25 minutes is not enough time for lunch, parents say

Parents have claimed that their children are returning home 'starving' after having only 25 minutes for their lunchtime.

A spokesperson for Denton Community College agreed that the lunchtime experience is an area they need to improve, with a structure that worked so well for Covid 'in need of reviewing'.

The mother of one student said that there were 20 students left in the queue and sent back to classes without food on one day in particular.

She described a text message she had received from her daughter, stating that she was unable to get lunch once again due to the time limit in which she was required to queue, eat and take a toilet break.

The mother continued: "Parents are having to collect their children because they're too tired to walk home from lack of a good meal.

"It is essential that every student receives adequate time to fill the basic need of eating a full substantial meal, and to rest and recharge.

"Some pupils can take packed lunches, but there are kids whose meals are subsidised. That lunchtime meal is a good hot meal they need and a packed lunch might be out of the budget.

"After posting on Facebook in the school group and receiving similar complaints from many other parents, we felt a petition was needed to extend these breaks to a minimum of 40 minutes.

"25 minutes is not enough time for schools with a high intake of students, even with lunches split."

"Sometimes the children have queued so long there's not much food left or they do not even reach the end of the queue in time.

"They also do not have enough time to use the toilet facilities but are told they cannot go during lesson time. And if they do manage to have time for the toilets, they are full of kids using the cubicles to vape for long periods.

"There is absolutely no time to socialise and build relationships with peers. These kids are growing and learning and must be able to refuel and use the facilities. I can imagine that this in itself will cause disruption if they’re tired and hungry.

"It is not the intention to bad mouth the school, but just to look for ways to improve. It seems they were reduced in covid but have stayed at reduced time. 

She added: "Despite the school getting some bad press, a lot of us do feel that the school is good - our kids are happy and doing well and we parents absolutely want to support the school to be a great place for them to thrive.

A spokesperson for Denton Community College said: “We’re pleased to see that the parent is supportive and positive about the school. We also feel that the lunchtime experience is an area that needs to improve, with a structure that worked so well for Covid in need of reviewing. We want to ensure that the dining experience is positive as well as being healthy and nutritious.

“A letter was sent to parents on 31st March explaining that improving the students' lunchtime experience is a priority for us and requesting their feedback. 

"We have already made some changes and, as the letter states, we aim to make more before the summer – most notably a 20 minute morning breaktime with food available.

“We consulted with students and staff about the morning breaktime and the response has been both enthusiastic and constructive.  Parents were invited to give their views directly to school via an online survey. Respondents have been supportive and I’d encourage others to comment using the link in the letter.

“Any further changes need a longer lead-in time and wider consultation, which we’ll be conducting with all members of the school community. In the meantime, we are working closely with our catering provider to speed up any queues, have invested in updated till software and training for their staff to help with this and have established a catering-focused student voice group to ensure that students’ views are understood by the catering provider.

"Students are allowed to sit and eat without rushing if there is ever a delay to being served and we’ll make sure they’re aware of this.”