The times that students start and finish their school days have been changed at Biddulph High School for this academic year.

Students in Year 9 - 11 must now arrive at school at the slightly earlier time of 8.35am - and on Mondays their school day will finish at 2.25pm.

On Tuesdays to Fridays, the school day will finish at 3.15pm.

Students in the Sixth Form will arrive 10 minutes later, at 8.45am, with their school day also finishing at 2.25pm on Mondays and 3.15pm on Tuesdays to Fridays.

The school says that the changes have been made to allow for staff training to take place on Monday afternoons.

Biddulph High School head teacher, Elizabeth Robinson, said: "We are adopting a common initiative in many schools to hold staff training for two hours every Monday afternoon. We will review the success of this at the end of the next academic year.

"This has been supported by most parents and agreed by the governors and the trust. The school still meets the 32.5-hours required by the Department for Education.

"This training is essential to make the improvements to our school. Many aspects of the school are already outstanding and this was supported by our personal feedback from the Ofsted inspector. However, we need time to make sure that our curriculum is outstanding and our subject choices remain current."

Year 9 students are due to start this academic year on Wednesday (7th September) with the rest of the school beginning the year on Thursday.