An English school question
 

I guess this is not really a Canadian question, but I am going to ask it anyway!

I was chatting to my sister on the phone. She lives in England incidentally. Anyway, I commented that a couple of weeks ago, I picked up my granddaughter and a friend at lunchtime and took them out for lunch.

My sister appeared totally gobsmacked at the idea of this!! Her comment was :

"Why????????????????"

"In the middle of school??????????"

I was so astounded that she was astounded that I just went onto something else. Then as I was driving to the store I started trying to puzzle out why it was such a foreign concept to her.

My granddaughter is 12. Some of the kids in her class are 13. Nobody provides lunch. If you want lunch you have to take it with you - or else you can go home, go to a friend's, go to the store, get your grandmother to pick you up and take you out for lunch. Whatever. They have an hour. So long as they are back by 12.45 nobody cares where they go. (I assume the younger kids are not allowed off the school grounds to wander around.)

Is this not allowed in England?

Re: An English school question
 

When I was at school, a few years back now, we weren't allowed off the school grounds plus you hang out with your friends at breaks. I took sandwiches.

Here in Edinburgh, as the whole city is very residential, the kids go home sometimes at lunch, chucking litter there and back.....

The thing that I noticed on my recent trip to BC was that families semed to be out together, teenagers here would tend to be out in groups of other teenagers, not with family. So maybe that's the difference??

Re: An English school question
 

In Manchester kids in primary school (5-11 year olds) have the option to have a lunch provided by the school (which we pay for), or they take their own packed lunched, but they must stay on school premesis. In senior school (11-16 year olds) kids get more freedom and with parental permission can leave school grounds to get lunch elsewhere.

However, the average English teenager would not appreciate their beloved parent/grandparent picking them up from school. It doesn't do much for their 'street cred' apparently! I guess that is one difference between Canada and the UK :D

Re: An English school question
 

I bet you that's anywhere in the world, not just the UK.

I remember how embarrassed I was even bumping into my mum's friends if I was on a lunch break and out of school between the ages of 13 and 16.

Re: An English school question
 

She is only 12 right now. Mine were at least 16 before they would get me to drive them somewhere and then have me drop them off around the corner!! I said "I can always wear a bag over my head!"

Re: An English school question
 

it's a different world over here....someone in my year was pregnant by then....