Pupils of Hämeenkylä Elementary School in Vantaa will eat lunch in the future. A short meal is the consequence that eating is now part of the lesson. The Rector sent a Wilma message to the parents to explain it. In older ones, change has raised the strong criticism.
Picture of Hämeenkylä school canteen, where the use of mobile phones during dining has been addressed. Suvi Vänni
- Lunch at Hämeenkylä School is now part of the lesson. The aim of the change is to get more students to eat school food and to limit the use of phones during meals.
- Teachers prescribe places for students in the canteen, and the meals are staggered to avoid queues. Students are not forced to eat, but the canteen must be.
- The school’s principal Pasi Majasaari says he is pleased with the change. He has followed meals on Wednesday and Thursday.
Schoolchildren returning from the holiday may have been surprised at Hämeenkylä School in Vantaa.
It has changed the dining practices of high school students so that eating is now part of the lesson.
As a result, the meal break is 15 minutes.
– This has raised questions in the older ones, says the school principal Pasi Majasaari.
Majasaari sent a long, explanatory Wilma message to the guardians. Iltalehti has seen that message.
The concern is whether the students have time to eat in a quarter. According to Majasaari, some parents have been very critical of the change.
– In primary school, this practice has been ages and times, and there has been a more freer in high school. Now it will be introduced throughout the school.
He has followed the meal on Wednesday and Thursday.
– At the beginning of the lesson, the phones are collected in the tray, and at some point the hour will go to eat under the guidance of a subject teacher.
The meals are staggered so that there are no queues. Eating is returned to the lesson, after which the phones get back.
– When you do not have to queue and focus on eating or flipping on your phone, it is time for everyone to eat.
The idea is also to build a more cohesive culture for the school. The teachers determine the places for students instead of seeking the students themselves in the canteen wherever they want.
– Sitting together in a meal, and not scattered to your own tables staring at your cellphone. More and more people are eating, and focusing on food and chatting. A much better feeling, Majasaari says of his attention.
The school’s principal Pasi Majasaari has been pleased with the new policy after a few days.
Allergy sufferers have their own doses, and Islamic students participating in Ramadan, for example, can sit at their own table during fasting.
– There is no need to sit at the table where others eat, but still come to the canteen. The background is that eating would not be missed because others leave. When the whole group goes to dining at once, there will be no situation where a friend leaves.
Is not forced to eat, must be there
The shortened eating time is the result of two things.
– First of all, this legislation on the use of mobile devices, but also the fact that more and more students would eat school food, says Majasaari.
According to him, school food is increasingly missed year by year.
– They acknowledge it by drinking an energy drink or eating a piece of baguette or something else nonsense.
Majasaari says that from time to time, a lesson will be reduced to half an hour with the change.
– We live with it. The learning content can be built so that things are learned.
He also states that he has communicated his attention to the parents of the pupils. Iltalehti has seen a Wilma message sent to parents.
– And at the end of the message, I put that if I notice problems or difficulties in eating, then we think about solutions.
The message says that no one is forced to eat, but the food must be at the teacher’s table. If the student does not come for lunch, he or she will receive an absence.
In the end, Majasaari says he is pleased with the change.
– Whenever there are big changes, it raises questions. Some are irritated because they want to do things as always.
Food is not forced to eat at lunch. Atte Kajova / OK Press