Teacher lunch hour!

[everychildmatters]

First off, I am glad I left primary teaching last year after 20 years in; things are only getting worse. I feel for the colleagues I left behind.
It is now becoming a common expectation that, for many different reasons, teachers are now being expected to supervise children over the lunch hour.
I used to avoid this by taking the time to which I was entitled but in order to do this I had to physically leave the building - go for a walk etc. In reality of course this was only for about half an hour or so as I wanted to be back in time to prepare my afternoon lessons.
AIBU to think teachers should be entitled to a lunch break?!!

Can’t remember primary but for high school I recall it being senior staff members that were teaching less. So DT’s and area managers. It was a long time ago. You need the teachers there to keep an eye kids too from a safe guarding point. It can be done on a rota and ideally you should be remunerated for it.

Don’t dinner ladies exist anymore? DS mentioned something Miss X had said to him during lunch the other day and I assumed he was mixed up because she wouldn’t have been with them at lunch time but maybe that’s just normal now?!

Teachers should be able to have a break. Secondary school lunch breaks are 30 mins for children. The staff have time for a wee and inhaling a sandwich before getting ready for the next class.
It's one of the many reasons that there is a shortage of teachers.

At my school, teachers are asked to volunteer to supervise a lunch a week and are given free lunch (all week) if they do. There's no pressure. Generally enough will do it for free lunch. Seems a reasonable solution. Although does make me worry if free school lunch is an incentive!

What does your contract say? I don't think you're entitled to an hour unless it's specifically in your contract.

I kind of sympathise - especially if there's no kind of rota system and you're expected to be on the playground every single day? You should definitely be getting time to eat your lunch,

But I also think it's not at all limited to teachers. I have a job where my lunch break also very rarely happens and I work through it 90% of the time - and the 'contact time' with my clients is a lot longer than 9-3:30. We are not allowed to leave site at all during our working hours.

So it's just part of the job sometimes. Maybe it could have been managed better at your particular school, I don't know. As you have discovered, that's not true for every job, you have to pick your priorities I guess.

I have never had an hour lunch break. When I was in mainstream I would always go to the staffroom for 30 mins or so for lunch then end up back in my room working and getting things ready for the afternoon. In some schools I've done a lunch duty.

I'm in a different role now in education and still don't get an hour!

I've always thought it's part of that catch all - 6.5 hours of directed time and a non specified amount of non directed time. That's what my contract says even now.

Yes, but someone has to be present who is 'in charge'.

It's not fair (or safe) for people who are largely untrained and have zero behaviour management training to have responsibility for so many children without suppprt.

This.

Just take your lunch break. "I don't work over lunch, I need a break"
Teachers need to stand up for themselves or they'll be taken advantage of.

Schools that follow the Burgundy Book have to follow the directed hours maximum of 1265 hours.

All teachers know and accept we will work almost double that but work that they tell you must be done has to be accounted for in the direct hours calendar. But, as a pp said, I've never been provided with a directed hours calculator in 20 years and don't know anyone who has.

In terms of planning or marking during lunch, that doesn't count because it's a choice to do it then rather than at another time but you can't be directed to do so.

A lot of teachers don't actually know or understand the terms and conditions and not all.schools (academies) follow the Burgundy Book.

A combination of good will, fear and lack of knowledge is exploited.

Teachers don't do lunchtime supervision in the school I work at. They do prep for the next session and some teachers run clubs. They all make it to the staffroom to eat. Actually, SLT do deal time (20 minutes lunchtime detention) on rota too.

All TAs have an MDSA contract so we get a 15 minute break before hitting the dinner hall or playground. It's ok, unless you're a HLTA covering a class for the day- in which case people will shuffle to try to give you a longer break (to prep for the next session mostly).

Employing dinner ladies is tricky. People won't go for a job that's 1.5hrs a day in the middle of the day, so it is offered to TAs, and does top up the wages a little.

That’s exactly how it is although the directed hours should be spread over the year and include parents evenings etc. if you get an hour lunch break as part of your directed hours, it’s up to you how you choose to use it. If you are directed to do something in your non directed time (eg. Lunch cover), you should be in agreement with this and get the time back. Really, it should be in your directed hours calendar at the beginning of the year but that’s not always possible. Lunch duties that are not part of directed hours should be covered by anyone on the leadership scale as they don’t have directed hours.

