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

One of DD's had 1.30 lunch, mine was at 1.15 way way back.

My year 7 twins have to be in class for 8.40.

lunch is at 1.30 for 30 minutes. School ends at 3.

I think to spread the day out lunch should be 12-12.30

Schools have varying lunch times usually because canteen cannot accomdate all year groups at once. Plus it's easier to monitor smaller numbers of children at different lunch times. All kids will have later lunch at some point in the school

I have 2 teens and they tend to eat family dinner later anyway as they don't want to eat huge meals before they go training.
This isn't a huge issue. You just help her plan her meals out over the day

My ds's school lunch is at 1.45 but the canteen is also open at break at 11.30, by which the sound of it your dd's is too. I think YABU, tell your dd to have a bigger 'snack' at break.

I think that is ridiculously late op - l would be starving

You're making a problem where there isn't one. Especially once you started saying she does high energy activities after school - surely a later lunch would help with that?

Lots of schools round here do lunch about 1.40 then one final one hour lesson after. Many reasons - less truancy for a start.

They have a break at 11.30 and lots of the children get a substantial snack then. It hasn't been a problem.

How late my is the 11:30 break? Is there enough time to eat a sandwich?

eating breakfast at 7:30, then a protein filled sandwich at 11:30 could work

the lunch break then could be time to have a snack to keep her going until supper

The easy solution is to have a sandwich at 11.30 instead of a snack.

My son's school has real trouble getting everyone through lunch in the time available, and has been playing around with the lunch scheduling to accommodate. I can understand the schools' problems in both these situations, but scheduling lunch so late that there is only a half hour teaching session afterwards seems odd for balancing out the day for that year group.

For practical solutions for the OP's daughter - sandwhich at 11.30, lighter lunch at 1.45, normal tea and normal time?

DD had this in Y11 , and I agree it's not ideal, especially for DC who have to catch an early bus and travel far, like mine did. I just gave DD a more substantial snack for her to have at morning break. None of my DC ate a substantial lunch at school anyway, so it certainly wouldn't have pushed back the evening meal. The only thing it might have done is avoided an after school snack. Which wouldn't be a thing with my teenagers - they're quite happy to have a snack as I'm putting dinner on the table .

This arrangement is quite common in secondary schools. A lot of children have their lunch (sandwich) in the earlier break and do other things at lunchtime.

Fuss about nothing. Secondary school ( independent) that I taught at, lunch break didn’t start until 1:10 so it would be completely normal
to be eating lunch at 1:45.
children who had a long journey to school tended to eat something substantial from home ( or a Chartwells overpriced, trans-fat laden snack) at break time.
There were two 50 minute lessons after lunch though.

Doesn't seem to be an issue here.

She is in Year 8:

• She has a big breakfast.
• Then has a snack at 11.30am.
• Then has lunch at 1.45pm.

But she is feeling faint still? Can she have a protein bar or something as her snack?

Why don't you bring dinner forward so she doesn't have to wait hours for dinner?

Are you suggesting changing the whole school timetable because your daughter feels faint and then not hungry for dinner later?

You'd be starving even though you'd had a break and a chance to eat at 11.30? Really?

What is she having for breakfast and morning snack?

That would be too late for me. But I also have some blood sugar issues (currently being investigated by the hospital) and I would feel faint and be shaky by the mid-morning snack, let alone the lunch.

How long does she have for the snack OP? Can she switch it round to have a packed lunch then, and a snack at 1:45?

My school has a late lunch at 1.30pm but most pupils eat during break time at 11am. A lot of teenagers don’t eat breakfast I find so they are starving at 11am. I do agree with you it’s late.

That is late but with a big breakfast and a snack surely your child is not starving! My school started at 8am and first lunch rota was 11.30. I couldn't eat breakfast and then lunch so early so I skipped breakfast. My daughter doesn't eat at all til dinner (annoying as I pay for her school meals as part of the fees).

There is no such thing as ‘normal’ OP, the norm is situational. I don’t have my lunch til 2pm usually as a way of ensuring I don’t snack before dinner.

if you’re annoyed it messes up your schedule, suck it up because school is important. If it’s because it actually affects your child, gather evidence (not your thoughts it isn’t normal) and ask the school for an accommodation based on medical evidence- but don’t expect them to change the entire schools schedule just for you.

My secondary was 1.20pm-2.10pm lunch. Complete non-issue. We would all have substantial snacks at break at 11am.

9am-11am lesson 1 and 2
break
11.20am-1.20pm lesson 3 and 4
lunch
2.10-3.15 PM reg and lesson 5

Both my kids in different Senior schools have lunch at 1.45 . I think it’s nuts and am sure it impacts concentration . They eat half their lunch at 1st break which I think is 11.40 .Sometimes though they don’t eat the rest of it at 1.40 as they’ve taken the edge off and end up finishing it on the way home .

Mine has lunch 1:30-2 and finishes for the day at 3. Apparently it's shown that pupils concentrate better before lunch than afterwards. I don't know how that translates in primary school where some days they eat lunch at 11:30.

I agree that's really late. Not sure I understand the logic that kids perform better in the "morning" than the afternoon, therefore we should pretend it's still morning for two hours of the afternoon. If I had lunch that late, all I'd be concentrating on is my rumbling stomach for the hour beforehand!

My dd school is the same. I was baffled by how late lunch was. One lesson afterwards and they finish for the day. She leaves here at 7.30 to get there so she has to eat her lunch in the 15 min first break at 11.30. She then snacks at the lunch hour

We as a family generally eat at earlier times, breakfast is at 6.30am lunch 12pm and tea 5pm so she found she struggled to wait till 1.30.