Management of a Healthy School Canteen

MODULE 3
Management of a Healthy School Canteen

OVERVIEW

Like any business, a canteen requires a good

management to be efficient and successful. How to form a
healthy eating lifestyle and many more.

So in this module we will discuss how to manage A

healthy School Canteen

Questions for Discussions:

1. In your home, how do you manage your daily routine?

2. Did you experience managing a business, family, etc? How?

3. What is your role in your house? Explain briefly

OBJECTIVE

AT THE END OF THIS MODULE THE STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

a. Discuss management of a healthy school canteen

b. Give some importance of managing the canteen
c. Perform how management of a healthy school canteen
 Management of a Healthy School Canteen

Management of a Healthy School  Participate in the development or the

evaluation of the healthy eating policy
Canteen
 Have input into student health and
Effective canteen management requires that: wellbeing.
 Be an integral member of the canteen’s
 The schools goals and objectives are success through volountering time each
reflected in the role of the school ter.
canteen
 An agreed arrangement to manage the
A Guide to Running an Effective Healthy
canteen is clearly documented
School Canteen
 Staff are adequately trained and comply
The following flow chart provides a step
with relevant legal requirements
by step guide on how to run an effective school
regarding Food Safety and preparations,
canteen or review your current school canteen
and occupational health and safety
by involving the most appropriate people in the
 Staff carry out efficient stock
school community.
management, accounting and financial
procedures and are supported in these
process. How to establish or Review your School
Canteen:
Evidence shows that, with good management
and sound marketing practices, a canteen can be Getting Started
financially viable and provide healthy food.
1. Form a healthy Eating Committee
2. Gather information
The Role of a Healthy School 3. Talk to School Community
4. Promote your canteen
As part of the school environment, a canteen is 5. Check Existing Policy
in a unique position to make a positive Planning the changes
contribution to students’ health and welfare. 6. Develop a draft policy
The functions of school canteen are to: 7. Plan for Change
Making the Changes
 Provide a service to the school 8. Introduce healthier choice
community 9. Make lasting changes
 Provide a variety of nutritious and 10. Link the canteen with the School
attractively presented food and drinks at Community
a reasonable cost Evaluating the changes
 Reinforce classroom learning 11. Get feedback
12. Review the canteen
Parents who got involved in the work of a 13. Communicate success
canteen can:

 Contribute to goal setting and to policies

that incorporate healthy eating
 Management of a Healthy School Canteen
Getting Started
1. Form a healthy Eating Committee
The school community could establish a healthy
eating committee or use an existing food focused
committee, e.g. Move well, Eat well, to work
towards a draft policy. This group include
representatives from:
 School teaching/administration staff
 Canteen staff and volunteers
 The parents association
 Student council / representatives
A carefully selected committee can:
 Ensure efficiencies in the way the
canteen operates
 Provide an opportunity to hear about the
needs of the school community
 Share the work load involved in
organizing the canteen and planning
menus
 Assist the canteen with other programs
such as Move Well Eat Well program.
Duties
The committee should aim to develop
good communication with teachers, the Principal
and the canteen manager.
Duties may include:
 Developing a healthy eating or canteen
policy
 Training and supporting paid and
voluntary workers
 Promoting the canteen – by keeping
people up-to-date with the latest
developments of the canteen
 Making decision on what foods to sell at
what price
 Establishing a profit margin and budget
control settlement
 Developing new food ideas and
activities to link with classroom
activities
 Presenting regular financial statements
2. Gather Information
This is a great opportunity to collect
information on your school. Finding out what
your School Community has and/or wants is
very important.
3. Talk to the School Community
There are numerous ways of collecting
information and engaging support. Below are
some examples:
 Run a school canteen survey. Students
can help design the survey and collect
results
 Arrange discussion 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
 Canvas views about what the canteen
is, or should be selling
4. Promote your Canteen
Members of the school community
should be aware of the role of the canteen in
encouraging healthy food choices. Increasing
awareness of this can be done in variety of ways
by using appropriate resources and people from
the wider school community.
5. Check Existing Policies
 Management of a Healthy School Canteen
Find out what school polices exist to
cover health and healthy eating education.
 How are these policies implemented in
the classroom?
 Do canteen operations complement
classroom teaching and learning?
Planning the Changes
6. Develop a Draft Policy
A healthy Eating/Canteen Policy
statement will provide direction for the
development of the canteen and for the work of
canteen staff.
A healthy Eating /Canteen Policy
ensures long term commitment to healthy
easting at the school.
7. Plan for Change
The draft policy statement could be
widely circulated for further comment and
widely circulated for further comment and
discussion. The types of changes would depend
on how many days per week the canteen is open,
the canteen’s food preparation facilities, and the
school’s policy on a whole school approach to
health and wellbeing.
Changes that canteens may take include:
 Making healthy changes gradually
 Gaining input from the students, staff
and wider school community and
communicating to them about why the
changes are necessary
 Marketing and promoting the positive
aspects of the menu changes
 Advertising and promoting these
changes well in advance
 Not drawing attention to the removal of
certain foods
 Remaining positive about the need for
healthy changes
Making the Changes
8. Introducing Healthier Choices
Healthier choice are easier to introduce:
 After school holiday breaks, reopen the
canteen with a new menu. This approach
works best if it has the support of the
wider school community, and if the
canteen strongly communicates,
promotes and markets the links between
what the canteen sells and classroom
learning.
 By trialling new, healthy foods using
theme days or food specials.
 By removing RED items from the menu
 When planning a new menu, consider
the amount, variety and range of foods.
Children need a variety of different foods
across all food groups.
Limit the menu to a small range of foods,
but provide variety by having a daily or weekly
special such as a hot canteen prepared dish.
This Can:
 Reduce the cost of goods by reducing
the range of products required
 Save time on preparation and the help
needed
 Allow more time to prepare fresh food,
trial new healthy options and run
promotions
When planning a menu:
 Management of a Healthy School Canteen
 Choose low fat and wholegrain options
 Limit the use of high fat ingredients
 Use low fat, sugar, sodium (salt) and
fibre content and check that recipes are
healthy and suitable
 Choose meals that are easy and safe to
prepare, using inexpensive ingredients
that need little packaging
 Be aware of food allergies that can
trigger anaphylaxis in children – your
school will have a list of children who
are allergic to foods and they will have a
policy on food allergy
9. Make Lasting Changes
A healthy Eating/Canteen Policy is the
key to maintaining the success of healthy food
provision in schools. The policy will support the
changes being made in the school canteen, and
will make it clear that the healthy school canteen
program is a long term commitment.
10. Link the canteen with the School
Community
Link healthy eating with other parts of
the school’s business such as: the curriculum
and its teaching and learning programs; the
school organization, its ethos, its environment,
and its community links and partnerships. This
will not only ensure that the changes to the
canteen are successful and sustainable, but they
will be more effective in promoting a whole
school approach to healthy eating.
Evaluating the changes
11. Get Feedback
Once changes have been made to the
canteen, it is important to assess their success.
The canteen committee should evaluate and
review the Healthy Eating/Canteen Policy and
plan for continuous improvement. Below are
some examples of what can be done:
Students can assist by:
 Developing, implementing and collating
surveys aimed at fellow students and
parents viewpoints
 Interviewing other students or writing
feedback letters to the canteen staff (as
part of English classes)
 Preparing graphs of the sales of different
foods over time, for example pre and
post healthy changes (as part of
mathematics classes)
12. Review Healthy Eating Policy
The canteen committee should review
the information gathered throughout the 12
month period of accreditation and decide
whether changes to the policy are needed.
The committee may need to change
statements, set new goals or address particular
issues in the updated policy or the policy may
still be adequately representing the school
values.
13. Communicating Success
Communicating the success of the changes and
achievements of the school canteen is a very
important part of the change process. Being
positive about the outcomes will help build
continuing interest and commitment from the
school community and ensure ongoing success.
Effective Management
In addition to providing the school community
with nutritious and affordable foods, the canteen
should be based on good management practices
and be financially self-sustaining.
 Management of a Healthy School Canteen

