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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

School Dinners SHould be in School

43 replies

pointydog · 03/10/2008 19:11

Prompted by another thread.

I really do think that I might start a campaign to local authority, Scottish government and high schools to get them to reconsider this whole issue.

I used to be in favour of pupils going into twon for lunch. Not now.

They should stay on school premises for the whole school day. They should be offered half-decent food. They should npt be allowed to drop litter everywhere.

I'm beginning to wonder why we put up with this level of shite food and widespread littering.

OP posts:

Original poster

pointydog · 03/10/2008 22:39

S1s at dd1's school are not allowed out, as of this year. A new initiative.

They should make it school-wide. I might tell them.

OP posts:

StewieGriffinsMom · 03/10/2008 22:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Reallytired · 04/10/2008 11:32

Am shocked that there is one tiny area that English schools are ahead of Scottish Schools in banning kids from going out at lunch time.

In our area the schools have also got rid of study leave before exams. The year 11s are made to revise in school. No hanging about on park corners and smoking in the summer. Ha! Ha!

Usually Scottish schools have far more sensible policies than English ones. Its a real turn up for the books.

Original poster

pointydog · 04/10/2008 14:43

So is it England-wide that pupils aren't allowed out of school for dinner, Really? Is it quite a new thing?

OP posts:

Reallytired · 04/10/2008 16:22

Its certainly county wide in Hertfordshire. Whether its country wide I am not so sure. I have worked in several secondary schools in Hertfordshire and as far as I know none of them allow kids out at lunch time. Infact I don't think I was allowed out at lunch time when I was between the ages of 11 and 16. (Ie. 20 years ago)

It does seem a fairly cheap way of stopping teenagers getting up to mischief.

fizzbuzz · 05/10/2008 16:25

Our school isn't big enough to contain all 1800 kids. It was a new build and badly designed..........

Year 10-13 go out at dinner time if they want. The only way we could keep them in, is to build a new canteen with about 800 extra places.

But I do feel if a 16 year old is old enough to have sex, they are really old enough to be allowed out at dinner time......they don't seem to cause that much trouble outside the school. There are 3 shopping area all within 10 mins of the school, so the load is spread a bit

Loshad · 05/10/2008 20:34

my dc's aren't allowed offsite at all during the day, the school i work in allows y10 and 11 pupils offsite, but not KS3, the y10/11 do all go to chipshop as school only does chips once a week (healthy school)

magentadreamer · 05/10/2008 22:49

DD's school only allows the YR11's off site at lunchtime - the chippy takes most of the trade from them. It's a residential area so I can't see the appeal of roaming the streets round here.

cory · 05/10/2008 23:35

Lower school (Yr 7-10?) not allowed off site; after that, we're unsure.

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 06/10/2008 11:01

At DD1's school they need a permission note from their parents if they want to go off site at lunch time. Unfortunately, that means that the most badly-behaved children are the ones who end up roaming the streets. However, I suppose it makes the school grounds a more pleasant environment for the rest of them as all the swearing, smoking and spitting is going on in the High Street.

Litchick · 06/10/2008 11:16

Totally agree.
You see kids mooching around eating chips and swigging coke in our local towns.

pagwatch · 06/10/2008 11:39

my sons schools are allowed out at lunchtime but the school is fanatical about how the children behave. They are not allowed in certain shops and their behaviour is monitored - any reports at all to the school are dealt with very severely including the right to leave school at breaks being taken away and Saturday detentions etc.
The boys don't drop litter and do not misbehave - I know because I see them in town most days.
The school regard the right to go into town as part of the boys being part and parcel of the community and therefore respecting it.

I think schools should have the policy that they want but that they should only do so to the extent that they are able/willing to control behaviour outside school.

Some schools would not have the staff or facilities to do that which is a shame.

CoffeeCrazedMama · 06/10/2008 16:51

I think it depends on the school. My older dcs go to schools where only 6th formers are allowed out at lunchtime, however the local (rough) comp makes all but year 7 go out at lunch (no facilities on site).

The result is chaos in our high street every lunch time (school shrug off complaints from local businesses) and there is an over abundance of horrible fried take-out places (aiding the local rat population as well as adding to the bad behaviour, imo). The kids charge through Sainsburys in gangs, girls shout obscenities across the road at each other. You often see groups dashing out of small shops laughing triumphantly as the owner shakes his fist at them.

Oh its lovely.

Original poster

pointydog · 06/10/2008 19:42

yeah, that shouldn't be allowed, coffee.

Some high schools need to consider a staggered sitting.

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UnquietDad · 07/10/2008 09:21

I don't understand why some schools allow kids off site. Ours locked the gates at break-times and at lunch there were prefects on the gates. You couldn't go out without an exeat. Of course the prefects couldn't physically stop anyone who chose to jump the wall, but they could take their name and they'd be in detention later.

(Yes, this was a state school.)

pagwatch · 07/10/2008 09:27

BUT UQD - if the children behave and the locals have no cause for complaint why, on a point of pricipal, shouldn't they?
I love that DS1 comes home sometimes as we are just around the corner.

Of course ifthey are causing a problem that is different but if not...
Isn't it better that the school are part of the community?

UnquietDad · 07/10/2008 12:23

Hmm, maybe. I suppose I'm of the "never did me any harm" school. I'm not sure I send my children to school to roam free in the "community" - I send them there to learn, and play with their friends.

pagwatch · 07/10/2008 12:28

was that the school of hard knocks...

I see what you mean.
I just think that school can to easily be a seperate world and that school and real life are interacting less frequently.
If kids learn to be out and about a bit more then maybe they would learn gradually to interact with everyone else a bit better - rather than the 'spilling onto the streets at 4pm to create hell' that happened at my school.

Having typed that i relise i am imagining a kind of child parole system

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