These days, there’s more pressure than ever on school administrators to provide an environment that supports happy, healthy Indigenous students. As community and government focus more attention on closing the gap, it is important to demonstrate the ways your school is working to achieve better outcomes for Indigenous youth.
There are a variety of challenges when it comes to supporting the holistic requirements of your students. Culturally speaking they may have trouble adjusting from a relaxed, community lifestyle to the structure of boarding school. There may be language barriers that could lead a pupil to feel isolated or misunderstood. Some may feel their cultural way of life is unsupported, or worse – being eroded or threatened. Cultural sensitivity, one-on-one attention and patience are required when working with a student who is having a hard time adjusting to the change in environment from community to school.
Boarding schools are also faced with addressing student homesickness and mental health in general. Students need to have their emotional and mental wellbeing supported, opportunities to socialise and time to participate in non-academic hobbies and sports. Some may require additional professional mental health support to deal with issues including intergenerational trauma. Mealtimes done right can be a great time for students to feel emotionally supported and comforted by familiar tastes of home. It’s an ideal time for them to relax, make friends and feel a connection to the school community.
Physically, Indigenous students also face their own specific health risks and dispositions. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer from high rates of preventable diseases including cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and kidney failure. As such, they require specific diet and nutrition to help prevent these serious illnesses from developing.
In general, it can be a challenge to liaise with suppliers to source quality produce at affordable prices and keep catering and staff overheads within budget. Foodborne illness or contamination can result in the kind of reputational damage that no school wants to risk.
Since the food they eat and the mealtime experience has a remarkable impact on Indigenous students’ physical and emotional wellbeing, the quality and delivery of meals has a major impact on how your campus is perceived and can affect enrolment attraction and student retention. It’s essential to provide quality, tasty and nutritious foods made with seasonal fresh produce, coupled with a caring, culturally sensitive, home away from home atmosphere.
Engage a qualified chef and nutritionist to design menus that are seasonally updated. This will enable you to capitalise on the cost benefits of purchasing in-season produce, which is also full of nutrients. Where possible, include traditional ‘bush tucker’ ingredients on the menu. It will keep things interesting and exciting for students, so they don’t get bored with the same old thing. A chef and nutritionist can ensure you include a mix of food ‘just like mum or dad makes’, popular modern food trends and healthy choices on the menu. These experts can also guide you in catering to a variety of special diets such as gluten free, vegan and religious diets.
The second key ingredient in overcoming challenges is the dining environment itself. Create a welcoming, warm and social space where students have time to eat meals without feeling rushed. The dining area should have appealing décor and table settings. The little touches of home make a big difference. Nobody feels welcome to stay and socialise in a cold, utilitarian dining hall.
The catering staff also plays a part in enhancing the environment. Efforts should be made to engage Indigenous staff members in the dining room. A warm smile, friendly face and caring demeanour goes a very long way, especially when a boarding student is missing their nurturing family unit. Staff should be regularly trained and assessed to the highest standards of customer service and food safety. This will ensure your school catering is not only government compliant but also doesn’t endanger the health of students, staff and visitors.
Once your well-balanced menus, inviting mealtime environment and excellent staff are in place, it’s important to keep achieving the highest standards and looking for areas of improvement. Collect regular feedback from everyone involved: students, parents, catering and other staff. Through a process of continued consultation, everyone will feel their opinions are heard and you will receive valuable insight into ways you can continue to exceed expectations.
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