rushing through lunch

Like many schools in the UK lunch happens in shifts at Walker as there is only space for a third of the children at any one time in the dining areas. The dining areas are also used as teaching spaces so staff are constantly moving furniture. The lunch 'hour' is just 25 minutes for a student and is also tightly scheduled for teachers, who may have to supervise toilets or yards or prepare lessons and have only very little time to relax.

Problems

too little space for everyone to have lunch at the same time
too short a lunch break to eat, relax, get to next class, tidy lessons, prepare next class or supervise children
loss of concentration in class when other students walk past to go to lunch 
difficult for teachers to keep their students focused once the first sitting begins
pupils can't socialise with some of their friends who have lunch at different times
no break for teachers

Causes

spatial restrictions
multifunctional use of spaces
curriculum and a very full school day for everyone

Objectives

design out as much as possible the negative affects of having lunch in sittings.
explore a new way of organising the value eating and socialising time in the middle of the school day.
inform the brief for the architects to ensure that lunchtime can be a better experience for everyone.
from 'lunch hour' to 'life hour'

Evaluation of the brief

Lunchtime is a critical focus for the school day. For students it's a social time spent with friends and is valued greatly. For staff it's a break from children - a chance to catch up with adult colleguees and to deal with gas bills, doctors appointments and other day-to-day tasks that most working professionals sort out during their lunch breaks. Walker College like many other schools has a packed curriculum and has made the choice to use Wednesday afternoons for development. This means that at Walker there is very little time - lunch feels like a fuel stop rather than a break in the working day.

As a project, Rushing through lunch is challenging because of the contraints of the current architecture - but also because to solve it might mean looking at the stucture of the school day. As an example, on opportunity may lie in a shift in thinking from the traditional view of school dinners as being about mass-delivery of a meal to each child - to thinking about the different needs of students and staff at lunchtime.

Could for example, lunch be seen as a choice of eating-styles (hot meal, wrap etc) provided from a range of locations in the school? Do the students who want to play football at lunchtime need the same lunch offer as those who want to chat with friends? Changing the viewpoint on the problem may reveal some new ideas that might relieve pressure on a system that has remained virtually unchanged for many years.



Posted by engine on 02/01