Moving To A 3 Hour Day

[thumperrabbit]

We will be moving from a 2.5 hour session to a 3 hour session in September.

We are mornings only and can not offer afternoon sessions as we have to be out of our hall.

We start at 9.30am again this can't be changed due to staff having to take their own children to school.

In September we will be running with approx 25 new, 2 year olds and 5, old 3 year olds.

 

We are thinking about the extra 1/2 hour and what to offer should it be

a) Extension to their learning/playing time

Lunch Club

 

Does anybody have any thoughts on the above? We have never offered a lunch club before, so don't really know about what pros/cons this may bring either.

[sunnyday]

I think I would just extend their playing/learning time - if they have a good snack they won't really need to eat at twelve o'clock.

[Inge]

i too would do the 3 hour session...

 

lunch club could complicate things..

 

need for parents to provide packed lunch

storage of same - not all will put ice packs in,

then those who don't bring lunch, what will happen..

 

Inge

[Panders]

We have only ever offered 3 hour sessions, and then lunch club started at 12.15, until 1.15 which added an extra hour to our normal time. The children always coped with a reasonable snack within the 3 hours slot.

 

Our routine has been 2 hours childs initiated play, and then the last hour was snack time, p.e. session and storytime. From Sept. though I am considering giving up the adult led last hour and giving that over the child initiated play as well.

 

I am also hoping that to be able to offer the 15 hours from September the lunch clubs of an extra hour 3 times a week will be considered by my LA acceptable to claim the funding for, as in the past they would not! We can't open on a Wednesday so all our 15 hours have to be squeezed into 4 mornings.

[bubblejack]

Hmnn good for you to hear views of others thumperrabbit but I have done a lunch club pre EYFS. I think the children do benefit from it, personal social, preperation for school and learning about eating a healthy lunch. When ever I change times I always ask the parents and when I change routine I usually ask the children.At the moment most children want to stay to lunch when they realise that others do. I have never yet had a child that has not liked staying to lunch.Parents have always been willing to pay extra for it.

Regarding ice packs do you have a freezer in your setting. I just bring out the icepacks when I open and any parent that forgets to put one in uses ours and then they are returned to freezer after lunch.

[lynned55]

We have done 9.30-12.30 pm for the last 3 years with children bringing a packed lunch every day. We have always charged funded children for this extra 30 mins (until now) Anyway, none of this has ever been a problem, even with a snack they are ready to eat at 12, I have always sen it as an extension of their learning. As Bubblejack says PSED, skills, social skills, learning all about healthy eating. We leave it up to parents if they wish to pop in an ice pack. No different to school lunches, none of my children ever had theirs stored anywhere but on a lunch trolley in a cloakroom or corridor. Yes occasionally parents forget them but they either pop back with it or we give them sonething, it would be very rare for us to have no food at all-even it was just a rich tea biscuit.