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When Rodney College students returned to school on February 3, a couple of their favourite items were noticeably absent from the free Healthy School Lunches menu – ham and cheese sandwiches as well as pizza.
This was a result of changes to the programme that came into effect across the country at the start of Term 1, which are projected to save the government $130 million annually by reducing the funding it provides for each meal from around $7 (MM May, 2021) to just $3 per child.
Deputy principal Georgina Hackett says the school’s lunch provider Libelle Group, which they’ve used for the past few years, has kept its government contract (as part of the School Lunch Collective) so there hasn’t been too much of a change.
“One of the differences that the kids have pointed out is there’s no pizza anymore, which was one their favourite things.
“And no sandwiches. We’ve got toasted sandwich makers in different classrooms around the school and so the kids loved making toasties out of them.”
One addition to the menu is going down a treat, though – Harvest Snaps Baked Pea Crisps.
“They’re meant to be healthy, but they taste too good to be healthy. The kids love those.”
Rodney College Year 10 dean and head of Te Reo Māori Wiremu Ngatipa says the meals are served when the whanau homegroups meet at 10.45am, so that students who missed breakfast don’t have to wait until lunchtime at 1.30pm to eat.
“It’s a combination of both breakfast and lunch, a kind of brunch for the kids who haven’t had breakfast.
“The meals are available to all of our kids every day, but not all of them will opt for it. If it’s butter chicken then it’s all gone. If it’s anything with a roll of garlic bread everything’s gone,” he says.
When Mahurangi Matters visited Rodney College last Thursday it was beef meatballs and tomato sauce on the menu but most of the students we spoke with didn’t like that option and had brought their own lunches.
Hackett says while other schools may be experiencing teething issues, Rodney College is just happy to be part of the revised programme, which was announced by Associate Education Minister David Seymour last October.
“It was reformed to deliver the same outcomes while costing taxpayers less,” Seymour says.
“This was achieved by embracing commercial expertise, using government buying power, and generating supply chain efficiencies to realise over $130 million of annual cost savings, even more than anticipated in Budget 2024.
He says every student who previously received a school lunch will continue to do so.
“The focus has been to support student learning by providing a free nutritious meal to students, every school day.
“I expect the programme will continue to evolve over time. But first and foremost we’re proud to deliver the new programme to schools for the start term 1,” he says.
