To be fed up of having 5 minutes of my lunch lost every day?

[Chickenavocadobacon]

This isn’t a massive big deal or anything but I’m wondering if others think it’s worth raising.

I’m a teacher in a secondary school. We have 30 minutes for lunch.

The duty staff start rounding the kids up quite early and sending them in - so those of us who teach on the ground floor have kids coming in early. I had kids at my door today at 1:52 (lesson starts at 2.)

I know I could make them wait outside but that is noisy and disruptive and they just keep asking when they can come in so not exactly relaxing.

AIBU to be a bit fed up? We have hardly any time for lunch as it is.

To any teacher colleagues here - hold on and don't defer to any of the ridiculous rules that SLT / SMT might try to impose on you, speak to your union rep.
This thread has illustrated it. Don't let go of your principles.

@Sideswiped

To any teacher colleagues here - hold on and don't defer to any of the ridiculous rules that SLT / SMT might try to impose on you, speak to your union rep. This thread has illustrated it. Don't let go of your principles.

That’s great advice! Don’t just put up and shut up, more teachers should say that.

Okay, as mentioned I did raise it. More as a duty of care to my department than my own annoyance. The Vice Principal replied that we needed to be there 5 minutes before the end of lunch to welcome the students as it is the school policy. So what do I do now?
There is nowhere to send the students back to. They have come in through several long crowded corridors by this point and would have to fight through other year groups in a one way system. That would be the wrong thing to do by the students.
Your talk of fire regulations is ludicrous. If I brought it up in a meeting I’d be laughed out of it.

@Pumperthepumper, so at least in this we agree.

@Woodchiponthewall

Okay, as mentioned I did raise it. More as a duty of care to my department than my own annoyance. The Vice Principal replied that we needed to be there 5 minutes before the end of lunch to welcome the students as it is the school policy. So what do I do now? There is nowhere to send the students back to. They have come in through several long crowded corridors by this point and would have to fight through other year groups in a one way system. That would be the wrong thing to do by the students. Your talk of fire regulations is ludicrous. If I brought it up in a meeting I’d be laughed out of it.

So your contract says you have to be there five mins before because it’s school policy?

[quote Sideswiped]@Pumperthepumper, so at least in this we agree.[/quote]
We do! Except I’ve said this many, many times on this thread.

My contract presumably says I have to adhere to the policies as set by my academy (I say presume because I haven’t read it for 15 years).

I’ve got to say that secondary school teaching in some schools (some not all) is a very challenging, exhausting job that burnt me out very quickly. The DofE seem desperate for teachers where I am but don’t treat teachers well at all. Teachers need breaks. It is a mentally demanding job in lots of different ways. There is no down time between lessons. 20 :minute lunch breaks are horrible. The cynic in me thinks it’s all a money saving ploy so as to pay lunch staff as little as possible. But in the long term it probably doesn’t make much financial sense I would think. I think teachers should stand up more and not accept these little stealth grabs at their precious breaks.

@Woodchiponthewall

My contract presumably says I have to adhere to the policies as set by my academy (I say presume because I haven’t read it for 15 years).

Give it a read then. If you’re entitled to a certain lunch break in your contract, that’s a good starting point for a conversation.

The truth is - what are management going to do if you refuse these sort of things? Nothing, because they need us as teachers more than we need them. Just say no to bullshit stuff. Be bolshy, say no to anything not exactly in your contract (and even then, fight your corner). It’s shit to have to be belligerent but I have learned, particularly over the last ten years of austerity, that you need to stand up for yourself in education work.

Just saw your last post. If you are entitled to a half hour lunch the just take it. If I were you, I would ignore the VP and just take my half hour lunch (which is incredibly shit as it is). Tell them to sort out corridor staff whilst you get your break. The VP is just someone like yourself with a degree and PGCE, not someone made of gold. The policy maker of the policy needs to go back to see where their policy is flawed ( if you have a 30 min break it is incompatible with 5 min watching). It is the management that are flawed In this scenario. Don’t let yourself be exploited because it is the start of everyone being exploited.

