Donwood Lunch Program
On March 6, 2007, the River East
Transcona School Division Board of Trustees moved to develop a new policy
regarding user-pay lunch supervision programs. This policy
recognizes that the care and supervision of a child during the midday break is a
parental responsibility. However, non-profit, user-pay supervised
lunch programs may be established and operated by parent groups, as we have done
at Donwood, to assist parents in securing a supervised
environment for their children during the lunch break
According to this policy, all students who stay for lunch at a
school with a user-pay lunch supervision program, except those whom the division
is obligated to transport, will be charged a fee. According to the Public
Schools Act, the school division is obligated to transport students in rural
areas (East St. Paul and St. Clements municipalities) who live more than 1.6 km
away from their designated school, and students with special needs.
(See “Lunch supervision programs in our school: A guide for parents”
for more information on this policy)
Although we continue to encourage students to have
lunch at home if possible as we have found that children benefit from a short,
midday break from the school environment and the walk to and from school, a
supervised lunch program is available for students at Donwood School.
This program is run in accordance with divisional policy (effective
September 4, 2007), and offers a combination of “user-pay” and/or “volunteer”
options. The cost per student varies for annual, monthly, or
casual users and parents also have the option of volunteering to help defray
costs. All students who stay for lunch at Donwood School’s Lunch
Program will be charged a fee with the exception of those students whom the
division is obligated to transport. For more specific information on the Donwood Lunch
program check on the following documents in the documents and forms section on
the left:
Lunch
Program
Outline (includes
fees: annually, monthly and
casual)
Lunchroom
Program Guidelines (supervisor
information)
Expectations for the lunch room:
• Eat and remain seated until 12:00
noon
• 12:00 – 12:15 – Finish eating, clean your
space, and play quiet games
• 12:15 - Dismissal to play
outside
• 12:15 - 12:45 - Safe, respectful play on
playground (or in class during inclement weather)
Adult lunch supervisors monitor 2 classrooms with grade 5 and 6 lunch
monitors also assisting students in the primary classrooms during the eating
time. When a student has been given reminders and cues to follow these
guidelines but is unable to do so, parents are
informed through a letter home indicating the concerns that have arisen
during lunch. The first notice is for information, the 2nd results in a student
eating in the school office for 2 days and the 3rd notice in a term results in a
parent having to arrange for their child to eat at home/out of school for 2 full
weeks. Our experience tells us that when guidelines like these are in
place and students know the expectations, they should be able to conduct
themselves in an appropriate manner with very few students losing their
privilege to have lunch at school.
Allergies - Donwood School has several students with nut
allergies that can be potentially life threatening therefore we ask that all
food items children bring to school be nut free, in this way we can 'reduce the
risk' to these children. Please check labels on food products that you send to
school, for nut free food ideas check the Resources section on our
website. We thank you for your understanding and support in making this a safe
environment for all children.
If you have futher questions contact our Director of Donwood School’s Lunch Program - Mrs.
Janice Garofalo by calling the school at 204-668-9438.
