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"In 2007, our canteen was run by a paid manager when out
of the blue we rapidly began to lose money. I kept the school
community and the manager informed of the concerns but by
the end of the year we were in deficit by nearly $6000. We
wanted the canteen to provide a service to the children of
the school but did not want to sponsor it! Changes were therefore
needed and urgently. After discussion with School Council,
I regretfully informed our manager that we would have to let
her go.
"At this point, two of our parents (Kathy Sultana and
Mandy Wiggins) took over the running of the canteen and after
a few weeks, they had set up a canteen committee, revamped
the menu and engaged 15 volunteers from the school community
to help them run it on a voluntary basis. This was so successful
that by the end of 2008 they had returned a profit of over
$5000! This year it took even more than that!
"This program has continued to grow as they took on
Food Handling and developing a healthier menu. As our previous
manager had the only Food Handling Certificate, we were now
required to train someone else, so they encouraged our Primary
Welfare Officer to take on this role to then train them!
"New Departmental guidelines meant that we now also
had to address what we sold at the canteen. We wanted to make
sales as well but the team was very concerned that the change
might mean that we would lose sales to the local shop. However,
they persevered and made changes that encouraged our children
to be involved too. Children were encouraged to trial some
of the new foods and they even encouraged them to come up
with new names such as 'Brain Freeze Fruit Salad' (frozen
fruit). It wasn't long before they were at assembly introducing
a new food they had 'developed' with another catchy name such
as 'Babe 'n' Bunny Combo' to entice children to buying healthy!
"The children's involvement with the canteen did not
stop there as the parents ran a competition to give a name
to the canteen and they came up with the creative name of
the Snack Attack. The children came up with some great ideas
and are still doing so today. We talked at one stage of getting
rid of hot dogs but the children really wanted to keep them
so they looked for a healthier option and trialled them out
on a few children. They weren't crazy about them but said
they would do if it meant they might miss out!
"The money the Snack Attack is now making gets funnelled
back into the school by way of support to special projects
or facilities. Their most recent project actually involved
a little landscaping! They developed a new area in the school
called the Snack Attack Kids Corner. This was once a tangled
and weedy garden now converted into a beautiful rest area
where children can sit and talk or finish eating their latest
purchase from the Snack Attack.
"The canteen program also supports our behaviour management
program by supplying treats as awards. As teachers on Yard
Duty supervise children, they look out for children who are
behaving well and write them a raffle ticket. These are put
into a box and 4 names are drawn out of it each week. The
children then have the choice of choosing out of the 'prize
box' or taking a chance on selecting a card from the Snack
Attack options. Several cards are available which have written
on them such things as: 'one free cheese stick', 'one free
Slush Puppie' etc. These are turned over and the children
make a 'blind' choice by picking a card. 75% of the time children
choose to 'Pick a Card' instead of the prize box.
"All the parents involved in our canteen regularly make
a big commitment to our school but it has been Kathy and Mandy
who have really created and made Snack Attack such a significant
and powerful program at our school. They have encouraged a
number of 'new' parents to be involved in the school and have
made the whole operation inclusive of the whole school community
and have done it with a smile on their faces as they did so.
The canteen has not only been a huge financial turnaround
for the school but has also added another dimension to the
overall 'flavour' of our school."
- Lawrie Fildes, Principal
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