Janepie33 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Does anyone else work in school in a reception class where the children are served hot school dinners in the classroom? Our school has just started this and the teacher and Nursery Nurse collect and serve up the meals. It's quite..... frantic! I just wondered how it works in other settings?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Ours used to go to the local primary school where the school meals were driven in from a local secondary school. Mine have never eaten school meals but I remember that they were always short of time to eat and so I provided them with a packed lunch full of things that were quick and easy to eat. The added advantage to packed lunches was that they came home with what they didn't manage to eat so it was easy to monitor how much they were eating and to adapt their lunches to make sure they ate enough. I remember discussing the amount of pressure the younger children were under when it came to those eating the hot school meal when i was a school governor. We never really managed to totally resolve the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 can the reception children not go to the main eating area, and be served 1st to give them the time they need to eat? I've just been made redundant from School meals service, after 7 years of troubleshooting , (they paid well, but stress levels were not pleasant) talk to your head, and to the govenors. School meals shouldn't be an issue within a school, but are, often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Rosie had school dinners at primary school for a limited period only - they were bus-ed in from another school and truly dire/devoid of nutritional value so she ended up with packed lunches. The hot food was served in the school hall and I remember some problem with timing and them running out of time/food. Her secondary school has a couple of lovely cafes, great fresh food and a charge card system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleTree Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Both of mine have school dinners and love them. Oliver is in Reception and they eat in the school hall with the Year 1's. They are in first sitting and their dinners are brought to them at the tables. The school have always said the children will be given as much time as they need to eat. Of course most of them rush because they want to go out to play. Daniel is in Year 2 and so is in second sitting, they get to queue at the counter and have a of choice over what they're eating. He's always enjoyed all his dinners except the dreaded rice pudding, he's even happier now he can choose something else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Our reception year eat in the hall with the rest of the school, I work in a small village school so there is only one sitting. The first term the little ones are served first but after that the tables take it in turns to go first, so sometimes the little ones are first other times they are last. All the lunch tables have a mixture of year groups on them. I am glad we don't have to serve the meals Our meals are lovely a new contractor took over in September and all meals are cooked on the premises from fresh ingredients. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janepie33 Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 can the reception children not go to the main eating area, and be served 1st to give them the time they need to eat? We are a 4 form entry school, so there is not enough room for the reception children to eat in the canteen, plus the stools are a bit too big for them!! The Nursery Nurses have to collect the food from the kitchen, wheel it across a playground, then along 3 different corridors, across another playground, along ANOTHER corridor and finally into the classroom! It's quite stressful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Big orange awkward hot boxes that dont quite do the job? Yes, I know them well.. I hate transported meals, even if it's just a little way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranberry Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Your situation sounds quite mad. Surely the reception class can use the canteen at a separate sitting to the other classes. (Our school does 4 sittings with the youngest first). Your school is required to have suitable chairs and make all the children feel included. When the nursry nurse is collecting the food who is looking after the children? There is a strict ratio staff:children at this age and this does not mean leave one member of staff on their own with the children evey day its not safe. How do the other parents feal about this? Can a group of you go and talk to the head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 LMW's primary school did a separate sitting for the little ones ( they had an early lunch break then the older kids had a later break) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
