PRIMARY school children are being encouraged to sit quietly at lunchtime... while listening to classical music.

The new scheme, called Composer of the Week, is now in force at Lee Chapel Primary, in Basildon.

It sees children being asked to sit quietly during lunchtime, speaking softly only to the pupil beside them, while listening to the likes of Beethoven and Mozart.

The new scheme has come in for criticism from parents, who say their children have been arriving home feeling distressed, claiming they had been punished if they spoke in the dinner hall at lunchtime.

A 34-year-old mum to an eight-year-old pupil hit out at the school after learning about the new lunchtime rule.

She said: “I have learnt the school have enforced a new rule of no speaking whatsoever in the hall at lunch time, and that they have to listen to classical music whilst doing so.”

She also alleged pupils who break the rules are being made to stand either behind their chair or against the wall as punishment.

She added: “All the parents are completely at their wits end at the moment and this new lunch time arrangement seems to be the final straw for a lot of parents.

“People are getting ready to pull their child from the school because of all the ridiculous rules, myself and my husband included.”

But Susan Jackson, headteacher at the Ofsted-rated outstanding school, in The Knares, strongly refuted the claims.

She said: “Studies have shown that playing classical music to children boosts their concentration and self-discipline and improves their general listening and social skills.

“Children exposed to the works of Beethoven and Mozart, for example, are more likely to appreciate a wider range of music in later years.

“Children are encouraged to listen to the music and talk quietly to the child next to them and not calling out across the table.

“All the children did this successfully [on Monday] and enjoyed the music, as did the staff who ate with the children.

“A child in Year Six was given three minutes ‘time out’ for disregarding the reasonable request of a member of staff which is in-line with the school’s behaviour policy, but he was not reprimanded for talking.”

The school has been praised by Ofsted for its “outstanding teaching and learning result in excellent progress and achievement by pupils”.