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Secondary education

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Original poster

No lockers and no lunch rooms - is this the norm?

164 replies

pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 11:25

A school that I am familiar with appears to have no seating arrangements for students who choose to have packed lunches. Some of the Y11 girls have resorted to eating theirs in the loos Shock.

The same school also does not have any lockers or cloakrooms for students. I was just wondering if this is the norm and would be greatful for any replies before I sit down and draft a letter to the Governors.

It is a State Comprehensive Senior School with around 1200 students.

OP posts:
GetDownNesbitt · 11/02/2012 11:28

We have no lockers. Packed lunches are eaten in the dining room with everyone else.

Original poster
pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 11:34

Can you say what size/type of school it is GetDown?

OP posts:
Needingsomeadvice · 11/02/2012 11:35

When I was at school, nobody had lockers or cloakrooms. There were rows and rows of those benches with coat hooks overhead, but nobody was supposed to use them. Everyone walked around school with bags, mostly sports bags such as 'Head'. This as far as I know is still the norm. Packed lunches were eaten in a classroom. In lower school it was in the dining room. Y11 to sixth form had an upper school seating area arranged into squares (like a hospital waiting area).

Needingsomeadvice · 11/02/2012 11:36

This was in the 90s by the way.

PandaG · 11/02/2012 11:38

the school DS is in has no lockers or coatpegs, and no specific packed lunch area, they just eat in the dining room mixed in with the children who are having a hot lunch

thisisyesterday · 11/02/2012 11:38

our school didn't have lockers either. we did have coat pegs so we could hang our coats up, but couldn't really leave bags there,

can the packed lunch kids not sit at tables with those having school dinners? have they been told they are not allowed?

kensingtonia · 11/02/2012 11:41

One of my children attends a school with effectively no lockers- but the school is in the process of a total rebuild and they will be getting them afterwards. The students are also told they can leave outdoor coats in their head of house's rooms. It is a massive comp. There is space in the dining room but DC and friends prefer to eat in the playground or sitting on the stairs inside due to "chavvy" behaviour of other kids and a bullying incident.

I would speak to a head of year/deputy head etc first as they might be unaware of the problems and a solution may be found, before writing to the the governors.

CharminglyOdd · 11/02/2012 11:41

We have (1,200 students) lockers although not for everyone (pay a refundable deposit to rent one) and packed lunches have their own dinner hall which they share with those who buy light snacks rather than a sit-down meal. The hall always smells (enclosed space, no open windows) so when I was a student, rather than staff, I would eat outside - a lot of people did that. There are now a few picnic benches, but when I was there (ten years ago) we were expected to sit on the ground. A lot of people sat on the stairs/tried to find an empty classroom instead.

I think it would be difficult in a modern school to have enough space for lockers - if ours is anything to go by it wasn't build for the number of students it has and space is at a premium, which is one reason why lockers are a very new addition - the PTA fought hard for them and had to wait for a change of HT.

Original poster
pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 11:44

Only food purchased in the school dining rooms may be eaten there AFAIK so students with packed lunches end up sitting on the floor in a main thoroughfare or standing outside.

OP posts:
Original poster
pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 11:55

I have already spoken to a number of members of staff and students and had the packed lunch situation confirmed.

In terms of having no lockers, the school does only have 3x100 minute lessons per day so this cuts down on the amount of time that students are expected to carry all their belongings about I suppose. I still think it is an unsatifactory state of affairs.

I am interested to know if schools in the Independent Sector have such unsatisfactory arrangements. Thanks for all the responses so far.

OP posts:
ExitPursuedByaBear · 11/02/2012 12:01

My DDs school (private) does have lockers now, but it did not when I went (many, many years ago). The girls with packed lunches eat them in the classroom or the cloakroom I believe.

