December Newsletter
Why School Lunch Clubs Matter -Part 2
How to Run School Lunch Clubs: Caveats, Tips, and Tricks
“Part 1: Why School Lunch Clubs Matter” explores how lunchtime clubs benefit students, teachers, and schools. They offer students opportunities to explore personal interests and forge meaningful, respectful relationships with peers, teachers and others around them. By participating in activities which excite them, students can pick up transferable skills and knowledge. This encourages them to recognise and value learning in different contexts, rather than associating learning solely with textbooks, exams, and achieving academic outcomes. Broadening their outlook is essential if they are to be engaged, lifelong learners.
The Downside of Lunch Clubs? Caveats To Keep in Mind
Although the benefits far outweigh the negatives, staff and schools organising them should consider the following:
Lunch clubs must focus on R&R, not extracurricular overload
Pupils in the UK, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere are often encouraged to get involved in a plethora of extracurricular activities. For American teenagers in particular, extracurriculars make your CV stand out when applying to universities or looking for internships with highly regarded companies. Extracurriculars give young people an edge in competitive fields and provide opportunities for personal growth and development.
Committed pupils often devote their lunchtimes to doing work related to club activities or membership. This includes chairing meetings, organising projects, mentoring others, and carrying out duties associated with leadership roles. If you’re involved in a slew of clubs, these demands are stimulating, but also exhausting. Those involved in extracurriculars may feel extra pressure to perform well if these activities are linked to academic curricula and outcomes.
Oregon-based high school teacher Patrick J. Walsh and American high schooler, Eliana Schnapp draw attention to the flaws of the extracurricular system. They both argue that pupils involved in several extracurricular activities are overstressed and suffer from lack of sleep. Long-term excessive involvement can negatively impact cognitive function, mental health, and ultimately be counter-productive for learners. If lunch clubs deny participants time to eat slowly, rest, and socialise, they are part of the problem.
Walsh argues that extracurricular activities (including commuting between various activities and home) take up precious time that students need for rest and relaxation. Walsh includes statistics taken from the 2013 BBC study entitled “Lack of Sleep Blights Pupils [sic] Education. The research project measured sleep deprivation in primary schoolers taking maths and science tests. 73% of American students aged between 9 and 10 were sleep deprived. Alarmingly, Australia was not far behind, with approximately 65% of students identified as such.
Writing for her school newspaper, Eliana Schnapp calls for a “a club period,” i.e. time set aside for students to focus on extracurricular activities. This would mean they don’t miss out on the chance to rest and socialise with others during lunch.
While certain clubs cost more to run than others, it’s important to offer equipment and attire at affordable prices or offer the chance to rent them.
Failing that, schools should ensure that most lunch clubs include low-cost activities that cater to families of modest means.
How to Set Up Lunch Clubs
1. Gather Feedback, Review, Modify Plans, Implement As with many long-term projects, it pays to gather feedback from students and teachers who will benefit from and/or participate in proposed clubs. According to the Victorian government’s webpage on school lunch clubs, first steps are as follows:
- Explore potential lunchtime club ideas during staff meetings.
- Connect with students/staff to support the development and implementation of clubs. Start finding out more about who’s on your team and why they want to join forces with you. How can you put their skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm to best use?
- Identify students who would benefit from clubs – what target student group does a proposed group serve and why? What’s its overarching purpose? How will it benefit participants?
- How will the running of the club accommodate the target group/s it serves e.g. autistic students often find coping with sudden change difficult so what will happen if the club can’t run as planned on certain days? A solution would be to advertise an alternative venue to meet, giving club members advance notice of changes to planned activities or club session times where possible.
- Make clubs voluntary and open to all students, although it may be appropriate to create different age groups in certain contexts.
- Collect and evaluate student feedback regularly to decide which clubs to create and determine how they are run.
2. Prioritise Student Feedback and Leadership
To be successful, lunch clubs must consider and act on student feedback and input. For many pupils, making choices about how clubs are run and what activities members engage in is empowering. Voting on issues and expressing opinions teaches young people that their views matter.
Where possible and appropriate, encourage students to take on leadership roles if they feel willing and able to do so. Teachers, parents, or external organisers may initially show kids how to lead clubs by modelling behaviour and fulfilling leadership duties before relinquishing control and letting students take over.
Send surveys to students and their families with questions like:
- What clubs do you like/dislike at your school?
- Why do you like or dislike them?
