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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DS having school lunch sat on the floor, AIBU?

345 replies

Honeybadgerdontgiveashit · 13/09/2013 17:30

Long story short, building work as DS school has over run massively during summer holidays. Class rooms and hall remain unfinished.
Fair enough, no surprise, but these things happen.

School dinner pupils are eating in the halls, packed lunch pupils are eating packed lunch sat on the classroom floor.
This could go on until christmas.

His teacher was unable to offer an explanation as to why they could not sit at tables and chairs in the classroom. I suspect just so it saves them wiping them afterwards.

AIBU in thinking this is a bit off? He is in year 1, I'm not usually a germ freak, but this doesn't seem right to me. When I asked his teacher if she would eat her lunch sat on the floor everyday she said Yes! Of course I would and looked at me like I was mad!

Please tell me if I am being unreasonable, as I have PMT, and I am really not sure.

Thanks

OP posts:
NewNameforNewTerm · 14/09/2013 18:12

Following that train of thought - We'll get onto the debate about teachers having to follow exactly the same rules as the children soon! e.g. wearing school uniform, not wearing make up, etc.

treaclesoda · 14/09/2013 18:33

I'm not sure how I feel about this tbh. But what I do know is that at primary school we all ate packed lunches at our desks. The desks were not cleaned first, and we weren't allowed to go and wash our hands first. With hindsight I think that's fairly grim, yet I didn't think anything of it at the time, and no one ever questioned it, and no one got sick. My dd eats at her desk but I have no idea about the cleaning or handwashing arrangements.

valiumredhead · 14/09/2013 18:57

Why should teachers do as the children do? They've already been through school, wearing uniform/no make up etc. They aren't in the position of needing to concentrate on their studies without the distraction of the latest fashions and touching up their make up.

intitgrand · 14/09/2013 19:14

itsametaphordaddy I don't think you are cut out to be a teacher

itsametaphordaddy · 14/09/2013 19:19

Intitgrand you know absolutely nothing about my teaching skills.

justanuthermanicmumsday · 14/09/2013 19:20

I have ocd but even i dont see howits unhygenic. Ideally a large cloth.should be layed.down for the.food this ensures itsclean shud any food fall and.kids pick it up to eat.

its ironic.that folks are.saying its demeaning. In my culture and indian far east african arab countries its seen as.humble to sit on.the floor and.eat. On a theological level it shows humbleness and.gratitude.to god.the.most.high and.us.his subjects .

Im not against tables and chairs lest i.get attacked.lol

its only.short.term..if.the weather isnt bad.are.there.benches.outside?

JimbosJetSet · 14/09/2013 19:21

For the entire 5 years of secondary school we all sat on the floor to eat if we had a packed lunch (carpeted), we knew nothing else so it didn't seem strange at the time! But it had the advantage of we could sit with a small or a large group of friends, in that we weren't constrained by the number of chairs at the table. So I see no problem with sitting on the floor until Christmas...

andreaDono · 15/09/2013 01:01

This is one of the reasons why our two children have school dinners most days rather than packed lunches. Our kids go to a small village school but the school has a decent size hall. In our school most of the time the TAs put up enough tables only for the children having hot dinners and the rest of the children are eating their packed lunch in the same hall but sitting on the floor. What also concerns me about the school dinners in our school is that there is a particular TA/dinner lady who requires children to eat in almost total silence and if they don't do so, she won't allow them to go out and play after lunch. There have been many times when all 90 children had to spend their entire 1 hour lunch break sitting quietly in the school hall and then went straight into afternoon lessons.
This has been questioned by a few parents over the last couple of years but it seems that not enough parents are bothered by this or possibly don't know about it. Is this normal? Would you be concerned about this? I feel so sorry for my kids whenever they come home and say that they didn't have any playtime at lunch break. My husband and I have asked the school about this but things haven't improved. We are back to school for a new academic year and this problem is back (as we found out on Friday). I believe that when children finish their morning lessons, they should have their lunch and afterwards should be free to play until they go into afternoon lessons. It has been proved that classroom behaviour and concentration levels are found to be better in children who had at least 15 mins playtime.

LyraSilvertongue · 15/09/2013 01:34

Andrea, if this happened at my DC's school, I would be kicking up a big fuss. It's well known that children need to play and let off steam before facing an afternoon of lessons. Who gave the dinner lady so much power that she gets to deprive 90 children of their much-needed play? Get other parents involved and COMPLAIN until the HT listens.

MidniteScribbler · 15/09/2013 01:45

Lunchtime staff and teachers cleaning tables? Why the hell can't kids wipe down their own tables?

prissyenglisharriviste · 15/09/2013 01:59

All of mine ate their mid morning snacks and drink on the floor of the classroom in yr r, 1 and 2. They are all still alive. Mn does make me chuckle...

prissyenglisharriviste · 15/09/2013 02:02

As far as I am aware, none of them feel in any way demeaned. The teachers didn't ever say 'get on the floor, worms, and eat like dogs where you belong', they just got on with the accepted routine and sat on the floor with them, eating.

Rofl at demeaning.

