WASCA receives many requests for resources to assist schools to manage their food services more efficiently. The following resources are available for this purpose.
Fact sheets
- Camps and the Healthy Food and Drink policy
- Catering for young athletes
- Colour coding drinks in the canteen
- Excursions and the Healthy Food and Drink policy
- FAQs about drinks in the canteen
- Food additives
- Halloween in the canteen
- Managing the transition of Year 7 students to high school – Primary school fact sheet | High school fact sheet
- Marketing to students in secondary schools
- Myths and facts about all things food and nutrition
- Promotion ideas in the canteen
- Raising funds for your school: The healthy way
- Sports carnivals – Keeping health messages on track
- What’s all the fuss about: fat, sugar and salt
- What’s on a label: a simple fact sheet to help you make the healthiest choice when shopping
- Winding down for the end of the school year
- Thinking of starting a canteen? See our step by step guide on Starting a new canteen or food service.
Sample canteen/food service policy
A policy is a formal document adopted and endorsed by the school community that sets out the aims and principles of the school canteen/food service. It can help to bring about and sustain change and provides guidance for all food and drinks offered in the school setting. Part of compliance with the Department of Education’s Healthy Food and Drink policy requires schools to have a written canteen/food service policy. WASCA is available to review draft policies. Download the sample policy.
Canteen daily procedures template
Are you a new Canteen Supervisor? At the request of our members we’ve produced a new editable template that provides guidance on the sorts of processes and procedures that occur on a daily basis in a school canteen. Download the daily procedures template here.
Developing positive working relationships
There are a number of documents that can assist in ensuring good communication and business operations exist between the employee (e.g. Canteen Supervisor) and employer (e.g.parent body/school):
- Parent Body Check-in: sometimes employers want to engage with the canteen but don’t know where to start. This tool will help to check in with staff, ensure best practice procedures are followed and assist in making plans for the future
- Action plan template: an editable document that can assist the canteen to decide what plans for change are being made, how they will be achieved and by whom
- Canteen report to parent body template: an editable template canteen staff can use to provide regular reports to their employer e.g. monthly/bi-monthly reports to be presented at parent body meetings.
Gift certificates/vouchers
Gift certificates/vouchers are a great way to generate a little extra business for the canteen and spread a little joy at your school. Staff can buy these to give to other staff members to say ‘thanks’ and parents can purchase them for their children to give to teachers as a special thank you. You can also encourage the head of departments to buy one for each of their staff as a way to say “well done team”. Teachers may also like to purchase a pack of 10 at the beginning of each term as a way to reward students in the classroom. This also supports the Healthy Food and Drink policy by using non-food based rewards in the classroom. Marketing Don’t forget, with any marketing strategy you need to get the word out there so make sure you advertise how easy it is to get a voucher from the canteen.
- Use tag lines such as ‘Gift us to assist us’; or ‘Show you care, say thanks with a gift voucher’
- Advertise the vouchers on social media (e.g. school, canteen or P&C Facebook page), school website and newsletter
- Leave a stack in the front office for Administration staff to sell on the behalf of the canteen
- Promote on a blackboard/whiteboard outside the canteen.
Tips
- As a safety measure we encourage you to sign the voucher; stamp the back of each voucher with a custom stamp (i.e. not one than can be easily copied); and/or create numbered codes with sequential numbers
- Keep a record of those given out and how much they are for. The records for this are important for your sales
- Consider an expiry date for when the voucher in valid to
- Printing on thick certificate paper and in colour will make them more professional.
WASCA has developed two different vouchers for you:
- Word format
- This version is fully editable
- Simply add your school logo, value and any other details before you print
- PDF
- This version cannot be edited
- Once printed simply write who it is to and who it is from
Fundraising kit
Healthy fundraising is made easy with these ideas. Fundraising does not always have to involve food or drinks, there are many non-food based ideas within this resource which should help you on your way to raising funds for your school! Click on the link below to download this resource: Fundraising kit
Healthy food posters
We have developed a suite of healthy food posters for the whole school. A selection of these posters have been posted to every school in WA. We encourage you to place them in areas of the school such as around the canteen , near the Home Economic rooms or in the vegetable garden if you have one. The posters have been designed to encourage students to choose healthy food and water regardless of where it is sourced from because ‘you deserve the best’.
Simply click on the image you like, it will open in a new window then right click and either save or print. If you require further hard copies please contact WASCA.
Traffic light poster
This handy A3 printable version of the Traffic light poster is perfect for displaying in the canteen or classroom. The poster has recently been translated for those families where English is an additional language or dialect (EALD/D), see a full list below.
Arabic Burmese Dari Dinka Filipino Hindi Indonesian Japanese Karen Korean
Malay Persian Simplified Chinese Swahili Thai Tigrinya Vietnamese
Management $ense Food Sense, the essential guide to food service in your school.
Do you want to manage your canteen more efficiently and profitably? Then, this is a MUST HAVE resource. Developed by FOCiS, the national body representing school canteens of all education systems, the package was designed as a stand-alone resource as well as one compatible with the TAFE School Canteen Management Course and the training for StarCAP. It includes 150 pages of information (including recipes), templates and an interactive CD which will allow you to develop your own management kit to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your small business. For prices or to order, download a Management $ense Food Sense order form.
National School Canteen Food Safety Project – Looking after our Kids
Looking After Our kids is a video and handbook resource for school Principals, parent bodies, canteen managers, canteen assistants and volunteers to help them understand and comply with the Food Safety Standards. This national project, an initiative of FOCiS, was coordinated by WASCA, and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. This resource is now available online from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand.
Please note the information contained in these resources may not be current as these resources predate Standard 3.3.1, which now requires businesses that provide meals for vulnerable people in our community who are at greater risk of foodborne illness, such as the very young and the elderly, to have a documented food safety program. The Commonwealth and the State and Territory Governments provide no warranty that the information contained in these resources is correct or complete for an individual or business operation. The onus is upon the individual or business operation to ensure compliance with relevant food legislation. It is recommended that you seek guidance from your local food authority to ensure that all local requirements are met.
Buyer’s Guide – Star Choice™ Registered Products.
This resource is updated bi-annually and is forwarded to all schools without cost. Schools are advised of any alterations or new products registered after production of the Buyer’s Guide in the Association’s quarterly newsletter. The Star Choice™ Registered Product online database will be updated monthly.
Canteen Cuisine
Sponsored by HBF and developed by WASCA, Canteen Cuisine is a collation of food ideas and healthy recipes that have proved popular with students. These have been collected from many different sources, including many school canteens. The recipes have been quantified to yield 10, 25 and 50 serves and have been selected for their ease of preparation and simplicity of ingredients. Many of the recipes are equally suitable for the home or other catering settings. Give those menus new zest, contact WASCA for your copy, at only $10:00 they are a bargain. Download the Canteen Cuisine Cookbook Traffic Light Classification list