cleaning the dining room

[madamarcati]

At DDs school the children have school dinner in 1 class room and packed lunches in another.Is it normal for the children to wipe down the tables and sweep the carpet with a dustpan and brush after lunch?
DD says the tables are sticky with l food and spillages left on the table when she comes back for afternoon school.
Shouldn't this be the job of the midday staff of food service staff

I worked in a school where all children ate in their class room, so packed lunches only. The midday supervisors cleaned the tables but we had carpet so no-one swept or hoovered the floor.

It's not good for children with allergies if there is food residue left on a table surface (unless there is an absolute certainty that everything eaten wherever the cloth went was unproblematic).

I've no problem with children having a chores rota, aside from that.

Perhaps a good compromise would be for the children to take occasional turns, but staff to supervise and do a final check at the end, re-wiping as necessary.

Could you enquire about the policy in a low key way? Possibly the head feels that the children should occasionally take part in the clearing away but if you raise concerns and offer a solution this may go down better?

Hmm - I would say it's okay for them to wipe down with water but the tables then need to be disinfected, particularly if they are going to be used in the afternoon, and this would have to be done by an adult.

They have a rota for it but because it's a small school they have to do it for a week each half term which seems a lot!.