How is your canteen used? Do a survey!

04/02/14 Canteen Advice canteen_outdoors

Is your canteen serving its community as best it can? If you’re unsure of what the students and parents at your school want out of the canteen, it’s a good idea to survey the community to find out why. Here, we explain how to conduct a survey and what you can learn from the school community through a survey.

A canteen may be underused by the school community for one of the following reasons:

  • Food selection is not to the children’s liking
  • The quality of the food isn’t up to scratch
  • Prices are too high
  • The canteen is seen as an occasional treat for the children

Through a survey, you may discover that the canteen is viewed by the school community as a once-off treat and not a facility that is used daily. To save money, you may think about only opening the canteen a few days a week, rather than the full five days. Or perhaps you’ll find the food selection is not what the children are looking for. By conducting a thorough survey you can find out what they’re looking for and think about making any appropriate changes, while still maintaining a healthy canteen.

By conducting a survey, you and your staff can identify the major barriers that may be preventing your canteen from meeting the expectations of the school community. Also, it provides you with direction in creating goals and objectives for the new school year.

How to conduct a survey

If you have an email database, you can create an online survey through surveymonkey.com (basic surveys to a small audience are free of charge). Or, you can keep printed surveys at your canteen for kids and parents to fill out. Ask your sponsoring body (the P&C and school, for instance), to assist in printing and distributing surveys throughout the school.

We have made surveying simple for you by creating a template that is all ready to go.

Good luck!