Child didn’t have lunch at school

[Purpletigers]

Child doesn’t have a lunch with them at school and doesn’t inform the teacher before lunchtime or the supervisor at lunchtime. Parent phones the school after pick up to complain that their child didn’t have anything to eat . The phone call is the first time the class teacher is aware of the situation . Who is at fault ?

There is one supervisor in the room , some children don’t or won’t eat the lunch provided by their parent. We don’t have the time or the inclination to force them to eat
Wow. I was sympathetic til I read this. Firstly you already said you have over 20 on your class. So not a huge class. A supervisor should be scanning the room making sure all is well.

Secondly there's a world of difference between a child not wanting to eat lunch and a child having no lunch at all in front of them. Now I think the supervisor is at fault but if the whole school have your attitude of not having the time or inclination to force them to eat (and of course nobody is talking about forcing a child to eat but rather noticing that they have nothing to eat) then you have bigger issues than one child missing lunch.

when they are at school it is the schools job to care for the children not just educate.
In loco parentis and all that.

"Under the Children Act 1989, teachers have a duty of care towards their pupils, traditionally referred to as 'in loco parentis'. Legally, while not bound by parental responsibility, teachers must behave as any reasonable parent would do in promoting the welfare and safety of children in their care."

At 8, (well, tbh, at 5), if one of my dc had come home saying they'd not eaten all day, because they'd left their lunchbox in the car or whatever, I would have asked them who they told they'd got no dinner. To the response 'nobody', I would then have explained to them , well that is why they are hungry then.
By 8, there is no reason (usual 'particular SEN Excepted' - which OP says they don't have SEN that would stop them saying something) why they couldn't say something. At which point the school would have a system in place to feed them.
As the dc chose not to, then they were hungry at home time, but it's not really a massive issue, but one they will have learned from, as they weren't happy. End of story.

It's absolutely not the teachers fault. My children know if they don't have their packed lunch they go get a school dinner. The youngest gets free school meals as in Scotland they are free till p3. And the eldest always has money in her account. Ours don't tell the teacher either way what they are having unless it's a home lunch.

I fail to see how the teacher has done anything wrong her unless you watch them take their packed lunches before taking them to the dinner hall and could of noticed then that they had no lunch box.

Our School dinner hall has supervisors walking round that would notice a child without a tray or packed lunch. It's just like of everyone's fault really. Parents for not ensuring their child had lunch and not teaching them what to do if lunch is ever forgotten. Childs for not remember lunch or speaking up. (Teachers if she escorts them for lunch boxes and to hall, which I doubt, as it is only our p1s the teachers do this with) and lunch supervisor for not noticing. But ultimately I'd expect a child of 8 to use their voice and communicate they have no lunch.

It is your (as a whole school’s) job to ensure that children are cared for. That’s not an acceptable attitude in my opinion.

Mistakes get made, things get overlooked etc but having the attitude that it’s not the schools job to look after the welfare of their pupils is madness.

This^
I don't think it's the teachers fault and of course mistakes do happen but the attitude of the thread seems to be lacking the sympathy and understanding I'd expect from someone caring for children.
I would be worried that the lunch supervisor hadn't noticed a child not eating.
My main concern would be that, for whatever reason, the child went hungry rather than confide in staff that they had forgotten their lunch. Either the child has some issues in their own life that need resolving or the school systems have issues that need resolving. I don't think that a happy child that has a good relationship with staff would go hungry at that age, but this child did.

@Purpletigers Not your fault at all. I'm a TA and work the lunchtime too. At our school a register for lunch is taken too. At that point I would 'possibly' expect an 8 year old to recall they did not have their lunch (packed lunches are meant to be put on a trolley first thing) Then at lunch time the children are called up in classes/year groups, so again the child would have the opportunity to say they did not have their lunch. This has happened to me, sometime it is the child who has forgotten their lunch sometimes it is a friend of theirs. No child goes hungry a lunch is always provided, either from the daily menu or if necessary a sandwich is made.
Unless the child has SN or is on my radar of children who may forget / try and avoid lunch I will not necessarily recall who has and hasn't been in the hall.

Changes things now we know that the children eat in their classroom. Unfortunately I'd say that the lunch time supervisor is partly at fault (along with the child for not speaking up and the parent not noticing all day that the child hadn't taken their lunch) as they definitely should have noticed a child sitting in the room without any lunch.

So appears to be a genuine mistake today, you didn't notice OP, nor did your colleague. But at what point might you expect to notice? After 2 days with no food? A week? Never?

You see if you are saying it was just today that this happened then I can see your point, but if you are saying its never going to be down to you to notice ...

I’m not new to teaching .I think the parent wanted to make me feel it was my fault , I don’t feel it was .
I will of course speak to my lunch supervisor and ask them to scan the room to check every child has a lunch in future . I assumed this was something they would notice . Perhaps they need reminding .

If the parent had spoken to the school to inform us as opposed to appoint blame I would be less pissed off.

🌷🥂🍫. Ignore ‘that mother’ & don’t allow it to further spoil your weekend.

The CHILD is at fault. They have a tongue in their head, they failed to use it. They won’t die of malnutrition between breakfast & home time...even if they didn’t eat breakfast.

Monday, remind child to tell you if they forget their lunch again —because it makes mummy cross—

I usually don't do this OP but your grammar, punctuation and spelling is shocking!!

Think you're in the wrong job OP. You say you feel no guilt at all, a CHILD didn't eat. If a child in my care didn't eat, whether that was my fault or not, I would feel awful. Would probably spend time that night trying to think of a way to stop that from happening again, not looking for validation on MN.

