Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes	Introduction
10 minutes	Part A: Everyday foods and occasional foods
30 minutes	Part B: Our school canteen - collecting data
30 minutes	Part C: Canteen improvement strategy
5 minutes	Reflection

Introduction

Step 1.

Hold a class discussion around the following questions:

What foods do you enjoy from the school canteen?
Who runs the school canteen?
Who makes the decisions about what to sell?

Students may need teacher support to answer questions on how the canteen at their school is run and the level of involvement of the school and the parent body.

Step 2.

View https://healthyschoolcanteens.nsw.gov.au/about-the-strategy/video-case-studies.

Ask students to identify some of the healthy food options in the Marrickville School canteen and to indicate whether they have tried those foods and whether or not they like them. Invite students to share some of their favourite foods from your school canteen.

Part A: Everyday Foods and Occasional Foods

Step 1.

Advise students that different states have different models for how to help make a school canteen healthy. In NSW, the Healthy School Canteens strategy suggests that school canteens should have no less than 75% of everyday foods and 25% of occasional foods.

Note: You might want to check whether there are any healthy school guidelines in your state and use those instead. We like the NSW strategy - we think it's clear and has a general applicability - but do whatever is best for your circumstances.

Step 2.

Invite student suggestions and build up a list of ten popular foods from the canteen. Record these foods on the board, and then hand out the Everyday Foods and Occasional Foods and Australian Guide to Healthy Eating factsheets to students. Ask students to use these resources to identify which foods on the board are everyday foods, and which are occasional foods.

Note: Avoid identifying any of the chosen foods as 'unhealthy' per se. The activity is designed to identify foods as everyday or occasional. Snack foods are fine as occasional foods - we don't want students going away thinking that they should never eat certain things, or that they should feel bad about eating things.

Step 3.

Hold a class discussion around the following question:

Do you agree with the rule that school canteens should stock 75% everyday foods and 25% occasional foods?

Part B: Our School Canteen - Collecting Data

Step 1.

Provide students with the Canteen Research Sheet.

Step 2.

Take your students on a trip to the school canteen. You may need to organise a visiting time with the canteen manager first. Make sure students are aware of any relevant food safety or food handling guidelines, especially as they may be moving around a food prep environment.

Invite students to work in pairs to write down 10 everyday foods and drinks and 10 occasional foods and drinks they find in the canteen. They should also record the sugar content of their food and drink. They can use the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) in most cases - but if the NIP is not immediately available (as would be the case with fruit, for instance), students can estimate the sugar content or carry out some research online back in the classroom.

Step 3.

Invite pairs to join with another pair to form a group of four. In these groups, students should discuss the following question:

What is the relationship between the sugar content in everyday foods and the sugar content in occasional foods?

The general idea is that everyday foods usually have lower sugar content than occasional foods, although amounts can vary depending on the product at hand. Other observations may well arise. Remind students that four grams of sugar makes one teaspoon, and that the World Health Organisation recommendation is to limit added sugar intake to six teaspoons a day. This fact may be a useful metric for distinguishing between the sugar content in everyday and occasional foods - how much of the recommended daily intake is in each type of food?

Step 4.

Invite groups to discuss the following statement:

A school canteen should mostly have foods that are low in added sugar.

Clarify that added sugar is sugar that comes from sugarcane and sugar beets and is added to food. Some foods, such as fruit, have natural sugars, which are generally better for us. If you would like to explore the difference between the two in more detail, consider referring to the first lesson in this unit.

Step 5.

Invite groups to discuss the percentage of everyday foods and drinks sold by the school canteen and the percentage of occasional foods. They should represent their estimates in a pie chart. You might want to create your own pie chart on the whiteboard to model the activity for students.

This activity is more intended as a general class discussion, rather than a strict mathematical exercise. If you wanted to work in a more precise way, you could go through and count all of the canteen's everyday and occasional foods from a menu or something similar, creating a close and accurate ratio. Otherwise, help students to estimate whether the canteen reaches the target of ¾ everyday foods and ¼ occasional foods, or whether it's closer to 50/50 or some other divide. You could also present the target as a ratio:

3 everyday foods : 1 occasional food.

Invite students to consider whether more everyday foods need to be provided by the canteen, or whether fewer occasional foods need to be provided.

Step 6.

Invite groups to write a list of five suggestions they have for improvements to the school canteen. Encourage students to contribute any other experiences from their canteen trip.

Part C: Canteen Improvement Strategy

Step 1.

Invite the principal of the school to come to the class so students can share their findings: why schools need healthy choices, the results of their canteen assessment and ideas for improvements. Ask the principal for a point of contact (such as the canteen manager, school council or other decision makers) to whom students can send their ideas.

Step 2.

After the principal has left, invite groups to write a letter to the point of contact identified by the principal. This letter should include their five proposals and a discussion of why healthy choices are important.

Reflection

Ask students to write out a short paragraph responding to this prompt:

Three things that surprised me about our canteen research are...

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

Instead of a letter, use other forms of communication (eg. video) to share what students have learnt about everyday and occasional foods, canteen assessment findings and ideas for improvement.
Raise awareness at school about healthy choices and why they are important.
Develop creative ways to promote healthy foods and drinks sold at the canteen.
Join the student leadership body or ask your school leaders to commit to supporting healthy nutrition at school.
Start a school-wide conversation - create a survey of students, staff and/or parents to find out what they think about the choices on offer at the canteen and whether there are any improvements they’d like to see. Share your canteen research results with school at assembly or in the newsletter.
Create a petition about proposed improvements to the canteen for students, staff and parents to sign - send the results to the student leadership body, school council/leadership and the principal.

Provisions for Learning Support - Be aware that some students may feel sensitive about their weight or about their purchasing choices at the canteen. Focus on the canteen itself and strategies for improvement rather than personal choices that students or their parents are making.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Taking it Further

If you would like more information about SugarByHalf or the movement to reduce our sugar intake, check out the SugarByHalf Teachers Network here.

SugarByHalf would also love to share the results of your teaching with the world! If your students are making amazing changes, consider emailing info@sugarbyhalf.com to let them know. They're excited to tell people about your success!

SugarByHalf - Canteen Canvas

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