Once the part of the day dreaded by many staff members and children, lunchtimes have been transformed at some Lancashire primary schools thanks to a 'Positive Lunchtimes Initiative'. Now funding changes and cuts in school budgets look set to jeopardise the longer-term future of this, and similar, programmes.
The initiative aims to reduce the incidence of anti-social behaviour by offering children interesting activities during their lunch break and operating a buddy system, in which disadvantaged older pupils support younger or isolated children.
The primary schools involved have received three years' New Opportunities Fund money for the project, with the sums allocated partly dependent on the number of children eligible for free school meals and participating in 'buddy' training - an important feature of the initiative. The project is run entirely by teaching assistants (TAs) and welfare assistants (WAs).
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