Are “home lunches” still a thing at your children’s school?

[Gladla]

When my DDs (now late 20s/early 30s) were in primary school they used to have 3 options for lunch, school lunch, packed lunch and home lunch. For home lunch the parent would collect them at the start of lunch take them home, feed them and bring them back at the end of lunch. By the time they were primary 6/7 lots of the kids would use the home lunch option to go to the cafe in the village on Fridays.
We didn’t use them often but my parents would take my girls for a home lunch about once a week. They were also a very popular option on the day of the Christmas party where lots of the kids would go home to get changed or in primary 5 when they went swimming most of the girls would go home at lunch to dry their hair.
I was chatting to my DD today who has a 5 year old and I asked if her school had home lunches as I thought it would be nice for me to take my DGD out. She said nope that’s not an option!
I was a little shocked. I understand that there are significantly less parents who are around in the middle of the day and safeguarding has gone up, but it seems fairly innocent if someone if collecting the child from and returning them to the office.

AIBU to be sad this option doesn’t seem to exist?
Did anyone else’s schools have home lunches or still have them?

Never a thing where I grew up in the 70s

Never heard of such a thing.

I'm nearly 50, kids are mid teen and adult

It's an option at all my local schools, at least the primary schools.

i'm 49 and this never existed when i was a kid, nor have I seen it in my lifetime.

Sounds lovely - although the temptation not to remove self from the sofa after a home break would be strong in my case :)

I used to have a home lunch a couple times a week (I think it was a long time ago 😅) but I was the only one! I've always been a bit of a home bird and used to love popping home with mum and sitting on the sofa with a warm toastie! I didn't want to go back again! But I guess it reset me for the second part of the day.

From about age 8, I used to walk myself home at lunchtime for my lunch (1980s!). I'd have a boiled egg, a ham sandwich or tomato soup with my mum. God that makes me feel nostalgic. My mum didn't work so she was always home.

That's so sweet! Never an option in my primary school and I'm born in the 90s. I work in a school now (secondary) and lunch is only about 35 mins long anyway. Way too rushed for kids and staff IMO.

(I'm not even sure how long it is TBF as different year groups have different start and end times. For teachers it's different each day depending who you're teaching and when!)

I remember going home for a full meat and two veg dinner followed by milk pudding. My mother would prep all this the night before and set the oven timer. My dad would come home at 12 to put the tatties on.

If I was lucky I'd catch a bit of The Sullivans or Crown Court before I went back to school.

Yes I remember this.
I'm 37 now when I was in year 5 and in year 6 it was an option.
Me.and my cousin would walk home we lived 5 minutes down the road eat at home then walk back.
I have 2 in primary now it's not an option now.
We live in south east London.

As a current TA in a primary school I get mad anxiety at the thought of this. So many safeguarding risks, risk of anti social behavior, risks from the public during school hours id the children left to go shops etc. Parents not bringing them back more often.

I remember in secondary school you could pop to the shop.

They still do this at Catholic primary schools in Belgium and France.

@mjhx it's very common where I live in Scotland . In primary the teacher lets the kids out and they walk home for lunch - my daughter did it from age 5.

Secondary kids walk down to the shops for lunch. There's no anti social behaviour- just very long queues af Subway, the chipper and bakers.

Works perfectly well.

I remember this being a thing when I was at primary school (1968 - 1975) and to a lesser extent at secondary school (1975 - 1980). But it was only the kids who lived a very short distance from the school,e.g.about a 5 minute walk. Any longer and it wouldn't have been worth going as we only got an hour for lunch.

I was born 1969... We had options

In the 50s it was a thing. I walked home had liunch then back to school. I was 7. Continued up to senior school but I was one of only 3 pupils in the entire school who went home, most went into town to shoplift!!!!

Still very much a thing. It’s not particularly a faff either. At DC’s school, all they have to do is say ‘home dinners’ during the register and go the office to be collected at the beginning of lunch time. Then the office sign them out and back in again when they come back.

Can’t believe some people have never heard of it

I was at primary school in the 80s. In our year group of almost 100 kids (it was and still is a huge primary school!) only one or two ever went home for lunch. It was an option but rarely used.

Safeguarding risks to who primary age children wouldn’t be allowed to come and go as they please - it’s only if an adult is collecting them

It wasn't a published option when my DS was at school, but I did take him home for lunch sometimes and no-one objected. He was a very anxious child, adopted, and that reconnection with home in the middle of the day was often needed during particularly anxious periods.

I worked in a school up until a couple of years ago and we had a couple of children who were regularly collected at lunchtime. As long as they were back in time for afternoon registration it was fine.

Edited to say I went to primary school in late 60s/early 70s and I went home for lunch most days, or I took sandwiches and went with my best friend to her house and ate them their. We used to listen to Just A Minute on the radio.

I've just quit primary teaching after 30 years. This has always been an option for parents in all of my schools, usually taken up on special occasions or by some families on rainy days. I also have a 7 year old son and the school is 100m away... he and his best friend come home on rainy days. Of course- they are always back on time!

It was an option when my dc were at primary a few years ago, and I assume it's still is as we have a crossing guard near our house who is present every lunchtime. Never see any children using that crossing though at lunch.

In secondary, everyone is allowed out at lunchtime so some do go home - this is in Scotland.

I did home lunches in the 1980s. I just left, took myself home, brought myself back. My dc didn’t in the 2000s, but they were not even allowed by the school to walk home by themselves at the end of the day until Year 5. I imagine that home lunches aren’t much of a thing, because of the time and resource needed to handover and handball potentially 30 kids per class.

The post was about primary age children so it's definitely about primary school age. And yes a safeguarding risk, vulnerable children. Children who are a children in need plan with social services. Children with mental health.
You think all children go home to a happy family? I know quite a few children who don't. I also can say from a deprived community it would be a huge risk and would cause nothing but problems.

What are you talking about though, are you talking about children being collected by a parent/carer at lunchtime or children leaving school on their own at lunchtime? Because no primary school with a half adequate safeguarding practice would allow the latter to happen

60 years ago maybe but not these days

Children at the school in our street are allowed to leave at lunchtime if their parents have ok’d it if their house is walking distance. We’re in a very small village though, so if kids are going home they’re 5 min walk max. Children who don’t live in the village have to be collected by an adult or school transport.

I haven’t noticed any children doing so for the last year since the lunch supplier changed though (and actually the main employer in our town moving there office will also have had an impact). Even my DS who was a staunch home luncher now eats in school (our garden gate is literally opposite the main school gate).