should school dinner ladies entertain the kids??

bonjovibel_729

hiya was just wondering the above as if it is raining in my sons infant/junior school they have their lunch then the rest of the lunch around about half an hr the dinner ladies make the children sit in the little cwtch area they call it.....its a square of the classroom about a metre and half wide and 2 metres long and just leave them to sit there doin nothing until the bell rings. this area is right next to the door and only has lino on the floor where they sit.....several of the dinner ladies have made my husband aware they are doin this as they work with my husband in their second job but none of them are prepared to do anything to stop it as they dont want to get involved and 'risk' their job so to speak..have complained to the school before xmas and it is still happening.........
just wondered if this wazs how other schools did it or is it just a case of having lazy dinner ladies who cant be bothered to do anything with the kids??

shellsuit

We used to have 'wet play', which mean we'd go into our classrooms and play with board games/jigsaws etc.

I don't ever remember the dinner ladies being with us, just our teachers as the dinner ladies would still be in the hall, clearing up and moving the tables and chairs.

As far as I'm aware, the same happened with my 2 eldest were in infant/junior school too.

Bloomin_Freezing2

Our kids are allowed to play in any of the classrooms when it's indoor play.

Is your school limited on staff numbers?

19lottie82

They are "dinner" ladies, not "playtime" ladies. It is not their job to entertain the kids, it's theri job to cook for them. As long as they are doing this then I don't see how you can call them lazy.

Maybe the kids need to learn how to entertain themselves.

Gigglepig

I think in this day and age kids are "entertained" enough as it is and perhaps it is good for them to just be a little bored some times, and left to entertain themselves?

bonjovibel_729

hi i dont think its necessarily the fact i want the dinner ladies to play with the kids just that the kids shud not be made to sit on a cold floor for half an hr not allowed to move,,,,my other daughter is in the same school but she is 9 and they are allowed to move around the classroom watch tv draw play games or what ever.

bonjovibel_729

Bloomin_Freezing2 wrote: »

Our kids are allowed to play in any of the classrooms when it's indoor play.

Is your school limited on staff numbers?

i wudnt say they were limited as there are two dinner ladies in the class my son is in

Seanymph

At break then staff (teachers/ta's) are generally on a rota to go into the playground and 'supervise'. They don't have to initiate games, but I would expect and in my experience, they interact with the children as necessary.

At lunch time it's 'dinner ladies' who have set roles - cooks cook - then there are 'lunchtime supervisory staff' who carry out the same role.

I wouldn't expect them to lead a game of quack quack goose - but I would expect them to interact with the children, and supervise what was going on.

I most certainly WOULD NOT expect children to be sitting on a cold floor 'corralled' for half an hour. And if I was a parent and knew it happened I'd be asking questions.

bonjovibel_729

btw the teachers are not present in the classrooms at lunchtime hence the two dinner ladies looking after htem

bonjovibel_729

Seanymph wrote: »

At break then staff (teachers/ta's) are generally on a rota to go into the playground and 'supervise'. They don't have to initiate games, but I would expect and in my experience, they interact with the children as necessary.

At lunch time it's 'dinner ladies' who have set roles - cooks cook - then there are 'lunchtime supervisory staff' who carry out the same role.

I wouldn't expect them to lead a game of quack quack goose - but I would expect them to interact with the children, and supervise what was going on.

I most certainly WOULD NOT expect children to be sitting on a cold floor 'corralled' for half an hour. And if I was a parent and knew it happened I'd be asking questions.

hi thanks think i got confused they are not dinner ladies as in they serve the food just that they supervise the children in the classroom when its wet and outside when its dry

globetraveller

I think you need to find out what actually happens at lunchtime and who is responsible for the children. I have never heard of dinnerladies being in charge of kids. Perhaps contact your education officer to clarify things.