Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

If you are a teacher at CH or house master/mistress etc do meals come as a "perk" of the job? I know it's changed a lot since I was there but then you would generally see some teaching staff wandering up to the staff room or whatever where I assume they had their meals.

AFAIK most people working at CH, not just teaching staff, are entitled to lunch. Teaching/pastoral staff who are on duty can have breakfast and tea too I believe.

Yeah dad eats at school a fair bit especially evenings when mum is at work, i know there was some debate about staff families eating at school

... some families seem to have complete disregard for the "ruling" that only staff members should eat in school - and some seem to find Dining Hall is quite useful when entertaining the childrens` friends and other visitors!

That`s not to say I haven`t ever made use of the facilities - I used to take my younger daughter to meals with me if I was on duty. And I know of staff who have taken children to breakfast with them because they are on duty (and have to be in breakfast) and their other half has gone to work elsewhere - which I think is fair enough.

But to use school meals for the family when "I`ve got nothing in the cupboard" or "I can`t be bothered to cook/shop for them" smacks of laziness to me.

Although the food IS pretty good on the whole!

Mrs C. wrote:... some families seem to have complete disregard for the "ruling" that only staff members should eat in school - and some seem to find Dining Hall is quite useful when entertaining the childrens` friends and other visitors!

That`s not to say I haven`t ever made use of the facilities - I used to take my younger daughter to meals with me if I was on duty. And I know of staff who have taken children to breakfast with them because they are on duty (and have to be in breakfast) and their other half has gone to work elsewhere - which I think is fair enough.

But to use school meals for the family when "I`ve got nothing in the cupboard" or "I can`t be bothered to cook/shop for them" smacks of laziness to me.

Although the food IS pretty good on the whole!

... and you get a choice these days !

Gone are the days when the duty housemaster would sit at the head of each house's table and be served !

Mrs C. wrote:... some families seem to have complete disregard for the "ruling" that only staff members should eat in school - and some seem to find Dining Hall is quite useful when entertaining the childrens` friends and other visitors!

That`s not to say I haven`t ever made use of the facilities - I used to take my younger daughter to meals with me if I was on duty. And I know of staff who have taken children to breakfast with them because they are on duty (and have to be in breakfast) and their other half has gone to work elsewhere - which I think is fair enough.

But to use school meals for the family when "I`ve got nothing in the cupboard" or "I can`t be bothered to cook/shop for them" smacks of laziness to me.

Although the food IS pretty good on the whole!

I totally agree Mrs C, i havent a problem if there is no other solution but so many used it as a means to feed the family on a regular basis regardless of being on duty or not

J.R. wrote:Gone are the days when the duty housemaster would sit at the head of each house's table and be served !

on my Juniors in mid 90's it used to be the LE that served at Lunch.

My niece seemed to think that her daughter had been offered 3 meals (and had been sent a menu in advance) when on duty at a CH Polling station. She was most impressed.

Mrs C wrote:But to use school meals for the family when "I`ve got nothing in the cupboard" or "I can`t be bothered to cook/shop for them" smacks of laziness to me.

Could be handy at times though

Hmm, cynical old me is thinking what the taxable benefit of this perk might be - HMRC have had enough off me in the last few years for perks

cstegerlewis wrote:Hmm, cynical old me is thinking what the taxable benefit of this perk might be - HMRC have had enough off me in the last few years for perks

Certainly it IS a taxable perk and the employer should include it in their annual return to the taxman. The exception MIGHT be if attandance is compulsory (perhaps as a supervisor) under the employment contract. The school CAN make a good case if they can be bothered.

They still have food in the Common room as well I believe...

Staff have to attend meals if on duty and im sure the school have thought about the benefits etc as that is one of many

I guess a number of boarding schools would give their teachers free meals!

I don't recall staff eating in Dining Hall with their families in the '70s.

I don't suppose there would have been enough room for them, anyway. I think (although I might be wrong) that staff who were on duty only ate with their Houses at lunchtime. The rest of the time they must have eaten in the common room or stayed at home for some proper food.