High school lunch starting at 1.45pm

[Bagpuss2022]

I have had two older sons go through this high school and no issues and one has chronic health issues that required a lot of support they have been brilliant.
however since this year my y8 daughter has lunch at 1.45pm she then has afternoon season of half a hour 2.15pm til 2.45 then finishes she’s said she feels faint she has a big breakfast and a snack at 11.30but surly kids shouldn’t be expected to eat lunch at 1.45pm?? My son is type 1 diabetic he went to this school but it was normal 12.30 times for lunch this is ridiculous I think

Mine was 120pm-2pm. I remember several getting their lunch at break which was 1100-1120.

This does seem late for a school starting before 9am. Even the last to have dinner when I was at school was at 1.15pm.

I think something has gone wrong with schools that this is normal. My son's school has two short breaks and also means kids that queue for a school meal don't get time to eat it if they're at the back.

So we're in packed lunches.

The other school we put down for choice had late lunch of 1.45pm too I think.

How come this is an issue now and wasn't when I was at school? I'm guessing lots of clubs these days so school has to finish earlier. My school day didn't finish until 3.40pm. ds finishes at 3pm.

I think its pretty late for a school lunchtime, but in general I don't think 1.45 is a late lunch.
And 20 min seems very short, so I would say that part is unreasonable.

As an aside my DC (year 8 and year 12) evening meal is usually between 7 and 8 - later on a Friday because of their sports/activities

20 minutes is too short. The reason why though is behaviour in schools now is so difficult to manage and lunch time is the worst time for trouble.

Why doesn’t she just bring a packed lunch and eat the sandwich or “main” bit at 11:30? Then she won’t feel faint and if she feels peckish at 1:45 she can have fruit/cereal bars/other snack bits. This really is a non issue OP. 1:45 is a reasonable lunch time and if your child has a medical problem then you can discuss with the school what reasonable adjustments they can make so she doesn’t feel faint eg. Being allowed to eat a cereal bar in class occasionally.

You are making a mountain out of a molehill. She’s eating (or could eat), 830, 1130, 145.

I don’t think it’s exceptionally late. Anything between 12-2 is perfectly acceptable. My DC at secondary school have lunch at 1.40.

If she can’t go more than two hours without food without claiming she feels ill then you should probably take her to the dr.

I wonder if it’s connected to the often mentioned on MN phenomenon of children constantly snacking now, vs a generation ago. The idea that children can’t go more than an hour or so without something to eat.

I agree ridiculous, my boys high school had the same times, they used to each lunch at morning break, they got used to it.

Why can't she eat more at 11.30 (or earlier break if I got that time wrong)

That's crazy. I went to a secondary school with over 2,000 pupils and only a small canteen and we all still managed to get lunch between 12 - 1.30pm iirc. Kids can't concentrate for hours on end without a break and they need to eat more frequently than adults. Yes she could stuff in a cereal bar in morning break, but when you also need to go to the loo, there often isn't time. Plus if op's dd is potentially t1 diabetic, she really needs to be eating balanced meals, not just carby snacks.

My secondary school rotated lunch times so it'd be either: 12:20, 12:50, 13:20 or 13:50. We'd all be sneaking snacks in lesson if we had the 13:50 lunch but similarly were starving by 4pm (end of school day, start at 9) after the 12:20.

It changed by the time my younger sister started there.

I agree it'd be way too late for me, never mind my kids! I think my local high school is similar though, they have half an hour break at 11.30, is hers? I'd be eating a full packed lunch then and having tea and cake at 2!

I don’t get the issue when they have a break and the chance to get a snack at 11.30

ds school has similar timings with last lesson being an hour. They offer free toast to all pupils and a variety of other things at break and then dinner is 1.20. It breaks the day up nicely into three chunks.

when he started I had to juggle his feeds (he is tube fed for 80% of his food) to fit around the timings but it wasn’t hard and actually works well to keep things balanced through the whole day.

Normal here. The year groups are staggered to avoids massive lines paying for food.

It’s a 1.30 lunch at our local secondary, mine would have breakfast around 7am, eat their lunch at break time around 11.30 then a snack at lunchtime at 1.30. Snack when they got home and a normal dinner.

I felt hungry and fainted a lot as a teen though despite eating well at meals, and still need to eat regularly- just skinny with a fast metabolism

It’s on the late side but not unacceptably so in my opinion. Given she has the opportunity to eat at break time it should be manageable, even with diabetes/pre diabetes (speaking as a type one).

It's a little late, but not crazily outside normal. My sons schools lunch is 13:10-14:10 and school clubs run for the first half so a lot of them don't eat until the second half anyway.

Just make sure she eats something filling at break time and I'm sure she will be fine.

Pushing dinner back wise, surely around 6 is pretty standard for families with secondary aged children. Or even later if they have clubs. Mine tend to have a snack at 4 and then dinner after they finish training if it's a training night.

I get home from work at 1.45, having had breakfast at 8am - I don't feel faint and I eat my evening meal at 7 like normal. I can't see the issue. Big schools have several periods of lunch depending on time table

It is a little late, but essentially only a couple of hours since then real-time snack. Most people manage to go 2-3 hours between eating. Can you look at what she can have at 11.30 which is both filling and easy to eat?

also in case there are 2 lessons between break and lunch is there time to have some form of glucose sweet or something in between. Those 2 lessons?

My sons high school is 130 for lunch. I think that's pretty late but my son doesn't seem bothered by it.

@Bagpuss2022 Why did you start a thread in Am I being unreasonable? if you’re just going to argue the toss with anyone who affirms that you are, indeed, BU? 😐

You just need to work around it. Plan meals out at times she can eat. Two smaller meals at break and late lunch - would that not keep her blood sugars more stable?

It’s similar but not as late in my DD’s school. Apparently the available mid-morning “snacks” are huge and as big as lunch so if someone needs to eat earlier they can. Or send packed lunch and you DD can eat when she wants to.

It's on the late side but it's abnormal - especially as she doesn't start until 8.30 and has a break mid-morning too.

It's not like she's eating breakfast at 6am and has no other chance to eat again all morning.

I'd also say that 7-8pm is a very normal time for a teenager to eat their evening meal.