Canteen: Use of replacement tickets

In the context of a broader effort to improve communication about APEEE services, the Canteen Working Group (WG) would like to introduce parents to the use of replacement tickets as indicated in point 3.2 of our Canteen Regulation (https://apeeeb3.be/sites/default/files/uploads/APEEE_Ixelles_HORECA_Regulation_EN.pdf ).

The use of this option available to Secondary pupils increased rapidly over the last couple of years to the extent that the WG has had to consider introducing certain rules. Firstly there was our obligation towards parents, namely the fact that parents pay for their children to enjoy a hot balanced meal (as opposed to a sandwich). Secondly, requests for replacement tickets for the same day meant that a lot of food prepared by the canteen was wasted/not eaten, while the pressure on the cafeteria was difficult to manage in terms of food preparation and delivering cold lunches to pupils.

Our Canteen Regulation provides that: “For punctual changes in the school timetable, which prevent them from using the canteen service, secondary pupils can ask at the Canteen Office for a replacement ticket for a cold lunch (available in the cafeteria). Replacement tickets can be issued only for the same day as the original canteen enrolment. More information on the use of replacement tickets are available from the Canteen Office.”

 While the WG acknowledged the need to provide some flexibility to Secondary pupils, we felt that it is important to adhere firmly to our Food Policy and the need to  provide healthy and balanced meals to pupils as well as to respect our commitment to reduce food waste from our school canteen. To that end, we sought to identify the main types of meetings and events that could justify the use of a replacement ticket and introduced the requirement to make the request at least two working days in advance. Asking for a replacement ticket in advance allows our canteen and cafeteria to plan accordingly, for the canteen in terms of food quantities to prepare and for the cafeteria in terms of the number of cold lunches to be distributed in addition to the normal cafeteria service (there is a separate queue for “replacement ticket”-holders.  

Of course, there are occasions when pupils need to attend events and meetings during their lunch-break, which prevent them from enjoying their lunch at the canteen.  On those occasions, provided they are registered for the canteen service on that day, pupils may ask for a replacement ticket to be exchanged with a cold lunch at the cafeteria. The cold lunch consists of a sandwich, a fruit and water.

The detailed rules applicable to the use of a replacement ticket are:

1)      A request for a replacement ticket must be made at least 2 working days before the day of the event.

2)      A replacement ticket can be made available for specific or occasional events organised by the school or a teacher, such as Olympic Games, Eurosport, Students Parliament, S7 presentation of universities, etc (for school outings, Section 5.4 of the Canteen Regulation applies)

3)      Any request must be accompanied by a confirmation (in writing) of the responsible teacher or the school administration. To keep things simple, a teacher may send directly to the Canteen Office a list of all students participating in an event.

4)      The following activities do not give pupils the right to a replacement ticket:

a.       Springfest Committee

b.       Vente d’objets

c.       Mini-enterprise

d.       Students’ committee

e.       Music or art lessons

f.        Aikido lessons

g.       S6 exams and other collective exams/tests

In general, pupils are expected to organise their meetings accordingly. Nonetheless, if information about a meeting is communicated to the Canteen Office in advance, our team may allow pupils participating in those meetings to enter the canteen a few minutes before the regular service and enjoy their hot meal before the meeting.  

5)      For regular and recurrent activities, pupils are expected to unsubscribe from the canteen service for the given period and day of the week and use the cafeteria service instead