FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD IN BOARDING

With up to 150 boarders across a range of ages, experiences, cultures and tastes our catering staff lead by our Catering Manager Brad Bakker work hard to meet their diverse dietary requirements and preferences while also striving to provide balanced and nutritional meals.

Our boarding council led by our Heads of Boarding, is an important part of ensuring student voice is collected and shared through surveys online and/or in house meetings. The feedback is then collated to identify emerging and consistent themes across all our year levels and is provided to Brad Bakker and his team at our weekly meetings. The weekly stores are regularly reviewed by our Heads of Boarding and any updates/requests are also shared at our weekly meetings. In addition, every Wednesday is student choice meal where each year level through their Heads of House provide their preferred main meal and dessert for dinner.

As we know, a balanced nutrition is vital for adolescent high school girls because it supports their rapid physical growth, mental development and overall wellbeing. Nutrition plays a direct role in energy levels, cognitive performance and academic success. At the end of 2024, Terrina Chapman from TGK Nutrition was commissioned to conduct a review of our boarding and dining facilities and boarding menus as per the requirements of section 10 of our Food and Nutrition Policy.

Key findings were:

• The meals are well constructed; an excellent variety of foods are provided across a week; a good balance of protein and complex carbohydrates and simples options for the students to select from.

• The dining room and boarding kitchens are clean, tidy and spacious.

• Students favour a limited range of vegetables and if too many vegetables are included in each meal, they are more likely to eat less.

• Pulses and legumes provide a variety of benefits such as boosting fibre and protein intake and improving satiation.

• The dining room and boarding kitchens would benefit from being more interaction and informational space during mealtimes to foster better eating habits and attitudes towards nourishing and fueling their bodies.

Going forward our boarders can expect to see a range of the following suggestions being implemented from our review:

• More creative inclusion of vegetables in meals such as grating vegetables like zucchini, spinach, carrot, beetroot.

• Cutting techniques that make a meal fun or fancy.

• Inclusion of pulses and legumes such as lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas.

• Displays/posters in the dining room and dormitories highlighting health food options, portion sizes, mindful eating and hydration tips.

• Wednesday student meal choice day is now Healthy Student Meal Choice Day and boarders are expected to suggest and/or choose healthy meal options in advance.

As a boarding staff in our boarding communication we will also endeavour to share tips on supporting adolescent nutrition at home. Therefore, here is tip one for the year, 5aday is a great website with a wealth of information and resources.