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MNHQ

We need your comments on the secondary school dinners story....

50 replies

CatherineMumsnet · 04/09/2008 10:50

According to the Government primary schools are sorted with better lunches now but secondary schools are still a problem because, although food is better, uptake of dinners is not because of 'social conditions'. So, do you think uptake would be higher if meals were served on china plates rather than plastic trays?

OP posts:

Anna8888 · 04/09/2008 11:46

sinkingfast - in France a lot of children have a 1.5 or 2 hour lunch break. It isn't good - the children are bored and very tired from hanging about by the time afternoon classes start. There is a move to shorten the break in order to make children less tired.

I had a 2 hour lunch break at one point at secondary school. I went straight to sleep as soon as I hit the classroom.

sitdownpleasegeorge · 04/09/2008 11:47

What if the secondary school day was extended to allow for lunchtime activities to take place and lunch to be consumed too.

I suppose this would be quite unpopular with teachers though but they could use the extra time for marking or volunteer for additional paid lunchtime supervision duties.

It would also leave less time for teenagers to be hanging around out of school with time on their hands.

I'm sure there is a deep flaw in all of the above which someone will now kindly point out to me.

StellaDallas · 04/09/2008 11:47

DD1 had her first secondary school dinner yesterday. She reported that the queue for the healthy cooked food was short and she got served quickly - there was a long queue for the junk food however.

sinkingfast · 04/09/2008 11:47

Ah, but I'd make activities compulsory

hanaflower · 04/09/2008 11:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mumblechum · 04/09/2008 11:48

Time's definitely a factor here. When ds was getting school lunches, he'd often find the food had run out by the time he'd got to the counter & ended up eating muffins & crap.

He gets sandwiches or, in winter, a thermos of soup/stew and I think most of his friends bring their own in now.

hanaflower · 04/09/2008 11:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sinkingfast · 04/09/2008 11:57

Was that a normal state school hanaflower?

hanaflower · 04/09/2008 12:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ivykaty44 · 04/09/2008 12:09

Staggered lunch breaks? If the younger years start the lunch que - year 7 at 12pm - 12.45pm, then year 8 at 12.15 - 1pm, year 9 12.30 - 1.15pm year 10 12.45 - 1.30 and year 11 1.00 - 1.45 pm

Also a pre order system so that you order before lunch time (before registration, or even the night before online etc with a swip card this could be done) what you want to eat - that way the kitchen will make enough food and no one gets left with muffins and crisps for lunch. As you order you also pay so that the meal is not a bogus order.

Uriel · 04/09/2008 12:10

ivykaty way too organised for schools!

misdee · 04/09/2008 12:16

blimey are things like this now in secondrys?

i am under 30. we had 1hr for lunch as well. was a normal secondry school.

we didnt get china plates, you had a tray, aproper melanie type plate (unbreakable stuff), and a bowl for pud. plus real cuttlery, not plastic stuff.

ivykaty44 · 04/09/2008 12:17

oh sorry

When I was at school we had staggered sitting - there wasn't enough room in the dinning hall for everyone that wanted to school dinners. So we had two sittings.

I have worked in large companies where the canteen has let you order lunch in the morning so that everyone got a lunch, with a swipe card system it was easy.

my dd who has just left school had a swipe card in a similar way so it was a cashless system.

Dd didn't do school lunch as it was too busy, que to long and no prper food left when you got to the counter. So she took pack-up from home.

misdee · 04/09/2008 12:18

ivykate, we did have staggered lunch breaks. who went first switched round each week. they were called in my bells. people in clubs went in firt though regardless.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 04/09/2008 12:22

We had an hour and a half I think.

I agree that longer lunchbreaks would encourage food to be eaten.

Also, an incentive to eat hot/school prepared dinners would be to allow pupils who were having a meal go 15 minutes earlier?

Making the experience of dining in the same as dining out as well. My school had no areas for eating outside in clement weather.

The canteen was laid out military style and often the canteen wasnt ready for a few minutes which meant long queues developed.

I loved the food though. But, money and convenience meant I had a packed lunch most of the time. (My dinner money often went on buying packets of 10 silk cut )

Tokens might have been a way to stop me doing that.....?

ivykaty44 · 04/09/2008 12:22

No I actually mean the whole brak is staggered - not the actual lunch sitting. So you have lessons until your year breaks for lunch then start again after 45 mins you go back in to lessons whilst the other years are still on lunch.

As you get older you have to wait for lunch until later

Divvy · 04/09/2008 12:25

No, the up-take will only be better once the now Primary kids are at the Secondary schools.

Teens are too used to eating crap by this age, and too old/stubborn to change!

zippitippitoes · 04/09/2008 12:27

when i was at school..early seventies we had three lunch sittings 11.40,12.20 and 1.00

and they rotated different days

and you had lessons either side so you were in class while mates were on lunch

and afternoon registration was at 2.55 for 15 minutes then home straight after

but you werent allowed off the premises at lunchtime

zippitippitoes · 04/09/2008 12:27

when i was at school..early seventies we had three lunch sittings 11.40,12.20 and 1.00

and they rotated different days

and you had lessons either side so you were in class while mates were on lunch

and afternoon registration was at 2.55 for 15 minutes then home straight after

but you werent allowed off the premises at lunchtime

psychomum5 · 04/09/2008 12:30

my current teens aren;t too used to crap, and it is not too late to change them, they would welcome it!

my teens don;t eat the crap offered anyway as I do a packed luch for them (well we do them together so I can vet the not-too-much-choc-rule), but if they had the time they would probably end up with the crap as that is all that is there, not what they would choose to have IYGWIM.

ivykaty44 · 04/09/2008 14:21

But if your (primary now) teens don't want crap and that is all that is left when they get to the front of the que - then they will take there own lunches rather than eat left over canteen crap, so having hot lunches at primary and then not bother at secondary.

Uriel · 04/09/2008 14:39

ivykaty - excellent idea but my kids' secondary isn't even capable of producing a newsletter without spelling mistakes, let alone changing lunchtime arrangements.

2shoes · 04/09/2008 15:26

tbh no
ds said the food was crap so always took sandwiches. I don't think most teens care what they eat the food on.

StarlightMcKenzie · 04/09/2008 15:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

2shoes · 04/09/2008 15:36

oh and.....
ds's old school shortened the lunch time to about 40 minuites. not a massive secondry but still about 1000 pupils. taking yr 11 out of the picture as they can go of site. if every pupil had a hot lunch. that is 800 pupils to get their food and eat it in 40 minuites.......can't be done.
if you take a packed lunch, no queing and you get on and eat and then do what ever teens do.

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