Welcome to  the Kotara High School Canteen Home page.

Kotara High School follows the State Governments initiative “Fresh Taste School” as close as possible and are introducing new and nutritious foods often.

 

How Does The Canteen Work?

The Canteen is self-serve, open from 8.30am every day for breakfast, recess 1 & 2 and lunch.

 

Recess 1 has a variety of hot foods, salads, sandwiches and rolls.

Lunch has the above foods plus a different special each day.

Recess 2 has limited amounts of hot foods. Our prices range from 50c to $4.00.

 

We provide a wide variety of foods, some vegetarian and gluten free choices (but would welcome new ideas).

 

While we are self-serve we are happy to take orders for any variations of the menu or to fill any special dietary needs.

 

The Canteen also has a range of exercise books, art books, compasses, tissues etc.

 

Staff And Volunteers

The Canteen has a paid Manager and three part time staff.

 

You may ask do we need volunteers?

The answer is definitely, yes.

 

With the help of volunteers we are able to provide a wide variety of healthy choices to students and staff. (Healthier foods are more time consuming to prepare).

 

We are able to keep wages down which provides more funds to the school. The Canteen is the P&C’s major fund raiser.

 

How can you help – just by giving an hour or more once a month or term in the mornings you will improve the Canteen service and contribute to the schools fund raising.

 

If you don’t have time for volunteering in the Canteen but would like to be involved in the Canteen organisation, come along to a committee meeting. These are held once a month in the evenings and run for an hour.

 

What Would You Be Doing?

There are a variety of jobs to be done every morning. Cutting up fruit, bagging up cheese and bacon rolls, pizza’s etc. Making up boxed salads, sandwiches and rolls. Bagging up hot foods. Making up savoury rolls (rissole and sauce rolls etc). Between 8.30am and 9.00am serving breakfast.

 

Choose a job you would like to do.

The Canteen runs on a four week roster that starts from Week 1.

 

VOLUNTEERING YOUR SERVICES TO THE CANTEEN IS A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCHOOL AND IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.

 

Please ring Katherin Owens on 49 433044 at the school canteen or 49 432037 if you would like more information or would like to put your name on the roster.

 

  To view the 2009 Menu and Price List please click  HERE

      Below are some links which may be of interest.

N.S.W. Health & Active       Healthy Eating      Heart Foundation   N.S.W. Health

School canteens

Around 2,700 schools in NSW have a canteen. For many young people, canteens provide a substantial part of daily food intake. The new Fresh Tastes @ School strategy aims to see healthy, delicious foods and drinks served at all canteens.

Why a healthy canteen?

The canteen plays an important role in promoting good nutrition because it can:

• give students a taste for healthy foods
• support nutrition messages taught in class
• show students better choices for lunches and snacks.

Fresh Tastes

The Fresh Tastes strategy was developed in response to increasing levels of overweight and obesity in children and young people in Australia. In 2002 the Government held an Obesity Summit and produced an action plan, on which Fresh Tastes is based. 

Essentially the summit agreed that canteens should not sell many high-fat or high-sugar foods or drinks over the counter, through vending machines or at special events. Fresh Tastes requires that canteens offer a range of healthy food and drinks, consistent with dietary guidelines.

What it means for canteens

Foods and drinks are now organised into three segments: RED, AMBER and GREEN as illustrated in the canteen menu planner.

RED – ‘Occasional' - high sugar/fat, little nutritional value. Do not sell these foods on more than two occasions per term,  e.g. soft drinks, chips.

AMBER – ‘Select carefully’- moderate sugar/fat, some nutritional value. Do not let these foods dominate the menu and avoid large serving sizes, e.g. lasagne, muffins

GREEN – ‘Fill the menu’ - low sugar/fat, good nutritional value. Encourage and promote these foods, e.g. fruits, milk.

The most significant point here is that high-fat, high-sugar food and drinks should be limited to two occasions per term.  For more information see the Fresh Tastes website.

Supporting your healthy school canteen

 Parents can help canteens promote healthy foods and drinks by:

• talking with their children about the importance of healthy eating
• sending healthy food in lunchboxes and only providing treat foods occasionally
• giving feedback and ideas to the canteen
• volunteering in the canteen or on the committee
• joining in healthy fundraising activities at school.

 10 Tips to healthy eating and physical activity for you.

1. Start your day with breakfast.
   Breakfast fills your "empty tank" to get you going after a long night without food. And it can help you do better in school. Easy to prepare breakfasts include cold cereal with fruit and low-fat milk, whole-wheat toast with honey, yogurt with fruit, whole-grain breads.

2. Get Moving!
   It's easy to fit physical activities into your daily routine. Walk, bike or jog to see friends. Take a 10-minute activity break every hour while you read, do homework or watch TV. Climb stairs instead of taking an escalator or elevator. Try to do these things for a total of 30 minutes every day.