- What do you think about how current clubs are run and the selection of activities on offer? Feel free to suggest improvements.
- What groups would you like to see at your school that we currently don’t offer/run?
- How would running this club benefit you/your child? Ask students and families to make their voices heard.
For best results, ensure questions are phrased in a simple, clear, age-appropriate way. Generally, open questions get more information out of respondents. Encourage them to expand on their answers by providing 2-3 lines for answers. You can offer small prizes or a draw for respondents to enter as a thank you for their time.
3. Start Small, Trial A Few, Evaluate, and Review
Reservoir High School Lunchtime Clubs Coordinator, George Lyras, suggests starting half a dozen clubs. It’s easier to run a few initially as opposed to ten or twenty. Lyras also comments that Reservoir’s lunch clubs have evolved over the course of years – remember that running great clubs is a finetuning process.
Other sources affirm that between four and six clubs is a good start. After the set-up stage, it’s best to consider the overall mix of clubs available.
- Do current clubs caters to the different needs and interests of students?
- Are there specific needs and interests you are currently unaware of or unsure how to accommodate?
- How will you change this?
- Are clubs popular with current and/or prospective students? Why/why not?
- What do you need to improve?
4. Get Families and Community Stakeholders Involved
Use untapped resources within your school community to help run your clubs? Maybe there are teachers who are great at knitting or craft, and would like to share their passion by helping run those clubs? Is there a dad or mum who constantly brings birdwatching or rowing into the conversation? They may love presenting talks on particular species at the Bird Lovers Club or assisting the Rowing for Fun club!
5. Consider External Organisations
Sometimes, it may be appropriate to bring in external organisations to deliver club activities if they require specialised knowledge, safety checks, or if adult volunteers aren’t available to run clubs regularly. Schools should do their research and choose providers who are the right fit for their students. The best have a proven track record, experience working with schools and all necessary qualifications.
Think about the school budget and whether club members will need to pay fees if external providers are used. For example, schools can partner with the Story Dogs program to provide reading support in a Books for Fun club. Participants can read aloud to dogs. This builds confidence and makes reading fun.
6. Aim For A Mix of Student and Staff-Led Clubs
Some students may be ready and willing to lead clubs themselves without staff assistance. This is a great opportunity for them to step into leadership roles and be involved with activities they love. Staff can support student-led clubs by attending and participating as club members and being a sounding board for proposed activities. They can be on hand to review plans and answer questions. In other cases, adult supervision is essential – it all depends on the type of activity, risk factors, as well as the age and maturity level of club members.
7. Exchange Club Ideas and Experiences
Connect with other schools to find out what worked and what didn’t when they set up clubs. What clubs are popular at other schools? What did staff there do well, and what could be improved upon? What external providers do other schools use and why? Network with institutions similar to your own and learn from them!
Lunch Clubs Now Trending…
Here’s a few ideas to get you started:
1. History Lovers Club
Kids of all ages are interested in particular inventions or periods of history Think about kids who love dinosaurs, Vikings, and pirates. Why not explore the myths and fascinating facts in a History Lovers Club.
Students can dress up as historical figures, study the fighting techniques of 18th-century pirates, and look at what influenced the writing of adventure stories like Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. They can organise gladiator fights with home-made weapons, enjoy Roman banquets, prepare recipes that would have been made in particular time periods, and listen to guest experts talk about what people would have worn, ate, or played (instruments or games) in particular time periods and civilisations. Guest speakers may even have a selection of costumes or historical artefacts for people to see up close or try on.
2. Freestyle Art Club
Give students access to paint, paper, scissors, stamps, glitter, and cardboard boxes to see what they come up with. Get them involved in long-term projects over a few sessions or let them do a few quick sketches. Art teachers and crafty families could lend a hand here! Get parents to donate art supplies or students can bring art supplies in for the club to share. Using recycled paper and materials is a great way to teach kids that trash can become treasure. Taking the masterpiece home is a bonus! The point is enjoyment, not mastery.
3. Listen to the Lyrics/Karaoke Club
Want to learn the newest Taylor Swift song? Sing along to hot new songs at lunchtime. Shakers, tambourines, and small drums can also be provided. Lyrics can be provided through YouTube video clips, sheets of paper, or any other medium. Any student can nominate songs to showcase and provide lyrics and supporting material for. No auditions necessary!
You can also have debates about what makes a song special or why you love or hate particular songs.
