
During golden time, children get to do things that they don’t do at other points during the week. ‘In an ideal situation, the whole school will celebrate golden time at the same time, which gives children a wider range of activities to take part in,’ Jenny says.
The most important point about golden time is that it’s a treat, which gives children a great incentive to follow the golden rules. ‘For example, teachers might run different clubs doing activities that the children really enjoy during golden time,’ Jenny explains. ‘Children sign up for them on a Monday morning, and have all week to look forward to them.’
Golden time might also include the opportunity to play with special games or sports equipment that are only brought out at that time, or to spend time in a different classroom enjoying the activities that are on offer there.
Golden time shouldn’t be treated as another break time, where children are simply turfed outside to play. Neither should it be unstructured run-down time at the end of the week where they’re left to entertain themselves while the teacher gets on with marking.
It’s also important that teachers don’t impose whole-class activities, such as a game of rounders, during golden time. ‘Children are individuals with their own motivations, so doing an activity as a whole class, which some will enjoy less than others, is not the point of golden time,’ Jenny adds.
How children earn and lose golden time
At the beginning of the week, all children start with their full entitlement of golden time. Children who follow the golden rules all week keep their complete allowance. But what happens to those who break a golden rule?
Some schools use large pictures of a sun, a sun partly covered by a cloud, and a cloud on the classroom wall, and stickers or pegs with each child’s name on. At the beginning of the week, all of the children’s names are on the sun. If a child breaks a rule, their peg is moved to the partly covered sun: a warning that they’re in danger of losing some of their golden time. If they then return to following the golden rules, the teacher moves the peg back to the sun with a quick ‘well done’ or ‘good choice.’
However, if the child continues to misbehave and their peg is moved to the cloud, they lose a portion of their golden time, which is noted down quietly by the teacher. Their peg is then moved back to the sunshine at the next break in the day, and they start afresh.
Children who have committed a more serious misdemeanour – such as physically or verbally attacking another child – might lose 10 minutes of golden time in one go, rather than the usual five. Incidents like this should also be written up in an incident book, and the child sent to the headteacher and their parents informed at pick-up time.
The warning system is an important part of making sure golden time – and the threat of losing it – is effective. If a child breaks a golden rule, the teacher should have a quiet word with them, and give them a visual sign that they need to think about their behaviour. This could be moving their peg to the partly covered sun, or placing a yellow warning card on their desk.
‘This warning is crucial because it makes the system fair,’ Jenny explains. ‘It gives children the chance to make choices about their behaviour and rein it back. If they continue to misbehave and lose golden time, it’s a deliberate action and they can’t argue that the consequence is unfair.’
What happens if a child loses golden time?
If a child has had a warning and continues to break the rules, they lose a small amount of golden time: no more than five minutes, and as little as a minute for very young children. Then, when the rest of the class is enjoying golden time, those children who have lost some of it sit quietly and watch a sand timer before they’re allowed to join in.
Jenny argues that although losing golden time is a consequence of making poor behaviour choices, it’s not embarrassing for children. ‘The other children are usually so busy enjoying themselves that they don’t even notice that someone isn’t joining in,’ she says. ‘It’s far more stigmatising to be shouted at in front of the class, sent out of the classroom, kept in at playtime or sent to the headteacher’s office.’
If a child loses all of their golden time, they must have the opportunity to earn up to half of it back. ‘The teacher should discuss with the child what they can do to earn it back, but it should be something restorative or community-orientated,’ says Jenny. For example, a child who was verbally abusive to a midday supervisor might help her get all the equipment out at lunchtime.
Loss of golden time should not be a whole-class punishment, although this does often happen – for instance, when the teacher makes the entire class miss golden time because no one will admit to flooding the toilets. ‘This is never fair, because individuals make choices, and peers don’t have the power to make others behave,’ Jenny explains.
The benefits of golden time
When it’s implemented well, golden time has clear benefits – and not just for the pupils, who get to spend the last part of Friday afternoon playing. ‘It has great learning outcomes associated with social and emotional intelligence, citizenship and PSHE, because it’s about encouraging children to make good choices,’ Jenny says.
It also improves behaviour across the board. ‘When children are excited about the prospect of golden time and see it as something worth having, you see fewer incidents at break times and fewer pupils being sent to the headteacher,’ Jenny explains. ‘It has a hugely positive impact on behaviour.’
Research has even shown that when teachers don’t have a clear and consistent system of rewards and sanctions, up to 20 per cent of teaching time is lost per week as a result of dealing with behavioural incidents – so golden time, when it’s used properly, can genuinely pay for itself in terms of the time it takes up.
Although golden time is widely used in primary schools, it's not always implemented correctly. Common problems include treating it as another playtime with nothing special on offer, using it as a reward for good schoolwork rather than good behaviour, or taking it away as a whole-class punishment. This can make it less effective in promoting positive behaviour. If you’re concerned that golden time isn’t being used properly in your child’s class, ask the teacher to explain how it works so you can raise your concerns with them.
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