Best Practice

Ask Brenda: The lunchtime professional

The lunch hour can be a critical time of day for behaviour. What are your golden rules for the role of lunchtime or dinner supervisors?

QUESTION: The lunch hour can be a critical time of day for behaviour. What are your golden rules for the role of lunchtime or dinner supervisors?

We employ staff to work with our children during the lunch hour – a critical time of the day as regards behaviour – but we send them out with little or no training and expect them to ensure good behaviour through a long session of “freedom” for the children.

The first thing that I do is to give dinner supervisors a small handbook which is full of games to introduce to and play with the children. I also ensure there are sufficient handheld games including skipping ropes, spinning tops, soft balls and hoops for the children to play with. A designated class each day has the football and a specific area to play football uninterrupted.

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