Next Wednesday we are holding our next Community Council meeting in the staff room at 6pm which all parents are invited to attend. At that meeting we will be discussing some significant changes to how our canteen operates. There are two topics that will be discussed.

The first of these is reducing the days the canteen operates which will see it open on a Tuesday to Friday. Our data shows that Mondays have very few lunch orders with the cost of opening the canteen much greater than the income it generates. While operating a canteen provides a service to families and is not set up to make a profit, it needs to come close to breaking even.

For families that have an emergency and don’t have the capacity to make lunch on a Monday we will have an item such as vegemite scrolls, that we will have frozen, that can be defrosted and heated up by office staff. This will be on the Flexischools app.

The second change is a drastic overhaul of the food available for purchase either for lunch or as a snack. Staff have noticed a surge in the purchase of unhealthy snacks as well as the quantity and frequency of these purchases. Most of our snacks would be classified a ‘red’ under the traffic light system meaning they are unhealthy and should only be served on rare occasions. We will also be looking at how we can make our lunch offering healthier by examining lighter options.

Our initial thoughts are that these ‘red’ items be served as part of a meal deal, for special celebrations such as St Patrick’s Day and at the annual soccer carnival which we run and cater for.

As a school we are putting a lot of time and effort into supporting many students that struggle at school for a variety of reasons. Staff work hard to maintain a calm and settled classroom yet we are providing them with foods that have additives that can heighten their behaviours. In essence we are making it hard for ourselves.

We’re excited to bring more healthy options to our canteen, but we need your help to make it happen! If you have some time to spare, whether it’s once in a while or regularly, we’d love for you to volunteer.

Do you have a simple, healthy snack or meal idea that your kids love? Share it with us! You can also come in and help prepare these treats in the canteen so they can be sold or stored for later.

Every little bit of help makes a big difference! If you’re interested, please reach out to the front office or contact our canteen manager, Mrs Jennifer Harden, at jennifer.vorvis@cg.catholic.edu.au

At the meeting we will be looking at the two publications listed below. You may wish to look at these yourselves.

Guidelines for healthy foods and drinks supplied in school canteens

National Healthy School Canteens - pocket guide

If you are unable to attend the meeting next Wednesday and would like to put forward your thoughts, I encourage you to send me an email that I will present to the Community Council. My email is peter.hughes@cg.catholic.edu.au