The school canteen is a small business. Like any
business, it requires good management practices
to be efficient and successful. Effective canteen
management requires that:
 Everyone involved knows its goals and
objectives and is familiar with its
policies
 Canteen staff and committee develop an
implementation plan to achieve policy
goals
 Day-to-day operational procedures are
structured and enforced
 Staff are adequately trained and
supervised
 Staff carry out efficient stock
management, accounting and financial
procedures and
 Staff are familiar with and comply with
relevant legal requirements regarding
food safety and occupational health and
safety standards.
There are a number of options that should be
considered:
 The school council pays profits to the
school for inclusion in the annual school
budget and expenditure is in accordance
with school priorities established by the
school community in the school charter
and plan.
 The school council pays profits to the
school but they are not included in the
annual school budget.
 External catering contractors pay a set
annual payment per head of student
population or pay an agreed percentage
of profits.
Reference/s:
* School Canteen Handbook (2014):
“Management of a Healthy School Canteen”

General business structure of canteens

School canteens may operate under a variety of

management structures, depending on the
individual characteristics and needs of the
school.

Formal management agreement

A formal management agreement
detailing the terms and conditions of the
management structure should be drawn up and
signed by the relevant management parties.

Management agreements
The management agreement between
that parties should state clearly how any profits
made from the canteen are to be distributed.
 Management of a Healthy School Canteen

MODULE TEST!
I. Enumeration
a. Give atleast 10 Guide to Running an Effective Healthy School Canteen.
b. What are the role of a healthy school canteen?
c. Give what are the requirements for Effective canteen management.

II. Multiples Choice

Find the best answer.
1. Once changes have been made to the canteen, it is important to assess their success.
a. Link the canteen with the school community c. Feedback
b. Plan for Change d. Gather Information
2. The committee may need to change statements, set new goals or address particular issues in the
updated policy or the policy may still be adequately representing the school values.
a. Review healthy eating Policy c. Feedback
b. Develop a draft Policy d. Communicate Success
3. This is a great opportunity to collect information on your school.
a. Make Lasting Changes c. Gather Information
b. Get Feedback d. Check Existing Policy
4. Increasing awareness of this can be done in variety of ways by using appropriate resources and
people from the wider school community.
a. Develop a draft policy c. Check Existing Policy
b. Talk to school community d. Promote your canteen
5. A healthy Eating/Canteen Policy statement will provide direction for the development of the
canteen and for the work of canteen staff.
a. Develop a draft policy c. Check Existing Policy
b. Talk to school community d. Promote your canteen

III. Essay
a. Why do we need to know how to manage school canteens?
b. Do school canteen open for all who wants to have a position especially in organization