4. Bookish Play Club
Do you love sharing your favourite stories and doing activities? Bookish play invites students to get involved in the stories they encounter and participate in activities based on them. Think you can recreate Hogwarts Castle or wish J. K Rowling hadn’t killed off Remus Lupin? Create a fanfiction story where he doesn’t get killed. Do you love designing fictional universes with Lego? Go ahead. Like a little cosplay? Be my guest!
There are endless possibilities here to get kids interested in books and take the story to the next level. This could involve creating plays and getting kids to act as favourite characters.
5. TV Show/Movie Club
Fancy watching an episode of Doctor Who, Stranger Things, or the original Jumanji Movie? Why not do so with others and discuss the plot. Permission from parents will need to be sought before showing PG or M material and make sure you have permission to screen movies. You could even have costume competitions and win prizes.
All club members should take it in turns to choose proposed movies and vote on them. Students should be encouraged to suggest films and get permission from the school before bringing in movies to show.
In Conclusion
Although clubs are time-consuming to run and require resources, it’s worth a try if students and staff want to make it happen. Support your school community to explore interests, connect with others, and enjoy lunchtime!
Bibliography
“Brunswick East Lunchtime clubs.” [Video transcript]. Victoria State Government. Department of Education and Training.
“Clubs and Activities.” Chelsea Heights Primary School. 2022.
“Clubs and activities.” International Grammar School (IGS) Website. Accessed 2 October 2024.
“Lunchtime Activities / Clubs.” Chelsea Heights Primary School Website. Accessed 2 October 2024. https://www.chps.vic.edu.au/page/214/Lunchtime-Activities-/-Clubs
“Lunchtime clubs.” Victoria State Government. Department of Education and Training. Updated 20 December 2023.
“Lunchtime Clubs.” [Flyer]. Victoria State Government. Department of Education and Training. Updated 20 December 2023.
“Lunchtime clubs make an impact.” Victoria State Government. Department of Education and Training. Updated 20 February 2024.
“Reservoir Lunchtime Club Final.” [Video transcript]. Victoria State Government. Department of Education and Training. Updated 21 October 2022.
Barnhill, Alison. “Bookish Play Ideas.” Little Toy Tribe Blog. 21 May 2024.
Curacubby Team. “10 Intriguing After School Club Ideas You Can Start In 2023.” Curacubby. 2 January 2023.
Cruickshank, Vaughan, Brendon Hyndman, and Shane Pill. “Bushwalking and bowls in schools: we need to teach kids activities they’ll go on to enjoy.” The Conversation. 16 September 2019.
Diana. “What Bookish Play Is and Why We’re In Love with It.” Read And Play All Day Blog. 16 March 2023.
Friday, Matthew James. “Lunchtime Is Club Time.” Edutopia Blog. 23 August 2016.
Gordon, Fiona. “Look for opportunities to scale up small changes.” Teacher Magazine. 12 October 2015.
Larkey, Sue, and Gay von Ess. “How to Create a Lunchtime Club to Build Friendships and Develop Social Skills.” Sue Larkey Website. Accessed 2 October 2024.
Larkey, Sue. “SLP Episode 106: How to Create a Lunchtime Club to Build Friendships & Develop Social Skills.” Sue Larkey Podcast. Accessed 2 October 2024.
Marshall, Leeanne, with JFA Purple Orange (ed.) “Lunchtime Clubs in Schools: An Initiative to Increase Social Inclusion.” Inclusive School Communities Project. Accessed 2 October 2024.
Russell, Dominique. “Global Education Episode 14: Global Teacher Prize winner Andria Zafirakou.” [Podcast Transcript]. Teacher Magazine. 31 May 2018.
Schnapp, Eliana. “Should There be a “Club Period” at MHS? The disadvantages of clubs meeting during lunch.” The Globe, Mamaroneck High School’s Student-Produced Newspaper. 7 September 2024.
Stahle, Tyler. “Students who love lunchtime are more likely to feel belonging at school says BYU study.” Brigham Young University. 14 August 2022.
Walsh, Patrick J. ” Are High School Clubs a Bad Idea?” THE BIGGER PICTURE: Educating Students for the Globalized Present [Blog]. 14 April 2017.
Writes, Charlie. “Cool, quirky lunchtime club ideas for schools.” Education Daily. 30 August 2023.
Author
Estelle Borrey
PhD in European Languages and Cultures