Are the teachers in this school right?

Question

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/07/17/holly-lodge-school-in-dinner-break-row-100252-21357505/

Teachers at Holly Lodge Secondary school in Liverpool went on strike to protest about lunchtimes being cut from one hour and 5 minutes to thirty minutes.

Is thirty minutes enough?

Are staff right in protesting ?

(Our school lunch breaks are 2hrs and 40 minutes. Even by Spanish standards that is looooooooooooong. Staff vetoed a movement by the governors to cut it down to two hours!! Our students, aged from three years old finish their school day at 5.30)

Answer 1

2 hours 40 minutes??!?!?!

No wonder you lot can go to sleep in the afternoon!

As for 30 minutes no I don't think it's long enough for teachers or students

Answer 2

i left school 4 years ago and i only had a 45 minute lunch i would of liked it to be stretched to an hour but 45 min was fine. i think half an hour isnt enough at all. If they want their pupils to be ready and paying attention after lunch then they would need atleast 45 min. Or people are going to be late all the time and not relaxed enough , especially when you have to wait in a que that is 20 minutes long for your lunch.

Answer 3

what's a lunch break please miss?

Answer 4

I think they are right to protest. 30 Min's is no where near enough. When a teacher finishes their lesson they have to pack up and leave it ready for another teacher and getting from a to b without some other problem rising they will be lucky to get 15Min's of peace never mind half an hour. I don't think people realise the stress of school life and how it is a 'full' day's work...

Answer 5

They should be grateful for getting a lunchbreak at all, no matter how long. But I suppose that's council employees for you, they want to get paid for doing stuff all.

In 20 years I've never had a job that grants a lunchbreak.

Answer 6

I am sure they have their reasons, but from my country where everybody is in constant rush they're 45 mins. Half hour might be too short. But 2 hours is way too long! (we used to finish school by 4pm latest)

Answer 7

Well...you lose out on all the clubs that go on at lunch...the kids are not so happy or relaxed...any marking or meetings will get pushed til after school.  I think it is a bad decision but headteachers can get the kids out of school earlier and so cut back on staff cost, dinnerladies etc...

Answer 8

I thought the British school day was one of the shortest in Europe.

And now this school wants to make it shorter?

Half an hour for a stressed school teacher sounds a bit short to me.  Not sure if it merits striking over though.

Answer 9

Our kids here in Spain commence there day at school at 8.30am - 9am depending on summer or winter and they are finished at 1.30pm - 2pm. That cuts out any lunch break.

Answer 10

Strike action seems a bit drastic, but there's not much information in the article. It would never have worked for me, I went home at dinner time and made my own meal, and it was great to be in the house when mum wasn't, 30 minutes wouldn't have been enough, rush, rush , rush. But things were more relaxed 40+ years ago.

Answer 11

I dont agree with striking, yes protest if you dont agree but try to reach an agreement along the line. A solution could be that perhaps they could stagger the staff lunch time so that they each get their 1 hour 5 minutes but overlap it so that the pupils only get half.

Answer 12

I start work at 7:30 and finish around 5:30, I only have 30 minutes for my lunch. I think a short lunch break is good in many schools. Where I work the children have 1 hour in total, I would prefer it if it was cut to half that, many problems are caused over the lunchtime period, children on the whole do not have the same respect for mid-day supervisors and they are often not trained to cope with very unruly pupils. These problems spill over into the afternoon session and cut down on teaching time. I would welcome shorter lunchtimes, especially if the children finished earlier too ;-)

Answer 13

It depends upon the salaries of the teachers.  Personally, I think 30 minutes is sufficient time for lunch.

Answer 14

30 min seems a little short, but 45 seems like it would work..

Answer 15

A pity they don't shorten the holidays while they were at it.

Answer 16

I don't know, when I was a kid I could eat a couple of sandwiches and a juice in about 4 minutes.  Then I was out messing about with my mates, while I ate my apple.  Our lunch breaks were an hour.  That seems sufficient.  30 mins might be a little short.

Answer 17

After the amount we've been hearing about childhood obesity I think that is ridiculous.

People need time to eat their food properly in order to guage properly when they are full. Giving kids 30 minutes to shovel down a burger and chips and have a pee is hardly going to help that is it?

What about those who use school time to study - how do they know that some kids aren't abused at home (horrible point I know) and unable to do homework there. Issues like that are completely ignored in cases like this.

The teachers are 100% right. I remember our school lunch time being cut from 1hr to 45 minutes, then we were let out at 2.10. Yes 2.10 in the afternoon. Believe me many more students would rather have had a longer lunch than gone home that early it's ridiculous.

Answer 18

I think they are chatterboxes, easily distracted and could do better!!