Creating a happier, healthier lunchtime impacts on learning

The Provider:

Lowerplace Junior School, Rochdale

• Lowerplace Primary School is situated on the outskirts of Rochdale. It is a split site Infant and Junior School and was originally built in 1927 as an all boys Secondary School.
• At present there are 381 children on roll.
• The school has 131 children eligible for free school meals, 3 children in care and 48 children with special needs.
• It currently employs 16 teachers full-time and 5 part-time.
• It's ethnicity is 53% Asian, 37% English and 10% other.
• In the last 8 years it has had 6 different Head Teachers and a high turnover of teaching staff.

Summary:

• Lunch times were a cause for concern; children were bored and therefore made the wrong choices. Fights often broke out and the playground was taken over by football.
• The dining room was noisy and chaotic; children would be disturbing others as they were eating. Packed lunches were mixed in with school dinners and pupils had to sit boy/girl.
• Very little equipment was used and skipping ropes were the only resource. The playground was uneven and had no markings.
• Staff during lunchtimes had received no training. They struggled to deal with challenging children and situations and did not speak to children properly when they had done something wrong.

The Aim:

• To provide a happy and healthy play hour by organising games, exercise, challenges and a pleasant eating environment.
• To seek a welcome, inclusive and fair environment in which children can play and socialise.
• To provide a calm and quiet dining area, with fewer incidents to resolve.
• To give children more/ greater skills e.g. skipping, ball games, hula-hooping.
• To encourage children to organise their own activities.
• The school has training both on and off site.
• To introduce zone areas in the school playground to enable children to make their own choice as to which activity they would like to do.
• To resolve lunchtime incidents over the lunch hour, to enable teachers to teach.

What do you see in the school?

• Fundamental to the Zoneparc success has been the initial training and the high priority given to continuing professional development of the lunchtime Supervisors. They attend a meeting every week [in their own time] and are trained by the Inclusion Manager every 6 weeks.
• The Link governor is very involved in the day-to-day running of the school and was very enthusiastic about the activities which were on offer through the Zoneparc activities: all were fully inclusive for her disabled son.
• Pupils and parents have been involved in the whole process of promoting healthier and happier lunchtimes. The dining hall is now called 'The Mint Restaurant' and pupils are very proud of the changes that have been made.
• There was no issue about not sitting with friends - a very calm atmosphere throughout.
• Parents are invited to spend their lunch every Friday with their children and those spoken to all enjoyed this aspect and felt more involved in the school as a result.
• Children queue up for their lunch but are served desert from the 'suite' trolley by staff.
• Children showed a great deal of respect to other pupils and staff.
• Systems, clear structures, roles and responsibilities were explicit and well understood by staff, parents/carers and pupils.
• Shared responsibility was evident; pupils were 'in charge' of the card system for the green box, organisation of equipment and music.
• Challenges set through the Zoneparc emphasised the learning of new skills and team-building, and were linked to the PE curriculum.
• Link governor fully involved in the day-to-day working of the school and progress is reported to the full governing body meetings.
• Continuing professional development [CPD] is a key area and updating their practice on a regular basis is a high priority, and well planned in advance.
• The Head Teacher, Deputy, Inclusion Manager and Staff have a clear belief that active, healthier and happy lunchtimes impacts on learning, particularly in the afternoon.
• The model of distributed leadership is evident; everyone in the school feels that they contribute to the well being, safeguarding and progress of the pupils.
• The Senior Leadership Team [SLT ] is proactive in leading by example - dancing with the children at lunchtime in one of the Zoneparc areas was a normal occurrence.
• Pupils were very motivated to participate in the activities because this fed into the weekly assemblies when certificates are awarded.
• Clear line-management of the Lunchtime Supervisors via the Deputy
• Lunchtime Supervisors had notebooks to feedback into discussions about activities undertaken by pupils.
• Peer mentors have had a huge impact on behaviour at lunchtimes and this was further supported by anger-management sessions when appropriate.
• Governors were very knowledgeable about the school and took a keen interest in the continued academic and social development of the pupils.
• Play buddy's have impacted positively on behaviour. They will look out for children on their own and make sure that they become included in one of the outside activities or attend one of the clubs. More importantly they are concerned about the wellbeing of the child and will discuss any problems they may have.
• Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of skills in PE has directly influenced some of the organised activities at lunchtimes. Focusing on tasks to develop skills has developed confidence e.g. ALL children can now skip
• Lunchtime Supervisors have made a very positive and significant contribution to pupils learning new skills.
• The pupil questionnaire was sponsored and supported by Youth Sport and Loughborough University. Nearly all pupils reported that they were now more active than they had been. Football, now, didn't dominate - it was an option at certain times in the week.
• The views of parents/carers are regularly sought on a range of issues through questionnaires/surveys
• The School Council meet regularly and their views are acted on where appropriate. There is an appreciation that fund raising has to continue so that old equipment can be replenished and new equipment can then be purchased. Picnic tables and benches are in the future plan.
• Pupils, parents/carers and staff, involved in all decisions made, makes this a very happy environment and children are extremely proud to be in the school.
• Lunchtime Supervisors are active, both in in engaging in the activities and feeding back to the staff about progress made/not made and appropriate action taken e.g. anger management session with a 'no blame culture'.
• Many of the lunchtime Supervisors have started a college course to further their education [SWIS i.e. Support work in schools] and come into school out of their working hours to learn more. One comment made by a supervisor was that just learning how to speak properly to children had made all the difference.
• The playground is no longer dominated by football and consequently there is much less 'angst' during lunchtime.
• Children are actively engaged in the organisation and daily running of the clubs/activities, creating a sense of ownership and responsibility.
• Team building and working together underpin many of the activities e.g. a Year 6 pupil working with a Year 4 pupil to solve a problem.
• Family dining has encouraged more parents to become part of the school community.
• The school is forging links with the wider community and neighbouring schools.
• Good links with outside providers are being established and developed e.g. the dancing activity has created a very positive response from the pupils The leadership team have decided further links with the outside community are essential and have brought in experts to teach Bollywood dancing and line-dancing on a weekly basis.
• The links with Loughborough University have provided pupil questionnaires and analysis.
• The successes in this school has led to many visits from other neighbouring schools. Schools actually want to know what is happening at Lower Place Primary School - why the results gone up so markedly, what they do that is so much better.
• Lower Place School runs courses for other schools and is supported and funded by the Local Authority as a model of good practice.
• Presentations to other schools are commonplace.
• Presentations to governors about the outcomes have been very well received
• Pupils are encouraged to be creative, a year 5 boy had developed a game that was now a choice in the Zoneparc and was well used by other pupils.
• Governors play an active part in the monitoring process and have been delighted with the significant academic and social changes that have occurred.
• Lunchtime Supervisors are an integral part of the daily monitoring process who feed back daily to the Deputy and/or Inclusion Manager. The overall effectiveness of their work is monitored by the Deputy Head Teacher to whom there is a direct line of accountability.
• Actively supported by the Local Authority in funding and promoting these courses.