That’s always been the same.

I know non-teachers get annoyed with teachers claiming they ‘have it bad’, but as an ex-teacher who left for a job in civvy street, I urge them to try to understand!

Yes, many jobs are stressful, of course. But it’s the nature of teaching- it’s akin to a theatrical performance. You have to he ‘on’ all the time and working in that intense way with youngsters is very full- on. I needed my break far more in teaching than I did in an office job. It’s the same for anyone who works with the public: doctors, retail staff etc. And being able to go to the loo when you need to without having to plan it.

These people need time to depressurise and touch base with colleagues. I don’t see how they’ll ever get it, though.🫩

I think lots of jobs have expectations about meetings etc that mean people have to work over their unpaid lunch break. It is unfair, unhealthy and annoying. I sometimes try and push back to retain 30 mins away from my screen- and get responses like ‘it’s the only time others can make’ or everyone else is ok with it’!!

Yup, it’s knackering.

I work in AP now, and teach one-to-one, but I’m still knackered at the end of the day because of the ‘on-ness’.

It’s the only negative part of the mainstream job that’s followed me out of mainstream.

Every single industry is stretched, employees are expected to give more & more but not compensated for it by employer. Teaching is no different. Why is teaching the only profession where those in it constantly moan about every element of their job - pay/hours/breaks/workload - its endless. It isn't a bad offer compared to many - I'd love 12 weeks a year off.

It's not ideal to not have a lunch break & shouldn't be expected, in any industry. I can't remember the last time I took one and I'm self employed

@everychildmatters this actually really matters.

And if teachers don't want to cover lunchtime supervision by default, they need to act together and act now. Otherwise it will just become the way things are done. And impossible to challenge, particularly in the UK where rocking the boat is tantamount to murder.

You should look at doctors for an example of what can happen. I don’t know a single doctor who takes a lunch break. Ever. So ridiculous and so bad for you.

But it’s not really about the lunches, I don’t think. It's systemic. There’s so much you could do to make the primary school system better for kids and teachers alike. Shorten the days by two hours, sit down with the kids for lunch together so you can chat and socialise, kids go off to play, supervised by play workers and you crack on with lesson prep. Everyone would be happier. But this (or other reforms like this) will never happen here because there's a strange commitment in this country to everyone being exhausted and miserable and everything being just being quite rubbish.

This is exactly the kind of miserabilism I’m talking about!

A race to the bottom!

How very dare teachers expect to have what they are contractually entitled to!

Yes, I worked in an office prior to teaching and often worked through my lunch break but it's very different sitting at a desk eating while you work or finding 10 minutes later during the day to eat during a brief lull than it is not having any kind of break at all, being on your feet, teaching, managing behaviour and educational, social and emotional needs without the chance to even go to the loo for a whole day unless you can grab a passing member of office or kitchen staff to stand in your room for 2 mins.

It's being 'on' constantly that is exhausting. Children at my school are allowed to just walk into the staff room to look for us - the door is always open (literally) so we don't have actual down time even when we're in there.

Leave a child in crisis?
Leave a class unsupervised?
Walk out of a meeting?
How do we 'just' take our lunch.

I was a teacher. Escaped years ago. My friend has just retired from teaching after 40 years . She had had enough . The behaviour of the children had deteriorated to such an extent that the dinner ladies wouldn't do lunchtime supervision without a member of staff present in each playground at all times. The children (.Reception/ Yr 1/ Yr 2) are feral. The school had to keep the dinner ladies happy because they knew they couldn't replace them if they left.

That doesn’t seem fair your being made to work on your unpaid break. I work in policing and we are paid for our breaks as there is an expectation we might not get them and can be directed to a job and have to eat something on the go. No issue with this as it’s the nature of the job I signed up for and we are paid for it. I can see why teachers are unhappy with this set up.

You are kidding right.

The school day is already only 845-3, most people work 9-5 with a 30 minutes break so they already have 2.25 hours a day to prep and do additional duties before they reach a normal working day and most people get 5-8 weeks leave a year not 13, so that's another 37.5 x 8 (187.5) hours of prep time & additional duties time accounted for.

We wonder why so many people are burnt out and why people are so unhealthy in this country.

I can’t imagine places like France or Italy working through their lunch breaks.