About School canteen online training

School canteens are an important part of the school community.

Running a canteen is much more than providing healthy foods and can be complicated by different Australian policy requirements and minimum qualifications for canteen staff. Embracing synergies rather than focusing on diversity enabled the Federation of Canteens in Schools Inc. (FOCiS) to advocate for a national approach to training.  

The School canteen online training includes the consistent factors of effective canteen management. For example, advocating for a whole school approach to healthy eating, ‘food foundations’ modelled on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, best practice financial management and preparing safe food.  

The training will equip school canteen staff and employers with the skills and knowledge to provide safe, nutritious foods in a financially viable food service. 

More information about the course development and pilot can be viewed here.

Course fee and structure

The cost of the course is $99 (GST inclusive) per person.

The course will take most people between 2-3 hours to complete. There are eight modules, which can be completed in one sitting; or carried out in multiple sessions.

Definitions

Canteen: throughout the training, we use the term canteen. This also includes tuckshops, cafeterias and other food service facilities in schools.

School: refers to all types of schools:

  • Primary schools, years K-6
  • Secondary schools, years 7-12
  • District high schools or colleges years K-12
  • All school types e.g. public, catholic and independent  

Who should complete the course?

The School canteen online training is suitable for all States and Territories and is appropriate for:

  1. School canteen staff Including supervisors, managers, convenors and other staff (e.g. Canteen assistant/attendant) 
  2. Parent body representatives In many schools, the parent body (e.g. Parents and Citizens Association, Parents and Friends Association or parent councils) are often responsible for running the canteen 
  3. Others: 
    • Canteen volunteers 
    • School staff e.g. Principals, teachers, school nurses and administration staff involved in canteen operations and creating a healthy school environment
    • Health and education professionals who work with schools. 

The training modules

There are 8 training modules. They feature text to read; videos to watch; activities; links to other tools and resources; and quiz questions to check and confirm your understanding.

Every module is important. The modules must be completed in order and in full. This means you cannot skip ahead to the next module until all activities and quiz questions are answered.

Modules include:

Module 1: Setting up a school canteen

Module 2: Creating a canteen community

Module 3: Food foundations

Module 4: Menu planning

Module 5: Marketing and promotion

Module 6: Healthy food, healthy profits

Module 7: Safe food

Module 8: Taking action (including short assessment)

An overall pass mark of 75% or more is required from the short assessment. You can reattempt the assessment and improve your mark.

Your feedback is important to us. Therefore, at the end of Module 8, you will be required to complete a short evaluation and then you will be issued a training certificate.

The certificate is personalised with your name, date of completion and pass mark. This is evidence of the great work you completed.  

Getting ready

We recommend completing the training on a desktop computer or laptop. Not a tablet or smart phone. You will need the following equipment:

  • Speakers or a headset to ensure you can hear the videos
  • Pen and paper to take additional notes, or note any questions
  • Calculator to help you complete activities.

After the course

There are a range of factsheets and templates provided throughout in the training.  We suggest creating a file on your computer (e.g. on the desktop) and at the end of the training download and save the resources located in the ‘resource library. You can then easily refer back to the resources, without logging into the training.

After you have completed the training, you can login back in at any stage and access all of the information. Your access will be available for 12 months from registration.

Last modified: Monday, 12 April 2021, 8:22 PM