What difference does it make?

• Creating a happier and healthier lunchtime for pupils has had far reaching outcomes
• A collective responsibility towards improvement appears to have developed in the school at all levels. Pupils were very welcoming, happy [very used to visitors] and eager to discuss their academic progress in terms of levels and sub levels.
• Attendance has risen.
• Behaviour is always dealt with in a positive way, anger management classes have supported pupils to understand their reactions. These classes are further supported by the SEAL programme.
• Careful monitoring revealed the number of incidents of unacceptable behaviour had decreased, whilst the number of related injuries had greatly decreased
• Children are actively engaged in the organisation and daily running of the clubs/activities, creating a sense of ownership and responsibility.
• In 2007 the school was named to be the 10th most improved school nationally. Accelerated progress with respect to 2+ Levels progress 48.5% with FSM indicator [Free school meals] at 34% results has been highlighted
• Lunchtime Supervisors are active, both in engaging in the activities and feeding back to the staff about progress made/not made and appropriate action taken e.g. anger management session with a 'no blame culture'.
• Many of the lunchtime Supervisors have started a college course to further their education [SWIS i.e. Support work in schools] and come into school out of their working hours to learn more. One comment made by a supervisor was that just learning how to speak properly to children had made all the difference.
• Pupils, parents/carers and staff are involved in all decisions made which make this a very happy environment and the children are extremely proud to be in the school.
• Teachers have a clear belief that active, healthier and happy lunchtimes impacts on learning, particularly in the afternoon
• Teachers have reported that the behaviour and attitude towards learning, particularly in the afternoon sessions, has had an impact.
• Team building and working together underpin many of the activities e.g. a Year 6 pupil working with a Year 4 pupil to solve a problem.
• The playground is no longer dominated by football and consequently there is much less 'angst' during lunchtime.
• The quality of learning has improved significantly during the last 4 years. The atmosphere is calmer since the healthier eating and Zoneparc programme have been introduced and many staff feel this has contributed to improved standards of attainment.

From where is evidence collected to prove the Leading Aspect?

• Action plans
• Attendance figures
• Case study from Loughborough University
• Certificates
• Course files
• CPD Programme
• Data Comparison
• Discussions with Head Teacher; Inclusion Manager; Link Governor
• Discussions with lunchtime Play Leader/organiser; parents/carers
• Discussion with Play Buddy; pupils; Learning Mentor
• Minutes of meetings
• Newsletter
• Observation of activities & systems in the Zoneparc area
• PE statement
• Policy and training documents
• Pupil questionnaires & Statements
• Rotas
• Staff surveys
• Teacher statements

The Verifiers Comment

• An inclusive and teamworking approach to creating a happier and healthier lunchtime has involved the entire school population and is testament to the leadership of the school.
• The introduction of a range of initiatives to ensure that lunchtime activities focus on tasks to develop skills have been developed.
• Well planned quality provision engages all pupils by presenting exciting and active challenges at different levels. This is supported by enthusiastic trained lunchtime supervisors who are integral to this scheme.
• In addition, lunchtime provision gives all pupils access to healthy meals in a calm environment. As a result pupils enjoy the lunchtime period and develop greater social skills.
• There have been measurable improvements in: increased activity during play, attendance, attitudes towards learning, abilities to co-operate with others, teamwork and listening to others.

Pupils are encouraged to choose pathways which lead to greater personal responsibility and peer mentoring has been very successful. This has further promoted positive behaviour and learning in the afternoon.