To ask if 15 mins is enough lunch time for kids?

[GottaGoCYa]

My DC is in year 4. Another mum mentioned to me before the holidays that the children only have 15 minutes to sit and eat their lunch, her son hardly ever finishes his and therefore she is switching to home dinners. I had no idea as it's not been mentioned! When I asked DC I was told that yes, they only have 15 minutes to eat and DC said it's not enough as eating fast makes their tummy hurt. I cant imagine many of the children manage to eat properly?

First day back today and I queried this with class teacher. I was told that's how long each year group has (year 3 onwards), and it cannot be changed due to the rota. Not to do with Covid she said. But she admitted she was shocked at the change and feels many children do struggle to eat so quickly. I asked about packed lunch and they also get the same amount of time. I work and therefore can't bring DC home but I'm surprised more parents haven't picked up on this? Many primary aged kids are really slow eaters, the ones I know are anyway. Should I speak to the headteacher?

15 minutes is nowhere near long enough to eat lunch, I would be having words with the head, governors etc, that's ridiculous.

I thought you were going to say secondary school but in primary that's even worse. Kids need to run around with their friends after lunch burn off some energy.
Ide definitely be complaining if I was you.
I complained to the high school that their 30 minute lunchtime wasnt enough.

10 minutes for my year 2 child and she's told she 'won't get a sticker' if she doesn't finish in time.

I think 15 minutes to eat dinner is probably about right, having worked in schools very few children are still eating after that long. Most are back up and ready to go outside again well before that.

The time consuming bit is often the actually queuing for tne food side of things so I would hope that extra time is allowed for that. But 15 minutes to actually eat sounds fine

That’s awful!

I get 15 minutes for my lunch and it feels a short space of time to try and get lunch eaten.
I don't think it's enough time for small children.
My children have come home before and with most of their packed lunch left and said they didn't have time to eat it.

My son was coming home with uneaten food in his lunch box that went to waste because he said he simply didn't have enough time to eat. My son loves his food, doesn't piss around when eating and is getting quite annoyed having to see it go in the bin at home.

They have also been given 15 minutes to eat since covid. I'm not sure what my next move is tbh.

Our son rarely eats his packed lunch due to time constraints.
I tend to give him porridge and two slices of toast each morning with a multivitamin.

@LadyLothbrook

10 minutes for my year 2 child and she's told she 'won't get a sticker' if she doesn't finish in time.

That's awful How sad. I live in Switzerland now and kids come home for lunch (most kids live within 5 mins walk from their primary school), they have 1hr 45mins lunch break! Even in the UK it's normal for office workers to have a 1hr lunch break so why would kids, who need it more, be expected to have such a short break?! It's just madness.

Not enough IMO

Thank you, a mix of opinions.

I was an extremely underweight and painfully slow eater as a child, and we couldn't leave the dinner hall until our food was eaten. But we did get an hour to eat. I think I will speak to the head tomorrow and see what she says.

@Snowisfallinghere
That sounds lovely! But how does it work if parents are out at work?

For the majority, 15 minutes to eat is plenty. But that's 15 minutes to sit and eat, not 15 minutes including getting through the lunch line.

15 mins seems ok , but does depend on the individual child. One of mine would have been fine with a 5 minute lunch slot, the other wouldn't eat without cajoling anyway so had supervised lunch (autistic and eating issues)

Thirty minutes eating (minus a bit for hand washing and saying grace), then 30 minutes playing for us: all years from EYFS to yr6.

I think it’s to do with money.

It would be interesting to know if the staffing levels have dropped and the school are using this as “natural wastage” and haven’t employed more Lunchtime supervisors. They may well be using other staff, such as SLT to cover lunchtimes.

Our school used to have three halls used at lunchtime for sandwiches and hot meals but have dropped to 2 as funding cuts have bitten. They are crammed in and rushed through. SLT cover lunches now.

[quote Pottedpalm]@Snowisfallinghere
That sounds lovely! But how does it work if parents are out at work?[/quote]
Switzerland didn't give women the vote until 1971, it's a deeply conservative country. Women do work after having children but the majority work very part time.

15 mins to eat lunch? Or 15 minutes break at lunch?

@Pumperthepumper

15 mins to eat lunch? Or 15 minutes break at lunch?

15 mins to get their lunch and eat.

@DuchyOfMothballs I think you're right, which is why the teacher specified it's not to do with Covid.

And time in the playground after that fifteen minutes?

Where I work they have a one hour lunch break. They are given up to half an hour to eat (although they wouldn’t be chucked out if they hadn’t finished eating). When they finish, they have to ask the member of staff on duty if they can go outside to play. They usually take about 10-15mins to eat with a few of the more chatty groups lingering for a bit longer. Most of them want to have as much time as possible outside where they can run about.

@Pumperthepumper

And time in the playground after that fifteen minutes?

Yes 10 to 15 minutes in the playground.

How long exactly is their lunch break?

And has their entire lunch break been shortened, ie do they now spend more time in lessons? Or is it just the amount of time in the dining hall?

I would be making a formal complaint. They are creating really bad habits.