School bell

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.