Tikipunga High School student Mj Keegan-Witehira, 11, is happy with her lunch of nachos, banana and yogurt. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Tikipunga High School student Mj Keegan-Witehira, 11, is happy with her lunch of nachos, banana and yogurt. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The Healthy School Lunch programme is about more than just feeding hungry pupils, according to Tikipunga High School students.
Ka Ora, Ka Ako also provides a chance for kinship as students all sit together and eat their healthy, warm meals after karakia.
The school is one of 115 in Northland getting free school lunches for all students, funded by the Ministry of Education, and among thousands of voices advocating for the programme to stay.
“We’re taking the best aspects of it, that provides nutrition at a crucial time of day and helps kids stay engaged in school – or at least that’s the theory – and we are making sure it goes to the right kids and is done in a way that is cost effective,” he said.
On Thursday, Tikipunga High School held an open lunch day, to show Northland politicians and health leaders how its lunch programme works.
The school employs three staff to make the meals in-house and hosts students in the cafeteria over three different lunch sessions, according to their age.
Sixteen-year-old pupil Trent Bowater volunteered to speak to dignitaries because he can see the benefits of students eating their meals together.
“We have karakia and it teaches you manners. It’s a vital and important way of getting together; it seems like an important way to communicate,” he said.
“I think if you got rid of it, it will impact a lot of kids who don’t have food at home.”
As for the food itself, Trent said it is “really good”.
“It tastes like something my mum would make or you would get in a restaurant.”
Tikipunga High School student Trent Bowater, 16, says Ka Ora, Ka Ako not only provides good meals, it gives a chance for students to sit and eat together. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Making the meals available to all students and sitting together to eat does create extra benefits to the scheme, said Associate Professor Victoria Egli, from the University of Waikato’s school of health.
“There’s additional benefits for all kids that come from having universal food, including socialisation, trying new foods, eating more fruit and veges, and being exposed to different cultures.
“Food is about more than just putting fuel in bodies - it’s about socialisation and caring.”
Egli said as Ka Ora, Ka Ako started in 2019, there has not been enough time to research all the benefits, so overseas studies need to be used.
But the programme is showing improvements in student attendance, especially for children from the most deprived homes, she said.
Tikipunga High School acting principal Emma Leyland agrees and says a 90 per cent attendance rate in term one proves it.
Recent feedback from parents shows the healthy school lunches encourage students to go to school, and relieve budget pressures on parents and free up time in the mornings.
Leyland said cutting costs by not making the meals available to every student - or asking parents to contribute - would not work in the low-decile school, where parents struggle to cover compulsory costs and some students might be too shy to ask for food.
Eleven-year-old Mj Keegan-Witehira said if the healthy school lunch programme ended, it would not only make her sad, it would mean the loss of jobs for the three cooks.
She also found the meals good, saying her favourite is butter chicken - a very popular choice among students.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
