Does your child skip lunch due to queues?

[Schoolcanteen]

DC’s school has 1,600 pupils. Lunch is at 1.20 -2.20 for all of them, so many are ravenous already. There is one period after lunch, so I understand why many might just wait until they get home or get something on
the way home, due to the queues and late lunchtime. The canteen opens at 8.10, but the playground line up to go to class finishes by 8.20, so it’s a bit pointless trying to get something for later. How hungry is your child and have you made the reluctant switch to packed lunches? Is our school an outlier in trying to cater for this many kids in such a short window or is this just how things are? There are also a few food vans dotted around, but the queues are very long too.

Same here, my son and the other Sen children get to go 5 minutes early, before that he had lunch from home but he hated cold food and felt embarrassed eating from a flask so thankfully he gets to go early now.

30 odd years ago, at my school, most oeople brought a packed lunch. A sandwich, bag of crisps and a piece of fruit ignored by many. The canteen was expensive and not great.

At DDs school... only two year groups share a lunch (7&9, 8&10 and Yr11 has a Common Room). In the main canteen, theres two separate counters, plus one selling prepacked sandwiches and pasta pots etc. According to DD, a year group can get through in 15 mins.
They take packed lunch because the food is still crap.

I doubt that these large secondary schools have ever been nice places. I'm all for teachers being good compassionate people but they have to be able to work a difficult job in these harsh environments. Most won't have the capacity to also be concerned about what the pupils are eating at lunch time.

The kids cant do that because there isn't time to even eat a packed lunch. I seriously question the morality of any adult who could sit their chomping away while children skip meals.

There are children quite literally starving right now and we all accept it and “chomp away” because we can’t do anything about it.

Not in our workplace where we will then expect the same kids to follow rules and concentrate on our lessons knowing they probably haven't eaten since this morning, if at all.

I have never worked anywhere where there isn't time for children to eat a packed lunch. Staff often don't get the time but children always do. What they tell their parents might be a bit different. 'I didn't have time to eat the packed lunch' gets them out of trouble. 'I rejected the healthy sandwich you lovingly made for me because I wasn't hungry after scoffing Haribo that I bought on the way to school' doesn't go down very well.

It’s 30 minutes for 800ish kids at our secondary.
They used to do pre-order but then the queue for that was huge so now you can only pre-order certain items.
Mine get a snack from the canteen at break and take a packed lunch, neither of them really like the school lunch offerings much.

Or "I spent 30 minutes dicking around with my mates and only opened my lunchbox 2 mins before the bell"

Read this thread. They likely scoff haribo due to this very issue

Ours only have half hour for lunch and also just one lesson afterwards. They either take a sandwich or grab a meal deal en route. Usually eat in first break as both refuse breakfast , and then wait until they get home.

The queueing is insane, plus some of the kids will just barge through, shoving smaller kids out of the way. Not sure what staff ‘monitor’, if at all, but no one intervenes. My kids don’t go near the canteen anymore - it’s carnage!

However, there is no other indoor area to eat packed lunches and they have to be outside unless they are silent in the library and they can’t eat or drink there. Fortunately, some of the outdoor walk ways are covered. They can only stay inside if it is tipping down, drizzle / cold etc doesn’t count.

We had

This was unheard of years ago. Is it a mix of bigger schools and/or shorter lunchtimes? Why did it used to work? It’s so horrible, especially for children who are meant to have access to fsm as a PP said. Schools could at least be honest about it eg we have capacity for years x and y on a Monday and Tuesday, years an and b on Wednesday and Thursday etc.

Didn’t kids used to go home for lunch?

I think in some schools kids did. We weren’t allowed offsite until 6th form.

When I was at secondray it was an hour for lunch which often felt too long and enough space for everyone to eat in canteens.

DC had 30 minutes which sort of worked but the space for eating too small - older kids they staggered breaks and lunch which cause timetable issues youngest they stopped then insisted packed lunches had to eat outside with limited cover all weathers which as revisons and cubs also happen in those 30 minuets started to be an issue.

My DC often ate in break if they could grab somewhere quiet rather than lunch.

Toiltets also locked and only one set unlocked often late so huge queues.

I think youngest was very glad to start college and get away from it all.

