By Violet Li
Merinda Park Learning and Community Centre has been recognised in a state-wide award for its outside-school-hours care that boosts nourishing dietary options to help children learn, play, and be active.
The Cranbourne North centre won the Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) category under the Vic Kids Eat Well Awards 2023.
It has engaged around 30 children from surrounding primary schools with a focus on cooking activities and healthy food and drinks.
The award acknowledged that the centre re-imagined snacks and meals to offer a huge range of tasty, nutritious options to children attending before and after-school care.
“They swapped corn chips for soft wholemeal tacos, replaced puff pastry scrolls with pita bread, and have removed all processed items from their menu and their activities,” it stated.
“They now offer a rotating fruit and vegetable platter for kids to taste new foods, as well as providing a filling, nutritious second option, including zucchini slices and delicious veggie-packed curries.”
Children’s services coordinator Kirsty Tucker, who coordinates the OSHC program in the centre, said children also participated in cooking with the help of educators.
The award commended the daily cooking activities and believed that they helped kids make and serve their favourite foods to their friends while learning lifelong cooking skills.
The centre started the OSHC program around April 2023 after detecting a need for change.
“When I first started at the centre 12 months ago, I noticed that the children’s behaviour was a little bit up and down around the afternoon tea,” Kirsty said.
“After observing the kids, we came to the conclusion that they’re actually hungry.
“So when we changed it [the afternoon tea] from snack meals to proper meals, their behaviour changed a lot.”
Kirsty said the centre was very proud to get first in the state.
The OSHC program has received local health expert support from Laura Ayers at Monash Health to make the change happen.
The centre also won the Schools and OSHC category in the 2023 Monash Health Promotion Awards.
