There are seven wonders of the modern world. I’m going to add an eighth: the school canteen.
It can’t be seen from the upper echelons of the stratosphere, but it still somehow manages to occupy an alternative dimension in time and space. Dinnertime is an unparalleled parallel universe.
Why? Where else manages to do two hundred covers in the space of fifty minutes? That’s not just fast food, that’s supersonic. And take a moment to consider the diverse clientele: some would prefer not to eat, others need to be restrained from commandeering ‘thirds’. Food allergies are rife. There’s always someone who gets carried away with a condiment (a rarity and thus curiosity). A sizeable majority have absolutely no recollection of what was ‘ordered’ on their behalf; the serving hatch can feel like Ladbrokes. Feeding the five thousand was child’s play compared to feeding two hundred children.
An operation of this magnitude falls under the remit of a special breed known as dinner supervisors. The dinner supervisors were previously known as dinner ladies and have been cleverly rebranded. The majority remain as ladies, but now officially possess unqualified supervisory credentials. The ‘DSs’ put the children through their culinary paces with military precision, ensuring dinnertime runs like clockwork. To be clear, most DSs have absolutely no formal teaching qualifications, yet step into the breach in arguably the most challenging time of the day.
Of course, qualification or not, the dinner supervisors are indeed both teachers and learners. Because whoever you are, whatever your official role, in the school building you cannot ‘not’ have a profound impact on every single person you encounter every single day. All of us are teachers and learners. The flipside of which means all of us are dinner supervisors. You are a DS.
The best schools get this. A school isn’t a hierarchy, it’s a merry meritocracy. When we all pull together, it’s amazing what wonders transpire. There’s a subtle difference between a can-teen and a cant-een. Which school of thought are you?