School bell

Bells rung in schools School bell visible in St Johns School, Sydney, Australia (1872) Typical school bell in Austria (1978–2021) Sound of a School bell in Austria The ringing of a school bell announces important times to a school's students and staff, such as marking the beginnings and ends of the school day, class periods, and breaks. When first introduced, schools used physical bells, usually electrically operated. Since then, modern schools have increasingly used non-mechanical bells which may take the form of a tone, siren, electronic bell sound, a series of chimes, or music played over an intercom. In East Asian nations such as China, North Korea and South Korea, the Westminster Chimes pattern is commonly played as the bell, which is also used in some schools internationally. Schools for the hearing impaired use alternative signaling methods, for example sign language from the teacher and lights that illuminate when the public address/bell is sounding. A school boy rings a traditional school bell at the Tharwa Primary School. Combined intercom/clock used for the bell in a modern American high school Criticism In October 2010, Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, S