Lunch Club

Making lunches is a chore many of us look forward to being relieved of during school holidays. However, an initiative started last year for staff, has taken some of that pressure off, at least for one day each week.

An email was sent out to staff this week inviting them to join Lunch Club. It said, “Lunch Club is a group of amazing people who get together one lunchtime each week to feast on incredible food and delectable conversation”. Staff involved in the club are paired up and asked to provide one meal per term. Not a bad payoff to enjoy 10 weeks of Wednesday lunches.

Year 5 Teacher, Amber Price said, “It came about last year when people were bringing in yummy soups during winter. I decided to start a Soup Club so everyone could taste some new soups. We didn’t want it to end in Term 3, so we changed Soup Club to What’s for Lunch Wednesday, where everyone was able to bring in a meal of their choosing. The love of food puns continued, and Term 4 became Platter Chatter. Everyone found that although the food was amazing each week, it was actually the conversations and laughs that people enjoyed most about Lunch Club. This term is going to be called Summer Spreads. We spend most of our lunches discussing what the next pun could be.”

When asked what she liked most about Lunch Club, Head of Staff & Students, Danielle Spark said, “Getting to know different staff that you might only pass in the hallway, just say hi to or have a brief conversation with, Rosa Speranza’s recipes and laughs! We are all very funny as it turns out!”

Dean of Year 10, Rosa Speranza said, “I have always believed that sitting at a table with good friends, sharing stories and each other’s cooking is sacred.  A little bit like the scene from Babette’s Feast where the exquisite meal transforms those gathered at the table. I think for those of us who have participated over the past six months it has been such an experience.  I fondly called it Wednesday Bliss!”

Head of Digital Learning and Technology & Commerce, Melissa Marshall said, “I have loved the discussion in the Lunch Club and being able to take time in the term to offer hospitality to colleagues. We have had some wonderful meals, and I love being able to share my cooking. It also gets me up to the staff community room at least once a week and allows me to prioritise time with others to ‘just be.’ A luxury in our busy school, and something I definitely look forward to.”

Lunch Club has become a valuable opportunity for staff to network and interact socially. Lunch times often see staff at their desks, working through their break, this is bringing people out of their offices and sees them becoming more involved in the staff community.

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