HC Deb 10 July 1979 vol 970 cc112-3W
Miss Fookes

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will review the supervision of school meals in the light of the fact that teachers have no contractual duty to supervise them, and local authorities no statutory duty to provide ancillary staff for the purpose.

Dr. Boyson

My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to do so.

Although teachers as individuals have no contractual duty to supervise school meals, and local education authorities have no statutory duty to provide ancillary staff for the purpose, representatives of both sides gave undertakings to secure the implementation of the non-statutory arrangements recommended in the 1968 report of the working party on teachers and the school meals service, in the light of the principles set out in that report.

The report recognised that the development of activities during the midday break, including the large numbers of pupils taking a midday meal at school, had led to a steady increase in the employment of ancillary helpers to assist in supervising school meals and in other non-teaching tasks. The report went on to say: Clearly the success of these activities depends on the extent and quality of the voluntary efforts of individual teachers under the leadership of the head teacher. The head teacher must retain overall responsibility for the conduct of the school meal, just as he does for all that takes place in and about the school, and there is a professional responsibility on the teaching staff as a whole to support the head teacher in fulfilling these responsibilities. It is also important to the teacher, whether head or assistant, that he should be able to enjoy a proper and satisfactory break in which he can relax and rest and, if he wishes, leave the school premises.

An annex to the report set out: for the guidance of local education authorities, the working party's suggestions regarding the extent of supervisory assistance that may be required in schools of different kinds.

On the strength of the assurances given to the then Secretary of State by the associations of local education authorities and of teachers, the statutory power of local authorities to require teachers to undertake supervision of pupils taking the school meal was removed.

The fact that midday supervisory arrangements have not, in practice in many areas, always worked satisfactorily is very regrettable, but this is one of the matters for discussion between the local education authorities and the teachers.