They also do not have showers for after games lessons.

kensingtonia · 11/02/2012 12:01

That's crazy. I noticed at my child's primary school they used those fold up tables and chairs in the assembly hall, why can't they use those in another hall or space. Also at my secondary school they had an area with tables and chairs outside the main dining hall for packed lunch kids. It is discrimination pure and simple, my vegetarian children have packed lunch because they have nut allergies and also because the school food they can have is revolting - pea pasta etc! They shouldn't be forced to stand up or sit on the floor.

Write to the governors - they should be able to eat in comfort, would the leadership team expect their own kids to be treated like that?

thisisyesterday · 11/02/2012 12:02

wel i would definitely complain about having nowhere to eat. that;s awful :-(

kensingtonia · 11/02/2012 12:05

When my children were at an independent, we paid a great deal of money for lunch which was extra, so they were given space to eat it! They had lockers but I think we had to buy a new lock after my daughter lost her key on the first day and the caretaker had to break it open.

sparkle12mar08 · 11/02/2012 12:06

The lockers thing is totally normal, but I'd be demanding answers about provision for students with packed lunches - that's absolutely not on - do the LEA and Ofsted know?

DavidaCottonmouth · 11/02/2012 12:06

My children are at 3 different independent schools. They all have lockers (one of my DDs has three lockers - books, games, instrument!). They all have very nice dining halls. Mine all have school lunches (compulsory in 2 of the schools), so packed lunch location not an issue for us. I think in the school that has a packed lunch option, they are only allowed to eat cold food in the common room. I know this because DS got a detention for having a pizza delivered and the reason given was hot food outside of the dining room.

mummytime · 11/02/2012 12:23

I thought legally secondary schools were supposed to provide some access to lockers. A lot of schools only allow eating of home bought food outside, but may designate a room for days like today. Some schools are very short of room though. My DCs school doesn't really have enough room for all pupils to eat.
But some of the independent schools subtly overcome this by allowing a their pupils to go and buy food at lunch time from local shops. They also have to carry far more equipment around.

Original poster
pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 12:26

There are a few picnic benches outside but those are not much use in this weather and a couple of benches at the entrance to the dining room. The seagulls swarm around overhead every lunch time.

As students are carrying their lunch around with them all day there is also the issue of eating food in lessons and drinking cans of coke etc. A neighbour whose DD goes to this school said that she felt like she had sent her DD to a Private School for free (the Head openly says that he wants to make it like a Private School) - I think not!

Davida, is your DS in the 6th form?

OP posts:
bumpybecky · 11/02/2012 12:28

how do they fit everything into the time table if they only have 3x 100 min lessons a day? Confused

Original poster
pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 12:31

bumpy, that's 15 'sessions' a week which takes care of most subjects. It does mean that you only have biology for example once a week though.

OP posts:
TheHumancatapult · 11/02/2012 12:32

same here no spaces for packed lunches and hell even dinners struggle to grab a meal and find a seat

Original poster
pickledsiblings · 11/02/2012 12:35

Catapult, doesn't it make you annoyed on the students' behalf?

OP posts:
senua · 11/02/2012 12:38

DD's old school didn't have lockers. Actually they did used to have lockers but they were taken out. I challenged the HT about it but it didn't suit the school so nothing was done. It was typical of the school - that the HT's views were more important than inconvenience to the pupils - and was part of the reason why we and most others left for sixth form.

TheHumancatapult · 11/02/2012 12:40

it does but i looked at all schools in the area and it is a similar problem and where we used to ive the unch time faclities are just not big enough.Ds2 used to be dinners but said 30 mins queue 5 to stuff down as ;lunch is 40 mins and thats the whole school of 1200

DavidaCottonmouth · 11/02/2012 12:45

Yes, pickled :). They are allowed to have school lunches in the dining room, cold packed lunch in the common room, or they can go out to Tesco/Greggs/Subway/local kebab shop...

I think their packed lunch rules are petty. I could never get to the bottom of it, when I agreed to my DS's detention. I imagine they don't want pizza in school because it would be hard to dispose of the pizza boxes without going to the big dumpster and they don't want them piled up in the common room, but couldn't actually get the Head of Sixth Form to admit this.