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?!!

You don't have a clue do you.

Tell me you’ve never been a teacher without telling me.

If only it was that easy.

Surely if it was then you’d want to train to be a teacher yourself?

I gave up the school holidays and ‘short’ working days as you claim and I have never looked back - I have so much more free time now that I do not teach in a school.

So when teachers report high levels of job dissatisfaction and stress, we should just overlook that because in your opinion they’re just a bunch of cosseted pansies?

What I’m trying to say is that the education system is in crisis. Everyone is unhappy! (Except perhaps for the academy chain fat cats?) Surely it would be a good idea to look at that?

The UK school day is massively long, children start at a very early age, they are pushed very hard, there are very few breaks (compared to what cognitive science tells us is conducive to learning), everything is a rush and a stress, the resources are poor from buildings to books, the food is appalling and the teachers very modestly trained.

Time for a rethink I reckon!

So explain where all those hours are accounted for throughout the year, throughout your career.

I understand that nqt are probably racking up the hours, but most newly qualified professionals will be putting in many additional too, this is the norm.

We are not talking about small differences. 3.25 hours a day, assuming no work put in over the holidays or 2.25 hours a day everyday plus 5 full 9-5 weeks through the various school holidays.

Obviously there might be the need for a wider conversation about working hours and practices throughout the UK as compared to Scandinavian countries, but right now i don't consider teachers to be hard done by in relative terms.

I think teachers think that everyone working in other sectors out in offices always get their lunchbreak 😂
I have been working for twenty years in a variety of sectors and its incredibly rare for me to manage to take my lunchbreak! So often its a hastily eaten sandwich from home, in front of the computer, responding to emails. Or a call runs over and poof there goes lunchbreak because ive another call that cant be rescheduled.

These issues are not unique to teaching.

And yes i regularly work late and have to do work at home in the evenings and weekends. Dont get 12 weeks off a year though thats for sure!

I'm SLT so I have a 30 minute lunch duty then I eat my lunch at my desk whilst replying to emails, often with a child sat in my office if they've been brought to me by a Teacher or midday supervisor because of a behaviour issue on the playground.

Those saying "children should be supervised by midday supervisors" aren't wrong but it's not that simple. We cannot afford the number of MDS we would actually need to ensure safe supervision of all our children. We also have an increasing number of children we need a 1:1 at break and lunchtimes due to SEND or safeguarding reasons. Even if we did have the budget for more MDS Teachers would still end up dealing with behaviour/Pastoral issues, safeguarding, making urgent calls to parents etc during lunchtime because it's often the only time they can do it. Afterschool we have department meetings, meetings with parents, CPD etc as well as admin tasks that need doing.Teachers also (voluntarily) run a range of clubs over lunchtimes which are hugely beneficial to our children, particularly those who struggle with friendships.

Surely, if you are to be considered proper professionals, you as a profession need to make it clear to policy makers that you can no longer afford to meet what’s expected?

Do less but do it better with happier results.

Why are you, as an SLT member in particular, continuing to perpetuate a system where everyone is unhappy across almost metrics, of which the stratospheric rise of home schooled children is the most terrifying one?

This is a genuine question, if starkly put.

When I was teacher training my mentor told me that I couldn’t go to the toilet between school starting and lunchtime because I needed to be overseeing the class at all times. It was one of the things that was the nail in the coffin for me, because I do need a cup of tea in the morning- actually ended up with cystitis. In reality the TA was fine with me nipping to the toilet for 2 minutes while she supervised them at morning break. Being told when I could go to the toilet was a low bar.

That's about the kids formal education time not adult terms and conditions of employment for adults.

Children not in education due to a later starting age would still need to be in a childcare setting, they're not so going to be stopping home with mummy, this is not the society we live in. So early years education which is more play based will still need facilitating by professionals (as is the case in Wales).

It does seem like there are problems in education, but from my understanding this is behavioural (kids and parents?!) and changing teachers hours won't tackle that.

So you agree that there is a problem.

What would you change? If no additional money was on the table but otherwise you’d have free reign?

@soupyspoon Agree to a point. The difference is, these professions can often take a break when they've dealt with the matter of urgency and things are a little calmer; my SIL works as a.senior nurse in a city A&E, for example, and that is what she does. Teachers can obviously only take lunch in the time the kids are on their lunch.

My children's teachers ALWAYS ate in the classroom!

Porridge in the morning, sandwiches and snacks throughout the day.

Absolutely horrific!

@neverbeenskiing It's rubbish, I agree, but at least as SLT you get "half an hour to eat at your desk." Obviously classroom teachers don't get that and they also have the additional burden of prepping lessons for the afternoon.

You’re entitled to 30 mins lunch break. Teachers quite often get a free lunch if they are on duty though. You can also have a 15 min break at the end of the school day before meetings and planning.

