Shoes Make Kids Stupid

 

By Gary Cutlack

A school in Derbyshire has been testing a new learning system on its kids, but it's not iPads, drugs, whiteboards or the reintroduction of corporal punishment -- it's slippers.

Apparently, there's a definite noticeable trend in education that says children who wear soft things on their feet when in school do better in lessons than their black Tesco velcro-laced equivalents. Findern Primary School is now testing the idea after its head teacher learned of the concept of the shoeless school in research assembled by Bournemouth University's Professor Stephen Heppell, who's been spending years trying to

work out why not wearing shoes equals better achievement.

Heppell says the benefits are less noise, fewer incidents of bullying and even financial bonuses that come from cleaner floors and less wear and tear on furniture, while installing a pair of school-use Crocs outside the boys' toilet gets around the problem of small boys getting wee over the floor multiple times a day.

Findern's head Emma Tichener said of their trial: "We are noticing that the children seem more relaxed and calmer than usual. We hope that in time we can measure their progress and see if it has made a difference in their achievements." [BBC]