Lunch time split break

[CMBens]

My Child’s class of 30 kids have split lunchtime break due to behaviour.
Does any other school do this??
🤔
Please give your thoughts.
They have 2 groups
first group eat then go out
Other group go out then eat

Thanks in advance

No, I've never seen a class split for lunch. Perhaps it's to separate two children but they've done it like this to make it less obvious.

Ours is split by year group. It seems a bit unfair on friendship groups to split the class...

Dnephew school do this. It’s three form entry and they do 1.5 classes in/ out and swop. Each term a different class is split so they all get a “turn” iyswim. It’s a space/ noise/ behaviour issue I think. Dbro says the hall is quite small.

Many schools have different classes going in for lunch at different times, with some going outside first before their lunch slot. If they've got kids who are continually causing trouble at lunchtime if they are together, then this seems like a very practical way of reducing the problem. If the problem is that your child is split from friends (and not part of the reason), then perhaps you could have a quiet word to see if the halves can be adjusted.

The school is a 1 form entry primary school so incredibly small.
It is a religious school and claims to have values.
My problem is that this separating children is not teaching them social skills. Not teaching them to resolve their situations. It isn’t real life and isn’t preparing them for the future environments that they will move onto.
Punish the individual that is causing trouble but this way the whole class is punished and they aren’t consistent as they often swap 1 child for another because of an incident and randomly pick the person to be swapped when they are getting alone perfectly.
It is disruptive and has knock on effects on the mental health of the children as they are unhappy.

How old are they?

I disagree with the comment it's not teaching them anything, it is giving them direct exposure to the whole concept of avoiding or ignoring those you dislike or cannot be with.

I don't see it as a major issue. As you say the groups are fluid, so not set in stone.

Fewer playground issues means less time sorting in the class and more effective learning.

Ages between 4-11

If you work with people you don’t get on with you have to make do and deal with it, find a way to resolve the situation

Splitting them apart is just making it acceptable for this behaviour to continue.
It doesn’t teach them to walk away as it is being done for them. They don’t have to learn the skills of avoidance because they are no longer together!!

When they return to class and haven’t been with their friends it is more disruptive as they then want to chat when they should be learning. They haven’t had time for let off steam when they are in groups and feel isolated and alone.

One of the primaries I went to didn't have enough room for everyone to eat but it would be different classes at different times.

I can see the logic of splitting a class if there are differences in eg knowing how to use cutlery and sit still, if you split off the ones who need more support.

Tbh I see the logic anyway as it gives them more space if it’s only one form entry. So one class of 4-11 year old?

They have one class per year
So 6 classes in total so around 180 kids in total
The hall is large and the grounds are large also
So plenty of space.

🤦‍♀️ I see now with the numbers ! Is it just the one class being split or all of them? Are the kids fussed? I know dnephew like it as he got to sit on the y2 table!

I think you have to trust the staff to know what they are doing.

They can't tell you if there are specific problems.

It is the 2 older classes being split
The kids do NOT like it because they aren't causing any trouble and being moved for someone else's fault.
It is confusing for them as they don't understand why they get moved when they haven't done anything just to make space for the other to be moved.
The individuals causing the trouble should miss their lunch completely.

Are all classes doing this? Or are 15 kids spending their lunch just them? So 15 kids playing while the rest of the school is in the hall? Or are half of all classes outside first?

They're not segregating them the entire time, so it doesn't mean they'll never learn to resolve their differences. Lunchtime is a difficult time supervision-wise - teachers are entitled to their lunch break, and so most schools rely on employing lunchtime supervisors, and the more you have, the more it costs. So anything that makes the supervision easier will help. Plenty of space doesn't always help - it makes supervision harder.

The individuals causing trouble missing the lunchbreak every day is not a practical solution. They still need to be supervised, so you'd then be using someone on just those children. Also, they're often the children who most need to run off some steam at lunchtime so that they can settle in the afternoon.

If it had always been the system that the teacher would tell the kids each day who was on first and second lunch, there would probably be no complaint - they'd have accepted the system.

Sure, they'll complain about it, just as they'll complain that they had to work with Jonny in science today, and that it wasn't their group's turn for cooking.

If your child is really struggling with the system for some reason, then have a quiet word with the teacher. It may be that there's a good reason to try and avoid swapping your child about, but I don't think it's a reason to stop the system altogether.

Well obviously for such a decision to be made a large share of the kids are causing trouble or they wouldn’t need to do so.

It’s all well and good saying it doesn’t teach them social skills etc etc but when it’s the lunchtime staff having to spend every break time sorting out bad behaviour amongst peers that doesn’t teach them anything either.

Maybe the children all need to sit up and look at why this has been decided

Ah I see so it’s just the year six class. Tbh the vast majority of children would understand I think. I think if it makes the rest of the day flow better and focus on the learning then I think it’s worth it.

Do they have playtime together?