Students vote pesto pasta!

Athol Road Primary School in Springvale is a bustling metro school with over 30 different cultures, and approximately 80% of students who do not speak English at home. When the last bell rings for the day, the school hall transitions to a popular out of school hours care (OSHC) catering for 25 to 30 students, ready for play, arts and crafts, homework, and — most importantly — snacks! 

Wendy Beveridge has managed the OSHC since 2009, with many of the Foundation to Grade 5 students growing up with her over the years. She is passionate about her school community and providing inclusive, creative after-school activities for her squad. A popular idea she leads is encouraging the school children to plan their weekly menu and activities. Students are given a long list of options, and the children scramble to write their preferences down and cast their votes.

Over the years, Wendy has been adjusting the OSHC menu bit by bit to reduce sugary and processed items. Great choices, like vegetable risotto and fried rice, were already on the menu when the Healthy Kids Advisor for the City of Greater Dandenong, Belinda Nowakowski, first visited the service. 

With Belinda on hand for boosted support, Wendy enjoyed exploring simple, affordable ways to improve classic dishes with fresh vegetables and lighter ingredients. “It was always important to work with what was on the menu,” says Belinda, “and just find those little tweaks or ways we could improve them.” 

Student involvement in the new menu 

Instead of making a 360 degree overhaul to the menu and potentially distancing the children from the healthy swaps, Belinda altered the menu bit by bit as she trialled each new recipe with a rotating group of students who prepared and shared the food with their peers. 

“What’s happening here is a great example of positive peer pressure. The way the senior students cook for the entire after-school group, and then they all sit and eat together, creates a fun, relaxed environment where the kids can try new things and develop a healthy relationship with food.”

Belinda Nowakowski, Healthy Kids Advisor — City of Greater Dandenong

Since involving the children in menu decisions and hosting hands-on sensory cooking sessions, Wendy says 90% of the regular students have embraced the menu adjustments. Jammy, a Grade 6 student who attends regularly, says, “A lot of people here are very fussy, including the juniors, but everyone actually eats the food and comes for seconds.”

Pesto Pasta was one dish that surprised them all. The Shared Table recipe calls for raw garlic, spinach from the garden, toasted pine nuts, basil, olive oil and parmesan cheese — all powerful flavours. The kitchen smelt divine as the children worked with Belinda to master the pounding of basil and fresh garlic in a mortar and pestle. They loved stirring the pesto through the hot pasta. Bowl after bowl was requested! Even the nearby staff were lured in by the smell and, after trying the recipe, recreated it at home for their family.

“The excitement from the children and the simple things she was changing blew my mind. The children accepted it so well, so it was no drama to do it at all — we just went for it.”

Wendy Beveridge, OSHC Manager

Tasty improvements

The transformed menu has clever adjustments to old-time favourites. The popular Mac and Cheese has been upgraded with plenty of vegetables, and the children eat more of this version than before. Pancakes are now made with wholemeal flour and served with a side of yogurt instead of maple syrup. A plate of crackers with dip has been switched to vegetable sticks that the children cut themselves and jostle for the best plate! Even the jelly has happily been switched to fruit salad or berry yoghurt pops which the kids really love. 

A bonus for Belinda is drawing from the impressive, sprawling garden in the primary school, which the environmental teacher takes care of with a small group of volunteers. With Belinda’s gardening know-how on board, they now use the home-grown produce available at their fingertips.

Recipes and videos of the children cooking and enjoying their meals are regularly shared with the parents. The ripple effect of these delicious shifts is seeing families coming in after school, commenting on how great the menu change has been for them and their children.

Wendy’s advice to other OSHC providers, schools and settings? “Don’t be afraid. Go for it. Ask questions and be part of a program that is there for your community’s health and wellbeing.”

About the Healthy Kids Advisors initiative 

The Healthy Kids Advisors initiative is delivered by the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation and supported by the Victorian Government and Australian Government. 

This community engagement initiative is active in 13 priority communities to spread pleasurable food education and encourage participation in the state-wide Vic Kids Eat Well movement. 

In collaboration with local health promoters, council and the community, our Advisors offer free support and simple ideas to boost healthy and delicious food and drink in schools, sports clubs, after-hours care and council-run facilities. 

Want more information?
visit the Healthy Kids Advisors news page or contact us at hka@kitchengardenfoundation.org.au.

Follow us

#HealthyKidsAdvisors, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 

This video was filmed on the lands of the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation.