A canteen committee is invaluable in helping to ensure an efficient and worthwhile service. More and more schools are setting up these committees. They not only allow the workload to be shared among a number of people, but also provide a wider forum so that different views and ideas can be considered.
The Tasmanian School Canteen Association Inc. canteen operations manual Management $ense Food Sense – the essential guide to food service in your school, is a practical guide for operating a school canteen.
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4.1 Membership
The membership of the canteen committee is decided by each school or parents association and can depend on the size of the school, those who are interested in being involved, and the expertise available from within the school community. For example, people with catering, accounting or business knowledge and experience can be extremely valuable in making management decisions. Where possible, student representatives should be included. Membership should also include representatives from school staff, and other relevant community service providers.
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4.2 Duties
The school or parents association determines the range of duties of the canteen committee.
These may include:
- assisting the association with the development of a canteen policy
- selecting and appointing a convener or manager (with approval from the school or parents association)
- training, supporting, encouraging and acknowledging the efforts of paid and voluntary workers
- fostering support for the canteen from the school community – this may include keeping people up-to-date with the latest canteen developments, explaining canteen policy and any changes to it, and raising the profile of the canteen
- making decisions on what foods to sell and approving the selling prices of new items
- establishing the required profit margin and appropriate budget control
- producing a canteen menu and price list
- developing new ideas and activities to link with classroom nutrition (the committee should aim to develop good communications with teachers and the principal: teamwork will bring the best results)
- monitoring the condition of facilities and equipment, and making recommendations to the school or parents association where necessary
- ensuring a stock-take is carried out at the end of each term
- presenting regular financial statements to the school or parents association
- keeping the parents association well-informed on all canteen matters
- developing and approving marketing strategies for the canteen and for food items
- ensuring that the canteen premises, staff and volunteers are meeting the requirement of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and the Tasmanian Food Act 2003 with the local council environmental health officers.
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4.3 Developing a school canteen policy
A canteen policy statement will provide direction for the development of the canteen and for the work of canteen staff.
The parents association, school personnel and local community members should be involved in developing such a policy. Through this involvement, a greater understanding of the canteen’s role can be achieved.
A policy statement should take into account the guidelines of the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia (NH&MRC, 2003), students’ learning experiences and the particular characteristics of the local community.
Getting started on canteen policy development
1. Form a working party
The school community could establish a canteen committee to work toward a draft policy. This group could include representatives from:
- school teaching / administration staff
- canteen staff and volunteers
- the parents association
- student council / representatives.
2. Build awareness and knowledge
Members of the school community may need to become aware of the role of the canteen in encouraging healthy food choices. Awareness raising can be achieved in a variety of ways using appropriate physical and human resources from the wider school community. This may include guest speakers such as sports stars and other role models, dental therapists and other health professionals. Linking in with existing programs and promotions on health, nutrition and physical activity further increases the community’s awareness, such as Go for 2 & 5, Jump Rope For Heart, Healthy Bones Week, etc.
3. Find out what is already happening
The following questions may provide useful starting points:
- Is there an existing written canteen policy?
- How and when was this developed?
- Who knows about it?
- Is it being implemented?
- How often is it being reviewed?
- Which foods are being sold?
- Which foods are the best sellers and why?
- What are current pricing arrangements?
- How are decisions made about the menu and pricing?
Discover what policy exists in the school concerning health and nutrition education:
- How is this policy implemented in the classroom?
- Are the two areas of canteen and classroom complementary?
Research the Cool Canteen Accreditation Program (Cool CAP), available from the Tasmanian School Canteen Association Inc. This program may give your school a planned and staged approach to improving the canteen.
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4. Find out what people think
- Run a school canteen survey. Students can help design the survey and collect results.
- Arrange discussions for parents, teachers and students in a variety of settings.
- Use regular newsletters to invite comments.
- Try to build agreement about canteen management and menus.
- Canvass views about what the canteen is, or should be selling.
- Ensure that any discussion about the preferred range and types of food is guided by accurate information about nutrition such as the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating www.health.gov.au (search via information by health topic: nutrition)
5 Develop a draft policy
A draft policy could include the following:
- a statement about the purpose of the canteen
- some principles to guide those with the responsibility for implementing the policy, for example:
- a statement about the general nutrition guidelines to be followed in selecting food for sale; such as the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia (NH&MRC, 2003) and The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (Commonwealth of Australia, 1998)
- a statement about the role of volunteers in the canteen, including reference to the valuable nature of their services, the opportunities provided through the canteen to contribute to the welfare of students and the work of the school
- statements about aspects of management of the canteen:
- an outline of the various groups and individuals and their respective responsibilities
- a description of the working and reporting relationships between groups
- an outline of the basis on which prices are to be set and profit margins determined and who has the responsibility and authority to set prices
- an outline of how decisions will be made about using profits from the canteen
- an outline of the criteria and responsibilities for the introduction of new items into the canteen
- reference to the need for promotion of the canteen within the school and the wider community, particularly the parent body
- a statement about how and when the policy is to be reviewed
- use of the canteen for other purposes such as fundraising, catering for functions, fetes, etc.
6. Circulate draft
The draft policy statement could be widely circulated for further comment and discussion. This may lead to amendments or additions to the policy.
7. Develop a detailed implementation plan
Each of the statements of principle in the policy could then be spelt out in a more detailed way so that it is quite clear how they will be applied. For example:
- The statement about general nutrition guidelines could list the foods which will be sold and those which will not be sold. This information could be sourced from The Tasmanian School Canteen Buyers Guide, The Tasmanian School Canteen Handbook and The Cool Canteen Accreditation Program (Cool CAP).
- The role of volunteers could be described. This may include the kind of work they will be asked to do, the ways in which they can contribute to the development of the canteen, the ways in which their assistance will be sought and the ways in which appreciation of their contribution will be shown.
- The functions and duties of those groups and individuals with management tasks could be detailed.
- The procedures to be followed in seeking to alter prices or introduce new products could be determined.
- Guidelines could be formulated for disseminating information about the value of the canteen and canteen staff throughout the school community.
- The requirements that need to be met for the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and the Tasmanian Food Act 2003, such as registration with local council, staff training and premises requirements, could be described.
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References
Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents in Australia. NH&MRC, (2003)
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.
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