Rowena Coxon, a parent with two children at the school, Jenny, 16, and 14-year-old Elanor, admits that she had her doubts about spaced learning. 'I was sceptical at first, because it seemed to me that the students were spending a lot of time not actually learning, but what I found most striking was how much my daughters enjoyed it – far more than conventional cramming.

At Leasowes Community College in Dudley, outside Birmingham, the absolute antithesis of the eight-minute lesson is being hailed as the way forward. Here, classes can last up to five or six days. Students are immersed in a single subject, allowing them to complete practice, theory and coursework in a single block, and – so the theory goes – gain a deeper, more fundamental understanding of the topic. The corridors of this 1,200-roll school are papered with signs bearing stirring mottos such as success is a journey, not a destination, and Albert Camus's dictum you cannot create experience, you must undergo it.

'We are combining the traditional with the innovative; we still teach languages, which is becoming increasingly rare, but we also recognise that part of our job is to prepare children to be successful in the world, so our aspirations are higher than getting them to pass a few exams. The sort of personal development we seek to promote doesn't fit into the culture of rigid one-hour lessons.'

In the classroom, pupils need continuity, not constant change and adoption of new fads. There's no substitute for an inspiring teacher passionate about their subject giving a well-planned lesson.'

'We have no bells here because they create a herd mentality. We want to foster personal responsibility; students can go to the loo when they want or fetch themselves a drink of water without asking permission. The teachers give them a break when they feel the kids need one.'

Traditionalists, brought up in the never-did-me-any-harm system of obedience – verging on obeisance – towards authority may find the modern vogue for individualism wholly at odds with their own school experience. Yet personal development has become the new clarion call across all areas of secondary education. Whether that can be achieved in tandem with outstanding exam results remains to be seen.