School Lunch Programme

The Government is currently introducing a free, healthy, daily school lunch in some schools for all students. We are really excited to let you know that our school will be joining the free lunch programme from Term 1, 2021.

All parents want to provide their children with a lunch every day. But, as you will know, there are many reasons parents can struggle, often through no fault of their own. We know that some of you will have been particularly affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Offering a lunch for all our children who need it will go some way to helping families and whaanau to support their children and tamariki. Therefore, we have decided to take part in this programme.

Lunches will cater for the diet, health and cultural needs of our students, and we will work with suppliers and the Ministry of Education to make sure they are healthy and nutritious. All suppliers will be required to meet New Zealand food safety standards. The lunches will be available for all our students.

While we know there are hungry children in every community, we do not always know who they are. Providing a lunch to every child means we do not need to single-out those who need it more than others. However, lunches are not compulsory, and you can continue to provide your child’s own lunch if you wish.

Right now, we are working with the Ministry of Education on the best way to meet our school’s needs. So far, we have confirmed we will be producing our own school lunches in our catering facility with the support of our suppliers. We are still early in the planning stages of the programme and we will keep you informed as we progress along to start-up. There will be opportunities for employing community to assist in the preparation and distribution of the school lunches.  If you are interested in working with us to provide the lunches, please see the advertisement on our website  https://manurewa2022.ibdn.co.nz/about/staff-vacancies

The programme will run until the end of 2021 and will be evaluated whilst it is running. This will include feedback from schools, students and suppliers about what the lunches are like, how they are delivered, and if they have an impact on students’ learning and achievement.

This information will help to decide whether to continue beyond 2021, and what an ongoing programme might look like.

Our lunch programme will have a gradual start to the year as follows:  

• Wednesday February 10th, 2021 – student lunches provided
• Tuesday 16th February and Thursday 18th February – student lunches provided
• From Monday 22nd February – student lunches provided every day

You can find out more about the programme at: www.education.govt.nz/free-and-healthy-school-lunches

If you have any further questions, please contact the school at [email protected]  or the Ministry at [email protected]