Length of lunchtime
At the PC meeting held on 28th April, concern was raised about the length of the lunchtime break especially for P1s - see minutes for more details. What do you think? Give us your comments.
Posted: April 29th, 2008 under Parent Council.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Kay Boylan
Time: 28 May 2008, 12:55 pm
I think that the lunch time and the school day are too long.
It would be good to shorten the lunch time and either let the children out earlier or give them an additional break in the afternoon.
Comment from Alison Swallow
Time: 13 June 2008, 4:29 pm
As someone who has worked in the school dining room and is also a parent of a child at Infants, I can honestly say that shortening the school lunch break is just not practical!
Some P 1’s already take a lot longer than their allotted 20 minutes to eat lunch as it is and other older children in P’s 2 and 3 often get much less than the time they are meant to have because of this back log!
Similarly those parents who wish to have their child home for lunch occasionally like myself, will say that the longer lunch time means their child can have a longer break at home!
Infants apparently tried shortening the length of lunch break some years ago.This did not work due to my previously mentioned problem of getting all the children through the dining hall in their allocated time scales without majorly rushing them!I think you will all agree that we all want our children to eat as much of their lunch as possible and not be rushed anymore than they already are!
In conclusion then, lets just leave the lunch break as it is.After all it has worked perfectly well for the hundreds of children that have passed through Infants over the last number of years!
Comment from Nicola Cunningham
Time: 15 June 2008, 8:58 pm
I feel the length of the school day for P1 and P2 is too long at Haddington Infants. The length of lunchtime is also too long for P1’s in particular who have their slot of time in the dinner hall and then out for nearly an hour to play in the playground. I also agree that children should not be rushed to eat their lunch and appreciate the Infant school has issues with space regarding the dinner hall. Many other schools have the same problem with dinner halls and have to use classrooms or gym halls for lunches - not ideal, but we should be encouraging children to eat a good lunch and not to be rushed. Regarding the length of the school day, I feel that finishing the day at 3.20pm, the same time as some P7 pupils around the local authority, rather than 2.45 or 3.00pm for P1 or P2’s is too long.
Comment from Christine Dora
Time: 16 June 2008, 6:25 pm
Since the size of the dining room seems to be a major limiting factor, has any consideration been given to children who bring packed lunches eating elsewhere - for example in the halls in either building? That would free up the dining room for the children who have a school-provided lunch, and perhaps they could all get a bit longer for the actual eating.
Otherwise it seems a bit skewed for them to have such a long lunchtime but only 20 minutes to actually eat their lunch. I particularly sympathise with the P1s, some of whom do not seem to have the social resources to get through a long winter’s playground lunchtime without looking very miserable indeed.
Comment from Debbie
Time: 16 June 2008, 10:23 pm
Hi Christine - the issues of using other halls was raised at the last Parent Council meeting. The practicalities of this are far-reaching however Mrs Swinton has agreed to consider the situation and will feed back to the Parent Council next year Thanks Debbie
Comment from Anonymous
Time: 5 September 2008, 11:45 am
I think lunch times, especially for P1s, is a larger issue. We touched upon it at our last meeting.
If they are given sufficent time to eat their lunches, there wouldn’t be so much wilderness time to ‘play’.
A more stimulating environment with quiet areas for the play time, and an appropriate amount of time to chew food rather than throw it down their necks would be a better balance.
There have been a number of reports (I’m sure that you will be aware of) where nutrition is linked to learning and attainment.
A straw poll of P1 parents on our estate and at rugby suggests strongly that there will be a lot of packed lunches - at least then they have the chance to put something in their pocket to eat at play time.
My tiny tot has eaten the sum total of 3 apricots each day so far this week from his daily lunch box. What level of care are the staff giving him to send him out having eaten so little? He’s never allowed to get away with so little on my watch, but 20 mins is absurd (is this from classroom to back out to play?). The school are in loco parentis and are failing our children miserably.
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