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KA ORA, KA AKO: Latest News and Updates

Launched in 2019, the Ka Ora, Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches Programme was extended in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By March 2022, over 45 million lunches have been delivered in 921 schools to over 211,000 learners, and 62 million lunches will be delivered in around June of this year.

Schools and communities are best placed to understand what their students need. Schools and kura can decide whether to make their own lunches or outsource to an external supplier.

External suppliers are selected through a tender process via the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS)(external link) platform. Schools and kura choose from a panel of approved suppliers that have met minimum standards of food hygiene, waste management and food preparation. This will simplify the procurement process for schools.

There are a range of supplier models depending on what works best for each school, for example a single supplier or a mix of suppliers. There is no set lunch menu for the programme. Schools and suppliers decide what works best for them. What is included in lunches will depend on several factors such as the chosen supplier, available catering facilities, the number of students, and a school’s distance from the chosen supplier. A typical weekly menu includes a variety of lunches such as wraps, vegetable sticks, dips, salads, soups, and hot lunches. Menus may also change from term to term to reflect available fresh and seasonal produce and any feedback from schools and students.

Costs

From January 2022 lunches will be provided at a maximum ‘per child, per day’ cost of: • $4.84 for learners in Years 0-3 • $5.67 for learners in Years 4-8 • $7.21 for learners in Years 9+.

These prices reflect the larger portion sizes required for different learners and recognise an increase in cost pressures related to making lunches.

Funding covers food, preparation, and delivery, and paying staff working on school lunches. From January 2022 staff working on school lunches must be paid at least $22.75 per hour. This excludes GST. The exact figure set aside per child per day will depend on how each school decides to deliver school lunches. Funds for each term will be adjusted to take account of changes to school rolls. H

A Winning Waste Solution

Benefiting students, the surrounding community, and the environment, Hamilton City Council waste minimisation funding has helped solve a Hamilton high school’s food waste problem. A hot composting system installed at Fraser High School this month was supported by Council’s Waste Minimisation Fund. The funding allowed them to employ a kaiarahi (facilitator) Paul Murray to work with Fraser High, who has helped the school with its hot composting system. “Fraser High has 1500 students, so when the school lunches programme began there, the waste was just phenomenal,” said Murray. “It wasn’t just the packaging waste, but the uneaten and half-eaten food. So together with the school, we looked at how we could change this.” Read more online

A Balanced Diet Key to Learning Success

Thanks to the Government’s healthy school lunches programme, supported by Hawke’s Bay DHB, Sport Hawke’s Bay and the Ministry of Education, the tamariki at Te Kura o Kimi Ora receive a healthy morning tea and lunch every day. Principal Matariki Perepe-Perana said staff had noticed a huge difference in the children’s health since introducing the Ka Ora Ka Ako healthy school lunches programme. “The tamariki are much more focused in the afternoon with nutritious kai in their tummies.” Hawke’s Bay DHB is part of a new Wellbeing Partnership Group working with Sport Hawke’s Bay and the Ministry of Education to support Ka Ora Ka Ako, as well as other wellbeing initiatives.

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Government Promises to Provide RATs to Schools

Earlier this month the Government announced that schools, kura and early learning centres will soon be able to optin to receive rapid antigen tests (RATs). In a statement, Education and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the move was aimed at keeping schools and early learning centres open where possible. “Feedback I have received from the education sector is that greater access to rapid antigen testing could help them to do that,” he said. “The Ministry of Education currently has several hundred thousand tests to hand and will receive nearly a million more over the next week to be distributed through its regional offices. Schools, kura and early learning services can opt-in to receive a supply of tests.”

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NZ’s Biggest School Solar System Slashes Power Bills

Down by more than half, New Zealand’s biggest school solar power system has slashed electricity bills at Kerikeri High School. The 174-kilowatt system eclipses what was previously the country’s biggest solar system, a 101kW solar panel array at Kaitaia College which opened in 2019. Kerikeri High associate principal Mike Clent said the move to solar power made a lot of sense. At peak o utput, the system generated 60 to 65 percent of the school’s power needs and while the solar system, by SuperPower, cost a ‘’significant sum’’, Clent was confident it would pay for itself in five years. It had a projected life of 25 years so that meant 20 years of savings that could be directed into other areas of the school. The new system also benefited the environment and provided new learning opportunities for students.

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Why Do So Few Kiwi Schools have Decent Ventilation?

New research suggests that virus spread in classrooms, including COVID-19, could be cut by up to 80 percent with mechanical ventilation, however, fewer than one in 10 New Zealand schools have ducted ventilation systems installed, and the strength of those systems varies wildly. At the beginning of the year, the Government announced it had ordered 5000 portable air purifiers for schools, with 500 accessible by March and the rest in schools by June. But experts have noted that the Hume thinktank study shows that more is needed to be done about ventilation in the country’s 36,000 classrooms as winter approaches and windows are slammed shut to keep out the cold. Read more online