Our Lunchtime Support

At Lonesome, our teaching assistants support the children during lunchtimes. Children are escorted to the dining hall with their classteacher and teaching assistant and line up at the service counter. The teaching assistant for the class then stays with the children to ensure that they choose a meal that they will enjoy, as well as making sure that they are eating well.

Once the children have eaten, they will go into their playground for the remainder of their time. Each teaching assistant is assigned to their year group zone within the playground and a range of activities are set up for the children to play with. Examples of the activities that are available to the children, in the Key Stage 2 playground are: cricket, football, basketball, tennis, dressing up clothes, giant connect 4 etc. We also have a trim trail and climbing frame for the children to play on. In the Key Stage 1 playground, teaching assistants play a selection of games with the children such as: skipping activities, ball games, giant chalks etc. The children also have access to our beautiful pagoda that we won from the Trekking to Tokyo competition, the pirate ship and the trim trail.

Our Playground Leaders

Every year at Lonesome, we appoint some Year 6 children to be our P.A.L.S (Playground Activities Leaders) at lunchtime. This is an introduction into leadership, giving children knowledge of how to organise and lead small games and activities for their peers in both the Key Stage One and Two playgrounds. The children will go and support in the playgrounds once a week and will make a decision on the game or activity they will lead during that session.

Aims

There are opportunities for the young playground leaders to:

• Develop leadership skills such as - organisation, communication and teamwork
• Build confidence and self-esteem
• Be responsible for leading their peers and groups of younger children
• Increase the variety of play experiences available for the children promoting physical, social and creative opportunities
• Improve children's choices and positive behaviours on the playground
• Reflect and evaluate on what is working and areas for further development

This initiative was established a few years ago and has seen children enjoy stepping up and leading play with younger children. They have planned weekly activities that include arts and crafts, loom bands, tag rugby competitions and much more. Additional resources have been purchased for the children and members of the staff team will be identified by the children to target play outside to include arts and crafts, games and puzzles, reading zone as well as the more traditional active play involving our trim trail. We continue to review and reflect upon how successful playtimes are outside and the positive experiences that they bring for all children.

Our P.A.L.S job description and application form has been reviewed and will be circulated to the children in Year Six at the beginning of the academic year for those interested in being involved in this leadership role. The successful candidates will then be invited to meet with Ms Revell to talk about what the role will include and the expectations of them moving forward. The children understand the responsibilities that come with the role and take it very seriously. It is an excellent forerunner to young leaders and other young citizenship awards in the future.

Time for a change - the BeDifferent way!

Last year, the BeDifferent Federation launched our BeFed Differently lunches for all of our children. Instead of lunches provided by a contract caterer, our kitchen teams prepare lunches freshly made at school every day, designed to include the feedback from the children and families. This has been a real success across all three schools within our Federation and we have noticed a significant increase in the number of children eating school lunches across our school.

Every child is invited to choose a delicious hot lunch from our exciting new menu. They are able to see the food and select what they want to eat - there is always two choices, including a vegetarian option, a jacket potato with various fillings and unlimited salad from the salad bar. Mondays will be meat-free, with vegan options for children to explore and they will have a choice of healthy dessert, fruit and yoghurt or they can opt for cheese and biscuits.

We are happy to share the menu for the first three weeks of the autumn term. The menu will change regularly and there will be themed days organised around the curriculum. Each meal will cost £2.20.

Last year, we invited some of our families in to sample some of the lunches and we had some really positive feedback. We will of course continue to arrange opportunities for our families to come in and have lunch with their children and to sample the food on offer. Please do join us in the near future.

Dietary requirements and allergens

Individual menus are devised for those children with particular allergies or dietary requirements. Please speak with the office if your child has an allergy to request a special diet form to be completed and returned. It is extremely important that you inform the school office of any allergies/intolerances that your child has should you wish for them to eat a school meal. We welcome all children with allergies/intolerances and providing we deem it safe to do so, an appropriate meal can be provided daily in line with our internal policies and procedures.

Children's Lunchtime Timetable

Year group	Lunchtimes
Einstein and Columbus	11.30am - 12.30pm
Livingstone	11.35am - 12.35pm
Ennis	11.50am - 12.35pm
Livingstone	12.00pm - 12.45pm
Palin	12.10pm - 12.55pm
Wonder	12.20pm - 1.05pm
Da Vinci	12.30pm - 1.15pm
Pankhurst and Mandela	12.40pm - 1.25pm
Roots and Wilberforce	12.50pm - 1.35pm
Milne	12.40pm - 1.25pm
Lincoln	12.30pm - 1.15pm

Our Midday Supervisory Team