Dishing out - I would notice a child without food the first time I supervised them . It’s happened before when the child had been too shy / embarrassed to speak up. The child was provided with a dinner after I telephoned the parents to ensure this was ok .
No child is left without food in my school . I’ve given children my fruit if they forget their break before . The children are the reason I love my job . I am however , allowed to be pissed off with the attitude of some parents .

I don’t doubt that Crunchy . I don’t take the time to proof read before hitting post on a website .
My grammar has never been fantastic tbh . Thank goodness I don’t teach GCSE English! ( only one exclamation mark)

It’s not always a case of apportioning blame. It’s about stopping things happening again and about working together.

Maybe the mum was a bit too confrontational and didn’t admit her part, but that doesn’t change the fact that one way or another a child was very hungry. Presumably they were actually a bit afraid. Loud children can have vulnerable moments too.

You say you will tell the supervisor to check in future. That is what you should have lead with. “Oh dear, you must have been hungry. Please tell me if that happens xxx, I won’t be angry. I’ll have a word with Mrs Y so she knows and can have a good check so it doesn’t happen again. It must have slipped through the net’.

If parent is still being confrontational after that then you have a point. But likely you just got a scared child and a feeling worried (maybe a bit guilty) mum.

"If a child comes to me and says they've forgotten their lunchbox"

Yes, that's all very well and you're clearly fabulous, but this child DID NOT TELL ANYONE they'd forgotten their lunchbox!!

All these posters saying they can't imagine how on earth no one noticed this child wasn't eating are showing a spectacular lack of imagination. It entirely depends on the school's arrangements for lunch. In my school, children are out playing until their class is called in for lunch. With 240+ children on the playground (apart from those already inside eating), it would be entirely possible for a child to duck out from lining up with their class when called.

I'm afraid I'm wondering if there are some issues with the child if they didn't feel able to inform someone they had no lunch. Of COURSE no school would see any child go hungry IF THEY KNEW ABOUT IT. But at 8 years old in this case, the child has a responsibility to speak up or take the consequences.

Also, I will inform parents on here whose children sign up to school meals, that many, many of them actually don't eat them. Every day, I see countless children swipe almost their entire meal away into the pig bin. They have asked to leave the table, and it's been suggested they try a little more of what's on their plate first, but ultimately no one can force a child to eat. So, many of them don't. And parents don't have a clue, and may well only give a light tea on account of them having had a "proper" lunch.

I'm afraid I'm wondering if there are some issues with the child if they didn't feel able to inform someone they had no lunch. Of COURSE no school would see any child go hungry IF THEY KNEW ABOUT IT. But at 8 years old in this case, the child has a responsibility to speak up or take the consequences.

Yes, but as an 8yo, I would certainly have thought that if I'd forgotten my lunch, it was my fault and I'd have to go without. I wouldn't have thought I'd be in trouble, but I wouldn't have expected lunch to be provided for me either so I probably wouldn't have told anyone. And I wouldn't have thought that was a particularly big deal, tbh.

I would notice a child without food the first time I supervised them - well that's good enough for me and I do know that many teachers give kids their own food or provide it some other way.

But none of that is the child's fault and shame on those of you who are saying an 8 year old is to blame FFS

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess these children are eating in their classroom and are supervised by an adult there.

I agree it’s harder in some circumstances but actually schools review the way they do things all the time when something happens untoward. If a child injures themselves on a piece of equipment, then it might be replaced or the rules around supervising/playing with it changed.

Something like a child going hungry is one of those “what’s gone wrong here” moments.

It doesn’t mean anyone involved is a terrible person or awful at their job. But does mean to use an overused phrases you look at ‘lessons learned”.

Not the teacher's fault.

But of course for some people, everything is always the teachers fault.

I have never been on a message forum before - not in 20 years of posting on forums, and seen one single thread where someone is complaining about people shitting in their toilet. On here it's one a week.

Ah, wench - I think its more like (a minimum of) one a day!

Yeah one day wouldn't have harmed them physically @angelikacpickles
Have you ever been that kid without lunch?

It's very sad because no one picked up on it and did something about it.

Any kid I encountered who had no lunch was mostly completely embarrassed. Almost adamant that they were fine and didn't need anything.
The reasons for no lunch varied from forgetful busy parents, kid who spent lunch money on other things or parents who had no money.
No ones fault but would be good if the adults responsible for kids welfare in school were able to pick up on it.

I posted earlier to say that it was the child's fault for not speaking up but I've changed my mind now I know the lunchtime arrangements : the midday supervisor responsible for supervising a small class of 20 in a classroom should certainly have noticed that one wasn't eating. Unless there was some sort of emergency to deal with, that's her/his job.

I think the parent was right to phone to flag this up, but not to blame the teacher, who was not even in the classroom.

As a teacher, I would have expressed sympathy and promised to speak with the midday supervisor concerned.

All these posters saying they can't imagine how on earth no one noticed this child wasn't eating are showing a showing a spectacular lack of imagination. It entirely depends on the school's arrangements for lunch.
But we know this school's arrangements. One supervisor in a room of 20 children should be able to scan and see if someone doesn't have food. The comment that lots of food gets thrown away is irrelevant- at least those children have had the option to eat.

I posted earlier to say that it was the child's fault for not speaking up but I've changed my mind now I know the lunchtime arrangements : the midday supervisor responsible for supervising a small class of 20 in a classroom should certainly have noticed that one wasn't eating.

This.

I find it odd to lump all the blame on the 8 year old as some are doing. Of course he should have told someone but I can imagine all kinds of reasons why he wouldn't. Perhaps he was very aware of the attitude of the OP not having the inclination to do anything.

As I posted before, schools are in loco parentis and have a duty to look after the welfare of a child. At 8 I would still expect this to include making sure they have the opportunity to eat.