Secondary school not allowing kids to eat lunch inside in cold weather

[Bananabrain99]

Secondary school not allowing kids to eat their lunch indoors in this cold weather AIBU to feel cross with this as it is detrimental to pupils' health and wellbeing? My child was upset going into school today due to this and less than half the kids are in her class at the moment due to illness. Reasons cited by the school not to open up the hall is building works and needing the hall for flu vaccinations. Obviously I do expect my DC to have fresh air at breaks, but I don't think many adults would like a freezing cold picnic. Don't think there is anything I can do now (and school say will open a hall in January) but just feel upset about it and not sure if AIBU - I had presumed DC had somewhere warm to eat at least (12yrs old)

Lovely! I’m sure all the teachers would survive eating their lunches outside too but I’m pretty sure they choose not to. Your attitude is everything that’s wrong with eduction these days, you don’t see children as equal, no idea why you’ve got a bee in your bonnet but you have an unpleasant attitude, certainly doesn’t sound like you’re in the right job. It’s freezing outside right now.

They did this at my secondary. I threw away my lunch because I was embarrassed to eat it standing up. Didn't eat lunch for three years

I had no idea this was still a thing.
I was in secondary school in the 90s, and unless we were buying and eating in the canteen, we had to stand outside in all weathers. Entrances to all the buildings were manned by Yr11 prefects.

Yes and it’s always stuff teachers never have to do themselves!

If I were to pick which of the two of you had a bee in their bonnet, it wouldn't be the poster you're quoting...

That's madness. My kid's secondary school has stopped them going outside at break/lunch. All pe in indoors

Are they insane? It's fucking freezing! Ridiculous to expect anyone to eat outside.

No surface for his packed lunch? Get out the violins.

YANBU it's completely unacceptable.

I think the conditions children in secondary schools are expected to endure is shocking.
Of course they should be able to sit down inside to eat at tables. It is too cold to eat outside and it is quite uncouth to expect kids to eat standing up.
I hate how they often have nowhere to put coats/PE kit/lunch and have to carry all that plus a heavy bag with all their books and equipment in.
It is not good enough to say that they need to be supervised so can't stay inside, or to expect overstretched teachers to supervise them. School budgets should have supervision and storage costs factored in, but those budgets have been cut to the bone.
So yes, OP, I do think you should complain, but I don't expect that a single complaint from you will actually make a difference. If you can organise lots of other parents to complain too, it might help, but realistically the funding just isn't there. Complain to your MP about lack of funding for schools?

Yes and it’s always stuff teachers never have to do themselves!

Teachers don’t make the rules - they probably aren’t involved in lunch time arrangements at all.

It a bit like saying it’s the postman’s fault my parcel hasn’t need dispatched - not related at all.

Logistics.

I think a lot of you are assuming all the children eat at once- but this isn't usually possible. I've never worked anywhere where all the students could be seated in one room. In my current school that would require 2500 additional seats.

There isn't space. School sites would need to be larger, lunch halls more efficient, and lunchtimes longer.

Most schools stagger their lunches. We have three sittings in my current school, which is fairly standard (sometimes it's two). That means other students are in the teaching rooms when some are on lunch- so even if it was sensible to leave children unsupervised to eat in classrooms (which it isn't), then those classrooms are in use.

I just can’t stand that attitude whee kids should just suck up what adults aren’t prepared to tolerate. I guess If that makes me sound unreasonable to you, that fine.

Should go back to what we had at school each year group got 10 / 15 minute in canteen to eat of they wanted to
Or to get hot dinnsr and outside for the rest of break

When I was at school there were just under 1000 pupils. We were allowed in the school building at lunch. Some people sat in canteen, some walked to the shop, some went to the library, some sat in the cloakroom, some went to the field or hung about at the lockers.

There were no supervisors other than the dinner ladies serving the food. If there was a massive problem then someone went to get a teacher from the staff room. Otherwise we were left to our own devices.

The one thing I’ve learnt since leaving school 7 years ago, is that I get treated with much more respect in the workplace than I ever did at school. Socially and otherwise.

No one should be expected to eat their lunch outside when the weather is like this. It’s been -3 near me, and raining/hailing. I’ve had to go outside for work training. Work has tried to accommodate this and limit our time outside. They’d never dream of sending us outside to eat, unlike the schools.

Without even realising it, you have described the very reason many of us home educate. School life is not a reflection of real life. OP you are definitely not being unreasonable. I assume the head teacher was not sat outside on the snow on a picnic blanket with his/her lunch ?

My daughters school has staggered lunchtimes to cater for numbers who need to eat. They then get turfed outside or off to clubs or whatever.

A frosty picnic is deeply unappealing right now. It's not as though we have the option to send them in in suitable clothing as they'll fall foul of uniform rules then. I'm not spending £50 on a school scarf. F that!

Reasons cited by the school not to open up the hall is building works and needing the hall for flu vaccinations
How is it both? Surely if building works are going on and it’s not suitable for children to be eating it’s not suitable for vaccines either?

Just because it’s not ‘logistically’ possible (ie they’d have to spend money on it) doesn’t make it morally right.

The way they treat young people in state secondaries is a national scandal - no wonder the mental health of young people is in crisis. Schools talk a good game to parents and in the shiny prospectus but the reality is awful for the individuals who get treated like this in their formative years.

They should be allowed back in their form rooms in this weather if there is nowhere else to eat indoors

If there's no-one to supervise them then it can't happen.

I think it's terrible that they can't sit down inside to eat, tbh.

I went to 2 large secondary schools (7 form entry plus small 6th form at both), and at both of them we could sit down to eat, either in the hall, the canteen, the common room (6th form only) or our classroom (unless it was a science room - but we could go to friend's classrooms if not science). We were never expected to stay outside at either break or lunch; the hall, canteen and library would be open at both bream and lunch, even if the classrooms weren't.
Though, the classrooms usually were.

To be fair, there was never any supervision in the classrooms or the hall at break. Maybe there was one staff member in the hall, but definitely none in the classrooms.

It just worked. Maybe there are less staff overall, so it's not possible? Maybe there are more children with additional needs or allergies these days? I don't know.

It's bizarre though.

If they're all outside, are they properly supervised? I doubt it. But I bet some of the less resilient ones are just cold and miserable.

Sounds pretty shit to me!

I was at secondary 1994 to 2001

Yes, we used to be allowed out which I suspect put less pressure on the need for canteen space. Pre-covid my DC's school allowed year 10s and 11s out but they've stopped it.