In the early days we would send in extra food with them, a wrap, snacks anything they asked for so at least they had something to eat. If they didn’t eat it because they got lunch that was fine. Now they are more use to the queues and set ups they seem to be doing fine. They have the canteen which is small and an outside hub which sells sandwiches, pots of pasta etc. I’m not sure if packed lunches need to be eaten inside, I assume not as the kids who buy from the hub eat outside.

I do think it ridiculous how little time they get for lunch, 40mins at DDs school and lack of order. At my high school lunch was the same time but went in year group where a bell rang in the yard to let us know which group was next to head to the lunch room.

It wouldn't be popular but offering less choice.

So one meat main, one veg main then a few meal deal type lunches so a child not wanting that day's hot food gets a paper bag to put a sandwich and a snack in.

Obviously this ignores SEN and a lot of dietary needs.

Or go the other way like France with a 2 hour lunch break. But then you will need someone to supervise.

Schools had longer lunches years ago. It was only recently when the government extended the number of hours kids have to be in school, and most secondary schools just cut the lunch time. Many had already cut lunch times as longer lunches are when behaviour goes down hill. Unstructured times of day can be a struggle for many. Then I suspect there’s been a cut in employing lunch staff. Schools used to have dinner ladies supervising lunches but now it seems to be school staff on a rota. Teacher unions are up in arms about this as it is not something a qualified teacher should be doing as it doesn’t require a teaching degree. Teachers are only directed a certain number of hours and those are already over when teaching and meetings and parents evenings are factored in. Many schools are still expecting teachers to cover lunch though.

Yes, this happened originally in COVID with staggered sittings, or more staggered than usual with 11 form intake secondary. I just make them packed lunches or they do, ones left and one in sixth form now and have just done packed lunches since then basically. Or money for the chicken shop! I definitely noticed even paying into school account six years ago they just didn't get a chance at the hot lunch hence we swerved to packed.

@TartanTwit11 form intake?! That’s huge. 30 in each class? How long is the lunch period? Does everyone go at the same time?

Yup 11 form entry and I don't know exactly how long the lunch windows are but not realistically long enough for either kid to get fed.

At DD's secondary lunch time was 40 mins. She said 15 mins was usually spent getting to, waiting in a long queue and the toilets. Taking a packed lunch meant she had it with her, and could eat something at breaktime and the rest with whatever time she had at lunch time.

During the last two years, she tended to bring most of her lunch home as she was doing extra classes every lunchtime to complete coursework/extra curricular linked with her first choice of job, or extra support offered by teachers. She just didn't have time to eat, so I tailored her lunchbox to items that'd keep, but at least she had them with her if she wanted (fruit/nuts/cereal bars - occasional crisps/biscuits) and I'd add a sandwich or something on toast later if she wanted. She'd then have her cooked meal three hours later, but would eat it all.

I was totally put off one of the schools I looked around as they said they only did a 30 minute lunch for 800 odd pupils. The kids doing the tour said they barely had a chance to eat. Apparently they had cut down the lunch break to avoid trouble and antisocial behaviour. That really stuck in my mind. Contrast that with the private schools who all seemed to have at least 1hour 30 so there was an option to do clubs plus eat.

Spot the bloody teacher bashers as usual. You may find they are running clubs, interventions, supporting kids with issues, as well as planning, marking.
split lunches are an absolute pain because a) timetabling become a nightmare
teacher A has year 7 before lunch so has an early lunch break with them, but then has an unused slot as they have year 11 after lunch, or the converse, teacher B has year 11 before lunch so has to have the later lunch slot, but is needed to teach year 7 at that point. B) the kids on break disrupt all teaching for those not on break, affects all years. C) Lunchtimes become really short, so there tend to be no clubs, so no enrichment which adversely effects kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.

So sad to see this. Many years ago Our school wasn’t that big and everyone could get through. I think it helped that we were in a three tier area (first, middle and higher) so only 5 year group including 6th form who also had a common room so hall was not as full.

it was certainly true then and I presume now that it was the only substantial meal that some kids got - not necessarily hot as there were a few sandwiches. Their parents would have found it hard to pay for packed lunch, or certainly any packed lunch with much good nutrition There was also a sandwich shop