3. Snack smart.
   Snacks are a great way to refuel. Choose snacks from different food groups - a glass of low-fat milk and a few crackers, an apple or celery sticks with peanut butter and raisains, or some dry cereal. If you eat smart at other meals, cookies, chips and candy are OK for occasional snacking.

4. Work up a sweat.
   Vigorous work-outs - when you're breathing hard and sweating - help your heart pump better, give you more energy and help you look and feel best. Start with a warm-up that stretches your muschles. Include 20 minutes of aeorbic activity, such as running, jogging, or dancing. Follow-up with activities that help make you stronger such as push-ups or lifting weights. Then cool-down with more stretching and deep breathing.

5. Balance your food choices - don't eat too much of any one thing.
   You don't have to give up foods like hamburgers, french fries and ice cream to eat healthy. You just have to be smart about how often and how much of them you eat. Your body needs nutrients like protein  and carbohydrates, fat and many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamins C and A, iron and calcium from a variety of foods. Balancing food choices from the Food Guide Pyramid and checking out the Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels will help you get all these nutrients.

6. Get fit with friends or family.
   Being active is much more fun with friends or family. Encourage others to join you and plan one special physical activity event, like a bike ride or hiking, with a group each week.

7. Eat more grains, fruits and vegetables.
   These foods give you carbohydrates for energy, plus vitamins, minerals and fibre. Besides, they taste good! Try breads such as whole-wheat, bagels and pita. Spaghetti and oatmeal are also in the grain group.

   Bananas, strawberries and melons are some great tasting fruits. Try vegetables raw, on a sandwich or salad.

8. Join in physical activities at school.
   Whether you take a physical education class or do other physical activites at school, such as sports, structures activities are a sure way to feel good, look good and stay physically fit.

9. Foods aren't good or bad - Moderation is the key !
   A healthy eating style is like a puzzle with many parts. Each part -- or food -- is different. Some foods may have more fat, sugar or salt while others may have more vitamins or fibre. There is a place for all these foods. What makes a diet good or bad is how foods fit together. Balancing your choices is important. Fit in a higher-fat food, like pepperoni pizza, at dinner by choising lower-fat foods at other meals. And don't forget about moderation. If two pieces of pizza fill you up, you don't need a third.

10. Make healthy eating and physical activities fun!
    Take advantage of physical activities you and your friends enjoy doing toger and eat the foods you like. Be adventurous - try new sports, games and other activities as well as new foods. You'll grow stronger, play longer, and look and feel better! Set realistic goals - don't try changing too much at once.

Food Guide Pyramid is a practical tool to help you make food choices that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Using the Pyramid enables you to eat a variety of foods daily so that you can get the nutrients you need. To make the most of the Pyramid, you need to know what counts as a serving. Food Group Serving Size Vegetable 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup cooked or chopped raw vegetables or 3/4 cup vegetable juice Bread 1 slice bread, 1/2 bagel or English muffin, 1 ounce ready-to-eat cereal, 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta, or 5-6 small crackers Fruit 1 medium piece of fruit, 1/2 cup mixed fruit or 3/4 cup fruit juice Milk 1 cup milk or yogurt, 1-1/2 ounces naural cheese or 2 ounces process cheese Meat 2-3 ounces cooked lean meat, poultry or fish (about the size of a deck of cards.) Other foods which count as 1 ounce meat; 1/2 cup cooked ry beans, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons peanut butter or 1/2 cup nuts

The Kids Activity Pyramid

Each week you can have fun and be active by trying the following things...

With Friends: -Dance to music
-Play games like tag and hopscotch
-Join a sports team at school or the park

With Family: -Go on a walk together
-Play at the park
-Turn off the TV for a day

By Yourself: -Fly a kite
-Do cartwheels, somersaults, or jumping jacks
-Practice sports skills

---

What's Your Nutrition and Physical Activity I.Q.?

Can you fill in the blanks to find these secrets to healthy eating and physical activity?

1. Eat from the five food groups every day. These include a) ??, cereals and grains, b) fruits, c) vegetables, d) milk, yogurt and cheese and e) ?? And proteins.
2. Do moderate physical activities for ?? minutes daily.
3. Eat ?? to get going in the morning.
4. Vigorous activities make you ?? and breathe hard.
5. Eat a ?? of foods every day.
6. Take a 10 minute ?? break every hour while you read, ?? or do homework.
7. Smart ?? are just what you need if you get hungary between meals.
8. Be sure to ?? your muscles before and after work-outs.
9. Use the ?? Facts Panel and the Food ?? Pyramid to help you balance food choices.
10. Keep ?? to stay in shape.

Answers:
1. a) breads e) meats
2. 30
3. Breakfast
4. Sweat
5. Variety
6. Activity, watch tv
7. Snacks
8. Stretch
9. Nutrition, Guide
10. Moving

---