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?

Yes I think from primary 4/5 on they made their own way home, but primary 3 and below were usually picked up.

In my class the regular home lunch kids were a bit ostracised. They didn’t form close friendships because they disappeared so often.

Definitely not a thing when I was at school in the 00s. Not a thing for my kids either and they are happy to spend their lunch with their friends.

Quite regularly used to go home for dinner in the 80s. Very happy days

I used to go home for lunch most days in primary school but my girls didn't have that option. It used to be really nice.

It was a thing at my school in the 80’s. But very few people actually did it. Parents were more likely to be at home in those days. Everyone works now.

I think lunch times were shorter at my DCs school than they were in my day (our whole school day was 9-4pm so longer lunches/playtimes), and think their lunch slots were staggered across the years, so it'd be a nightmare to organise extra collections of kids. But sure safeguarding will be at the heart of it, too much for schools to keep track of with the risk of things going wrong and not worth it.

In secondary we were allowed out at lunch hour in the final year and used it to go and hang out at the pie shop and smoke fags, so it wasn't all that good in the old days (though it did seem fun at the time!).

I think it still happens here in the small towns in the East too. I live very close to a primary and secondary and the place is awash with children around dinnertime. I am sure the crossing patrol is on outside the primary over lunch too. In fact, definately a crossing patrol outside my dad's house, he lives next to a primary too.

Many of the secondary kids go to the shops and bakers. I am sure the little ones go into the houses surrounding the school, it's in a very dense housing estate.

One of my neighbours here (England) moved to fairly rural Australia and the kids all come home at lunch.
Sounded very wholesome

Ah I don’t think this happened at my girls school as it was so common and often they would go to their friends home for lunch. Our village was small so the furthest you could really live from the school was a 10 minute walk unless you were one of the kids who lived on the farms and got a taxi in, those kids would normally just go to their friends.

This was a thing at my small village school in the 80s. Everyone lived close by and lots of stay at home mums. I never did it as I didn't want to miss playing Line Tag!

I loved going home for lunch when I was little (in the 80s)-my mum hated it as it was probably a right old pan having to come and get me! When she started work, that stopped anyway.

Home lunches aren't allowed at any school I've taught at.

I was in primary school in the early 80s - some children who lived v close to the school did go home for their lunch.

I was most envious - I lived too far to make it there and back to school again in time for afternoon classes. And Mum worked so there wouldn't be anyone to make me lunch anyway.

I remember going home at lunchtime for my lunches in high school. Some kids went to the shops. It stopped after I left in 92.

Haha I remember the Sullivans being on TV too. I also have memories of Pebble Mill, my mum watched that and I think we must have restarted at 1.15 because because it was Pebble Mill at 1 wasn't it?

You just need to ask the school.

My school in Scotland lets children go home for lunch and it's pretty popular with the children who live close by. The school just need a letter from the parent authorising the child to leave school at lunchtime.

From primary 3 they can walk home from school by themselves (p1+2 are handed over by the teacher in the playground) which also seems to be different to what happens in the rest of the UK.

I remember having 'home lunch' in the early 90's.My secondary school didn't even require parents to pick up. You got a blue card and were able to leave upon showing it to the dinner lady.

My clever ass thought it would be a good idea to go to the local fish and chips shop and get lunch for all my friends. Clearly, we got caught, and my blue lunch card was removed 😂

I remember this so fondly from when I was at nursery/reception in the mid-70s. It must have been knackering for my mum though - she'd get a bus up the hill to the school, collect me, bus home, lunch, Playschool, bus back to the school, drop me off, bus home again, all within just over an hour! I bet she was relieved when I started staying for school dinner, but I'm pretty sure everyone went home for dinner in the early years.

It wasn't an option at my son's primary school. At senior school they were allowed off-site in Year 9 and above, but COVID hit when he was in Year 8 and they stopped it and never changed back.

They were a thing in my primary school the 80s. My mum worked full time but could occasionally wangle a longer lunch and come and get me and we’d get lunch together at home. It’s an incredibly positive memory for me.

Still a thing at my kids’ primary in the 2010s/2020s. They got an hour for lunch, which helped. Popular for pre Christmas party outfit changes and seemingly popular for a sneaky McDonalds as I used to see a few kids getting taken there as a treat.

I was at a village school for primary where most of us were bussed in from other surrounding villages, so we had no way of getting home for lunch, but one or two of the local kids did go home - the houses were just a short way down the road from school so they’d walk home and back themselves. At secondary in the nearby slightly larger town in the 80s, it was definitely fine to go out during lunch - some local children went home to eat, those of us who came on the bus might go for lunch with someone else to their home, or go to the shop down the road. I would sometimes walk up for lunch at my Nan’s after my Grampy died. Nobody ever had issues coming back to school in time for afternoon registration.

I was going to say, I definitely did this when I was at primary school in the 90s in NE Scotland, as did my brother a few years after me. I'm now at the opposite end of the UK so was wondering if it was still a thing!

I was in primary in the late 70s and went home for lunch, walking there and back by myself. I remember watching ‘Shine on Harvey Moon’.

Im 60 and ever heard of it! It may have happened in the 70s when I was at primary but I cant recall anyone going home.

I was always very jealous of the home lunch kids in the 80s and 90s! Not for the likes of me, with two working parents. Not common nowadays, more as a tool for management for difficult situations.

Yes it’s an option at both primary and secondary

Scotland