Healthy School Lunch Programme

Chertsey School – Healthy School Lunch Programme

Did you know that up to 40% of what we eat every day is used by our brain to help it function. In children this can be up to 75% of what they eat. Our brain is a very hungry part of our body.

Our school is one of the 944 schools in New Zealand taking part in the Healthy School Lunch Programme called Ka Ora Ka Ako.

This means that every child at Chertsey School receives a filling nutritious lunch every day at school – even if you need a special diet like no gluten or dairy or have a special cultural requirement.

There is no need for your child to bring any food to school.

Our lunch provider is the Kai for Kids Charitable Trust which is a local community group – whose aim is to cook the best lunch possible for every child at Chertsey – every school day. All of the team members at Kai for Kids are parents and understand the challenges of feeding children.

For morning and afternoon tea there is a selection of fruit and home baking (muffins, scones, pikelets and even chocolate brownie) or cheese and crackers.

The lunch menu during the summer terms includes sandwiches, wraps, pizza, cheeseburgers, meatballs and chicken tenders. In the winter terms the lunches include some fabulous hot meals such as pizza, cottage pie, macaroni cheese, cheesy pasta bake, chicken pasta bake, and nachos.

Each meal is nutritionally balanced and provides lots of vegetables, fruit, fibre and protein – all designed to taste great AND help growing brains to learn.

Every dietary allergy or cultural preference such as Halal, is catered for. For those with special dietary needs their meal is made in a separate room at the kitchen and they have a named lunch box each day.