@Guytheskiinstructor Agree. It's also detrimental to MH of the teacher to not get a break away from children for all of the school day. Especially now that classes are often even more challenging to teach than ever before. It's not healthy.
I'm an EOTAS Tutor now (after 21 years of primary teaching) and massively value the fact I am afforded "luxuries" such as a quick 20 mins without the responsibility of supervising children/going to the loo so no more UTIs/not doing more than max 2 hrs unpaid work of an evening. I'm also present for my own 5 yo so much more.
I don't get paid if I'm off sick or for the school holidays but it is absolutely worth it.
It shouldn't be like this for teachers.

Well said. Teachers seem to think they have it the worst.

So what your are saying is you can only eat at a regular and normal meal time, the horror! You do realise shift workers have massively higher rates of diabetes and cancer because they can't eat at regular times.

@tellmesomethingtrue How many teachers in reality get a 30 min lunch break?

@Periperi2025 No - I'm saying they can't take a break away from the kids!!!!!

@tellmesomethingtrue Do you teach/supervise 30 children a day from 8.30-3.30 without a break in that responsibility? This is the issue here, not the fact they are eating at a desk!

In my experience (40 years secondary teaching,Union Rep for 20 years), SLT/ Headteachers are dreadful for setting up systems which rely on classroom teachers covering outside their directed time. Frequently they set up rotas of "duties" with no thought as to whether this means staff have access to food/ drinks/toilets in reasonable time.
( Possibly because they do not teach as many lessons and can view their own non contact time more flexibly)
They also seem totally ignorant of Employment Law such as Working Hours Regulations 1996
Most teachers work more than 6 hours a day so regardless of whether the school is under the more generous Burgundy Book conditions or some other Academy Chain terms and conditions, no teacher should have a day where they don't have an uninterrupted break of at least 20 mins( and this must be during the day,not at the begining or end)
So, if as a teacher your lunch break and your mid morning break are both being taken on the same day and you have no other non contact time that day then this is an illegal breech of employment law.
The trouble with schools is that there is an atmosphere that if managers can get one person to " volunteer" for an extra duty or supervision, it can be used as a lever to tell other people they " have " to do it.
A good on-site union rep should negotiate a directed time budget every year and issue it to staff. If you are a small school, with no on-site Rep the rules still apply, you can still be a member of a union and you can call in a Regional Rep over working conditions if you need to.
Employers can't say they won't comply with the Regulations just because they " don't believe in Unions". That applies to other industries too.

This isn’t an ‘employer’ problem, it’s a problem of teachers not standing up for themselves and allowing themselves to be walked all over!
The STPCD is very precise about what teachers can and cannot be expected to do. As a teacher of 30+ years, I’ve learned how to ensure I am treated fairly and within the employment laws / STPCD regulations. It’s not difficult.
Teachers can be expected to do some supervision over lunch time as long as it’s part of their directed time and they still receive the minimum legal requirement of 30 minutes break. So if the children get 60 minutes lunch break, a teacher can be allocated 30 minutes for their own break and 30 minutes from their directed hours allocation of 1265 hours over 195 days. In our school we have 1 hour per week of our directed time allocated to an after school club - some teachers prefer to do 2 lunchtime clubs instead and that’s ok.

As part of the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document, lunch supervision does not fall under directed time so teaching staff cannot be forced to do it. Voluntary arrangements can be made such as offering a free lunch to those who do lunchtime supervision. Teaching staff on the leadership pay scale are exempt from the directed hours limit so can be expected to supervise pupils' lunch time.

That doesn't mean that teachers don't work during their "lunch break" as most teaching staff will use the time for marking/preparation etc that falls under the 'reasonable additional hours’ to fulfil their professional responsibilities' part of their contract, although they are not obligated to use lunch time for that. All teachers are entitled to a lunch break of a 'reasonable length'. Academies do not have to adhere to the STPCD, although the ones that I have worked for have done.

I work in a small primary school and due to budget cuts and the number of high-needs children requiring 1:1 supervision, lunch times can be very challenging. I have often stepped in when we have been short-staffed but after a while it starts to become an expectation rather than an occasional helping hand. It can be galling when the members of staff at my school who are on the leadership pay scale and therefore should be the ones to help out with lunch supervision then sit in their offices with the door shut.

When I worked in primary my headteacher used to supervise lunch break herself with the lunchtime supervisors. She then took her break when we were all back in class. She was awesome and it was a happy school.

It's the intensity!

Other things you can't do as a teacher:

• take 2 mins to stare out of the window while thinking about a task or problem.
• say 'please bear with me while I....'. Good luck with that with a class of kids! 😀
• swear or say anything even remotely 'adult' when under pressure
• sit down
• wear nice clothes
• feel valued by, well, anyone really!

OK, the last one was a bit embittered, but even so.