By Bridie Smith
The coin-clinking brown paper bag with a handwritten lunch order on the front was replaced by an app long ago.
But the old-school, parent-run canteen still exists. If, that is, you are lucky enough to be a student at Our Lady’s Primary School in Surrey Hills.
Laura Edgcumbe greets Our Lady’s Primary School students Catherine and Jack with lunch orders.Credit: Joe Armao
Every Friday, the pie warmers, air fryers and toasted sandwich makers are fired up and parent volunteers staff the laminated benches, forming a slick production line that pumps out playground favourites including $4 organic chicken burgers, $2 ham and cheese toasties and orange slices for $1 a serve.
The three fridges and freezers which store everything from organic chicken nuggets to sushi rapidly empty as the team of parents – and occasionally grandparents – get to work to prepare and pack almost 100 lunch orders in two hours.
“Because it’s so cheap, the kids’ orders are big, and it’s quite frantic when it comes to bagging it all up,” says Laura Edgcumbe, a mother of three and the school’s canteen co-ordinator.
“Some kids will have a bolognese pasta, a toastie, two jam doughnuts, an orange and a chocolate milk, and we’re like, ‘How much are these kids eating?’”
It’s rare to have a school canteen run by parents, as schools in all sectors outsource school lunches to online platforms such as Spriggy Schools, Classroom Cuisine, Canteen Hub and My School Lunch.
State schools can select canteen providers, but a Department of Education spokesperson said schools should ensure healthy food choices were the “major option available to the school community”.
American franchise Subway is among the providers used by Canteen Hub and My School Lunch in some state and Catholic primary schools. Shane Bracken, Subway’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, said the franchise was well-placed to provide healthy meals, especially when schools often struggled to find canteen volunteers.
But prices charged by external providers can come at a premium.
A lunch order of a Subway leg ham six-inch sub, chocolate milk and a chocolate chip cookie costs $12 on Canteen Hub. A similar order for a ham and cheese toastie, chocolate milk and chocolate chip cookie on Spriggy Schools costs $13.
At Our Lady’s Primary School, that lunch order comes to $6. Plus, some students get something money can’t buy: a note or handwritten joke from their mum.
“The kids get so excited when their mum walks into the classroom with the canteen basket,” Edgcumbe says.
With the school’s backing, Edgcumbe brought back the school’s canteen in 2023 due to the hit-and-miss service under the school’s previous lunch provider.
“The menu didn’t entice, the food wasn’t always hot and it was expensive,” she says.
Parents (from left) Catherine Hueston, Laura Edgcumbe and Elva Steyn prepare lunch orders.Credit: Joe Armao
A project manager by trade, Edgcumbe now has about 20 volunteers on her roster, with four on duty each Friday. Some parents block out the morning in their work calendars so they can be there.
The Catholic school’s menu doesn’t change drastically, although it adapts to the seasons; if avocados are cheap then the guacamole plays a leading role on the menu.
Parents place and pay for their orders on Thursdays using the Spriggy Schools app, which Edgcumbe has customised to reflect the school’s own menu and price list. She then collects items from the local organic butcher, sushi supplier, bakery and green grocer which are on-sold at cost.
Our Lady’s principal Annie Engellenner says she loves the community spirit the parent-run canteen has fostered in the small primary school of 150 students.
“Relationships are at the heart of what we do, and the tuckshop is an extension of that,” she says. “We’re very lucky that we have parents who are so keen to be involved.”
Engellenner says both students and staff look forward to their Friday lunch orders. Sushi is her go-to, “but I can always be talked into a sausage roll in winter”.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.