I wish I got 25 mins for lunch…

My contract will say I have to adhere to the standards of me set out by the principal. The rules of 1265 might be calculated and you could work it out via that route, but those kind of clock watchers certainly have their ‘card marked’ (I know you like that one!). It isn’t meekness, it’s pragmatism. I do a great job. I’m a great teacher and manager, and it is much better for the state system that people like me are still in it. If you don’t understand that those staff that who fight to the tooth for every silly bit of policy don’t last then you’re either being deliberately disingenuous or not actually a teacher as has been suggested. Anyho, it’s late and this is really tedious and I regret being sucked in, so I’ll leave you to it.

The children are losing their lunchbreak too :(

This is ridiculous. Why are the duty staff starting so early? They should start rounding them up at 2, when lunchbreak finishes.

I went to school in the 70’s and we finished at 4pm - had an hour though for lunch and went home for lunch as school was just around the corner from home yippee!

Bloody hell.

As a bog standard primary teacher we sometimes were on duty before school, at break, team meeting all lunch afternoon break and staff meeting after school. Then fitting classroom prep before or after. Usually only one day a week though. Duty was 1 teacher to 350 kids.

My first year at school, lunch was two hours and we finished at four. It changed by the time we were top infants, maybe part way through middle infants, to going home at 3.45

Bloody hell as in: it's still going on...

I think it's just another way that more and more is put on the plates of school staff with no consideration for their workload.

I think it’s all dependent upon school culture. We, as a SL team, spend time considering our students and staff, their well-being and any concerns raised. Just this week we gave directed time back to teachers when our options evening went online. One thing I’m very proud of is that we have managed to unlink the PM process from teacher’s pay at our school, something which has opened up the opportunity to have meaningful conversations around staff CPD needs. I don’t want staff hiding their areas of weakness for fear of not progressing. We are teaching our students to be resilient and embrace failure along the way and to keep going! I want the same of staff.

I shared my experience of not having lunch because I think it’s helpful to try and break the stereotype of uncaring lazy SLT sitting having extended lunches in period 4 then stealing lunch time from busy staff - that’s just not reality in my school, nor many other schools. I was a classroom teacher previously obviously and I am genuinely the busiest I’ve ever been in my current role HOWEVER I haven’t come on here to bemoan my role - I’m trying to build bridges. If we want more teachers to stay in the profession, we have to start trusting and caring for each other. SLT are not (or shouldn’t be) the enemy.

As I say, it comes back to school culture and individual schools can be very different environments. If yours is unhealthy, there needs to be less tolerance of that. Perhaps try your HOD or Union Rep if your find SLT unapproachable. If any of my staff expressed concern over their lunch though, I know I would try and support them.

You say all that @KimmyKimdoo but you did clearly show a lack of understanding when you said ‘is it such a big deal.’

Yes and no. Big enough I’ll make a fuss - no. Big enough that it makes my day more difficult and tiring - yes, tbh.

@Chickenavocadobacon Yes I have to admit that I can’t imagine my staff saying similar - only because I see them giving up so much time to run clubs, run intervention, catch up with students. Schools are full of people not watching the clock like that. However, we acknowledge those staff and offer them genuine thanks, time back where we can and support. I wouldn’t however react badly to someone raising this with me, I would make sure you felt supported.

All the people saying "humpf wish I got 25 minutes lunch". It's not a race to the bottom. You should demand better working conditions too. I work in a different sector, but I always get at least 30 minutes for lunch, and sometimes I take 2 hours, with zero consequences (I just make up the time). Just because you're willing to accept shit working conditions doesn't mean other people should be.

Couldn't agree more with Suprima.
It's exactly this attitude from leadership, such sneering at staff wanting something as basic as the lunch break they are entitled to.
I am also SLT and whilst my none teaching days are busy, meetings etc are far less intense and draining than classroom teaching. I also have far more flexibility over my own time.
This culture is the reason why next half term is my last as a teacher and I am making a sideways move out.

When I was at high school we had a 5 minute warning bell which meant make your way towards your class from break. Maybe school could implement a 5 minute warning whistle or something that means make your way towards next lesson but means they will not be banging for ages.