Planning your menu
The healthy foods and drinks available in the school environment can play an important role in shaping student’s lifelong eating habits.
Use the information and tools below to plan or review a menu that’s in line with the School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy, including:
- in-school food services, such as the canteen or tuckshop, curriculum activities, sports days, special events and breakfast clubs
- external school food services that supply foods and drinks to students in Victorian primary and secondary schools, such as local businesses, cafes, milk bars, caterers and mobile food outlets
- vending machines.
You can also learn more about the School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy and how to make changes in your canteen with our FREE online or face to face training. Visit Training options for more information.
Or contact us for further support.
Menu planning resources
Introduction to the School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy It is recommended for all Victorian Government schools, independent schools and Catholic schools.
Steps to increasing GREEN and removing RED items
Make money not waste (FOCIS, PDF) Get some great tips on how to make money not waste whilst keeping fruit and veg the heroes of your menu.
Get on top of food safety and food allergies in your school canteen with these helpful sites.
Breaking even and beyond: Tips for a healthy and profitable canteen Get the low down on how to make healthy changes in your school canteen without affecting the bottom line.
Online training - Healthy Eating Advisory Service
Online training - FOCIS (opens in a new window) Cost: $90 plus GST
|
Recipe costing template
Simple steps to select the most appropriate, popular and cost-effective items for your food service menu.
Canteen health check (FOCIS) The Canteen health check will guide your school through some self-analysis. By objectively considering the situation, you can identify the most important issues impacting on your canteen and then begin considering possible courses of action.
|
Sample menus
Get some inspiration to plan your next healthy menu!
These examples meet the School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy because they only contain Everyday (Green) and Select Carefully (Amber) options, without any Occasionally (Red) items or confectionery and high sugar content soft drinks (Black).
|
||||
Lucknow Primary School | ||||
Sample primary school menu | Sample secondary school menu |
Templates
Healthy eating and oral health policy Having a Healthy Eating and Oral Health Policy in your school will help ensure sustainable changes are embedding within your school. This policy template is editable, but we have also provided content that you can use in your own policy. Developed in collaboration with the Western Australia School Canteen Association and The Victorian Healthy Schools Achievement Program.
|
School canteen/catering/vending contract This template is an example of how you can include the Victorian School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy in tenders, contracts and leases with food service providers.
This policy template is editable, but we have also provided content that you can use in your own contract. |
|
Action plan template |
Phase in, phase out template |
Downloads
'At a glance' food and drink planner (A3 poster) |
|