The fruit to suit enterprise was introduced at Greasby Junior School in March 2009.

Before the launch Donna visited the school to meet with our (previously selected) Year 5 team of 16 children. Donna dedicated three 40 minute sessions to training our team. Training included:

• Discussing the day to day running of the healthy tuck shop.
• The processes of stock control and ordering of stock, including training in the use of Excel Spreadsheets.
• A tasting session where the children were able to sample the healthy snacks and vote for the ones they would stock first.
• Storage of the stock and where and when in school the tuck shop would be available, was also discussed.

Following the training sessions, the team voted for their Manager, Financial Manager and Deputy Manager and then organised themselves into teams of four to be put on a weekly rota.

Donna launched the tuck shop in a whole school assembly where she introduced the Year 5 team and talked about the healthy snacks which would be on sale. The assembly culminated in the opening of two stalls (one for upper and one for the lower juniors) and the children were able to taste some of the snacks before buying for the first time.

Since then, healthy snacks have been sold in two areas of our school during morning break each day. On average, there are 6 snacks available at one time, with Spicy Noodles being sold on a Friday only as a treat.

After one month in operation, the children decided that they would like to seek the opinions of the whole school about the tuck shop and its impact so far. They drew up a questionnaire and organised a half hour session with each class to reiterate the ideas behind fruit to suit and seek opinions and any suggested changes. All the children in school completed the questionnaire and the team have since audited and acted upon the points raised.

fruit to suit has now been running successfully for 3 months, the team gaining more independence and experience each week. Although there are 3 managers, the rest of the team are involved in the decision making processes. The whole team meets every couple of weeks, with the managers meeting every week to do stock control, count the takings and put in a new order. Sales remain high and we usually need to place a weekly order. Now that the process is familiar to the children, the running of the tuck shop is very much in their hands. They now need little support from myself, instead they 'tell me' what they need to do and then organise themselves to do it. They have learnt a great deal and enjoy this new found independence as they reap the benefits of their hard work.

The children have also spoken in assembly, talking about new snacks that have been introduced, reiterating the health benefits.

As a result of this new business enterprise, the children in our fruit to suit team have learnt a whole range of new skills. These include:

• Counting and organising monies for banking.
• Controlling stock: Weekly counting of stock left over and then ordering what new stock is needed.
• Making decisions, based on sales, as to which stock to discontinue and which new snacks to try.
• Completing regular Excel spreadsheets, showing the stock and highlighting sales and profit made.
• Developing their confidence and oral speaking skills whilst learning how to relate to and help younger and older children in school.

Donna has continued to be an excellent support to myself and the team of children. The children are always eager to be responsible for telephoning Donna to give our order and talk about how the tuck shop is progressing. Donna always listens patiently to the children and their views and suggestions have always been valued highly. Our managers requested additional support with the spreadsheets and Donna did not hesitate in returning to school to discuss the process with us again.

Both teachers and parents alike speak highly of our tuck shop. Parents of our team report that the children thrive on the responsibilities and thoroughly enjoy all tasks relating to the tuck shop. They report that their children are more confident and full of ideas, always keen to discuss with them how the tuck shop is going and what developments they would like to make. The children speak with pride about their achievements.

The team clearly gain much on a personal level, learning fantastic skills I am sure will be useful in later life. As for our school, we have a healthy tuck shop, whereby all of our children have access to a changing range of healthy snacks every day.

I would not hesitate in recommending the introduction of the fruit to suit enterprise.

Miss G Rowlands

June 2009

Year 5 Leader, Greasby Junior School