My children are perfectly used to tablecloth restaurants. They are also used to eating wherever the situation requires it.

andreaDono · 15/09/2013 02:11

Last time we spoke to the school about this, we were told that they will investigate and said to us that maybe the dinner lady didn't let them out due to rain. This has however happened many times and it seems that was always when the dinner lady wasn't having a good day. Our dinner lady is also a long term Teaching Assistant in my older child's class. She's been working at the school for over 20 years. I frequently work as a volunteer parent helper in the school and I have also seen it happening with my own eyes. When I mentioned it to another TA (teachers were nowhere to be found at lunchtime) she didn't seem that interested - or didn't have time, all she did was nodded. That same afternoon my older son said that he was been told off and asked to sit in front of the whole class for something he didn't do. It was the day when I was enquiring about their loss of lunch break. I worry to say anything more now just in case this TA/dinner lady could cause problems to our kids. I have discussed it with a few other friends/ mums, they knew about the problem from their own children, we even had a parent governer last year coming in to have a look one lunchtime. Of course everything went smoothly that day, things got better for a few weeks but unfortunately not for long and the situation randomly (roughly about once a week) continues to be the same.

Myliferocks · 15/09/2013 02:16

If my DC were told they had to eat their lunches while sat on the floor they would think it was great.
They hate the fact that I make them sit at the dining room table to eat their meals.

LyraSilvertongue · 15/09/2013 10:14

Andrea, that's such a shame. Maybe the old witch will retire soon. There was a very old school teaching assistant at my sons' school who would shout and be sarcastic to the children constantly with little provocation. We all breathed a sigh of relief when she retired. There was also a dinner lady that all the children called "the mean one' who would give out stingy portions so some of the bigger kids were hungry all afternoon. Again, she retired so the problem was solved that way. I had complained about her to the head, who told me she would be gone anyway in a couple of months so the DC just put up with it till then.

marriedinwhiteisback · 15/09/2013 10:38

Providing paper cloths are put down I don't think it's an issue as a temporary measure. If there are additional costs these should be picked up by the contractors as they have breached their contract by overirunning and impacting on the day to day activities of the children.

If you and your DC are unhappy about eating whilst sitting on the floor picnic style, could they not have school dinners for the remainder of this term so they can eat at the table.

thegreylady · 15/09/2013 11:04

I' give the teacher a bumper pack of J cloths and some bottles of cheap kichen spray and suggest one for each table with children instructed to wipe over tables after lunch. I would ask the PTA to fund this for the reast of term. It could probably be done for under £20 as the school will have a Makro card.

Morgause · 15/09/2013 11:20

If it bothers you that much have your DC home for his dinner until the work is finished.

Much ado about nothing.

curlew · 15/09/2013 11:40

None of the "outraged brigade" have answered whether this children sit on the floor for circle time. Most Foundation and KS1 kids do. How is it different?

marriedinwhiteisback · 15/09/2013 11:47

Because they don't have lunch at circle time. My DC ate at the table at home. I'm sure they'd have loved their dinner sitting on the carpeted floor but they weren't allowed; partly because it's sloppy and partly to protect the carpets. That's pretty standard in most homes and I would expect schools and professional teachers who hold positions that should engender and be worthy of respect to underpin the highest standards and values -not the lowest.

SirChenjin · 15/09/2013 11:54

I'm not 'outraged' (see earlier post) but I can't for the life of me see why they can't sit at the tables and eat, followed by a quick wipe down by any combination of teachers/dinner supervisors/pupils. Unless they are putting a mat down then there must be crumbs, spilt juice, smeared yoghurt etc on the floor afterwards. Does that mean they are doing circle time in amongst that?

insancerre · 15/09/2013 12:03

I'm not 'outraged' either and agree with SirChenjin
If sitting on the floor was the only option for lunch then they would have to do it, or if it was a one-off that would be fine too.
But, it's not- there are tables available why can't they use them?
I work in a nursery- I sit on the floor a lot as it happens, but I woould never expect a child to eat on the floor.
We have picnics, sure but we use a blanlet. We even use tableclothes for snack time.
I think the issue here is that the teachers don't want to wipe the tables because it's not teaching.
i ahve seen it lots of time. Cghildren being ignored at lunch times by teachers because it's not their responsibility to open yoghurts or pour a drink or help them when they ahve dropped their plate on the floor. They invariably tell the child to ask the lunchtime assistants. I go into the school dinner hall most days, so this is based on fact not fiction.

PirateJelly · 15/09/2013 12:13

I think it would be ok as a one off if they were sat on a clean carpet or blanket or something. The thing is where do they put their food when they take it out their lunchbag? I know DS (4) wouldn't think twice of putting his sandwich down on the dirty floor while he took a sip of juice. Also I'm quite sure DS would sit there picking at the bottoms of his shoes so his hands wouldn't stay germ free long.

YADNBU.

intitgrand · 15/09/2013 12:15

animals eat off the floor, people sit at a table.Doyou not sit at a table at home to eat?

MidniteScribbler · 15/09/2013 12:16

I don't wipe down tables, because students are perfectly capable of taking a wipe and wiping down their own tables.