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54 days ago

Healthy lunches announcement leaves schools confused

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

The latest announcement on the future of the Healthy School Lunches Programme has left North Canterbury schools feeling confused.

Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced last week the revised Ka Ora, Ka Ako/Healthy School Lunches programme would save $130 million.

It was revealed the new $3 lunches will apply to all schools and year levels already in the scheme, which left principals scratching their heads.

Earlier this year, the Government had indicated year 0 to 6 students would continue under the existing scheme, while year 7 to 13 students would be part of the new programme.

But Seymour said an agreement had been reached with the Government's preferred suppliers to offer the $3 lunches across all age groups.

The present budget is $8.68 per student.

‘‘The programme will deliver nutritious hot and cold meals, such as butter chicken curry, chicken katsu, lasagna, chicken pasta salad and wraps,’’ Seymour said.

‘‘All students in year 0 to 8 will receive the same sized meals (240 grams) and older students will receive larger lunches (at least 300g), which will include additional items such as fruit, yoghurt or muesli bars.’’

Te Kura o Tuahiwi principal Dot Singh feared the revised programme could leave its existing provider, Lazy Lunches, out in the cold.

‘‘I am still a bit confused,’’ she said.

‘‘We were told our year 0 to 6 student lunches would stay the same and they said if you’ve got cultural needs and allergy needs you could continue what you are doing.

‘‘But now they are saying we need to go through their providers and I’m unsure how healthy those lunches are going to be.’’

Lazy Lunches was established in 2021 to provide lunches to Te Kura o Tuahiwi, when the kura joined the scheme.

It has since extended the service to provide lunches to Kaiapoi Borough School and Karanga Mai Young Parents’ College, based at Kaiapoi High School.

Kaiapoi Borough School principal Hayden van Lent said he is grateful the lunches will continue to be provided for tamariki.

‘‘We appreciate the importance of ensuring our tamariki are well fed so they have the needed energy to learn at school and keep active throughout the day.

‘‘It is difficult to know what the new model will look like until it is in practice from next year.

‘‘In the interim we are going to explore both the internal and external options to see what will be best for our tamariki.’’

Te Kura o Hāpuku, near Kaikōura, is also part of the scheme, preparing lunches onsite for its 16 tamariki and six staff.

Principal Ripeka Tamepo said the kura was set to lose more than half of its funding.

‘‘We now will have to come up with creative ways to ensure we can continue to feed our tamariki nutritious meals.

‘‘Our tamariki need this as many whānau are struggling financially and this programme eradicated kai as a barrier to education as well as promoting whanautanga (connections), manaakitanga (care for others) and healthy food education.’’

Kaiapoi Borough School’s board of trustees, Karanga Mai, Te Kura o Hāpuku and Lazy Lunches have been contacted for comment.

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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6 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
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    61.7% Complete
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1396 votes
14 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

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Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...

Share your Christmas mishaps below!

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