More open space in the institutionalized spare time : Students perspective on all-day schools in Switzerland

All-day schools are becoming more widespread in Switzerland. They enable pupils to participate in lunchtime and extracurricular activities organized and supervised mostly by social workers. Qualitative data were collected for a project on newly implemented area-wide all-day schools in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city. The research findings indicate that the resulting structural, pedagogical, spatial, and staff changes significantly impact the social work setting and the institutionalized spare time. However, from the students' perspective, more open spaces are needed. Their well-being is increased if they participate in decision-making, are able to organize themselves and take on responsibility.