Logistic organisation

Once funding and stakeholder support are in place, it is the right time to organise the logistics of the Programme and to begin the process of setting up in the schools.

• Engaging schools.

  Initial contact with schools will be via the School Principal.

  Schools need to be given plenty of notice and time to plan for their participation.

  Once approval has been obtained, the Principal will need to identify an In-school Co-ordinator who will be responsible for the programme in the school and will act as the point of contact for the Food Dudes Project Manager.

  There is a simple set of procedures for running the programme but they do need to be followed carefully. The In-school Co-ordinator will be responsible for this and will also ensure that materials are distributed around the school.

  The In-school Co-ordinator needs to be trained by the Food Dudes Project Manager in the procedures and underlying principles of the programme.

  The In-school Co-ordinator will then need to train the other members of school staff, including Teachers (and Lunchtime Supervisors, where appropriate), in the programme procedures and ensure correct implementation.

  There are different models for implementing the programme within the school day. These are as follows:

  1. Lunchtime. Procedures in all phases are designed to target children’s fruit and vegetable consumption at lunchtime. The programme may be easily implemented in schools that have dining rooms and provide meals to children. It may also be adapted for schools where there is no school meal provision and children bring packed lunches to school.
  2. Snacktime. The procedures in all phases focus on fruits and vegetables provided in the classroom at snacktime (immediately prior to morning breaktime in most cases).
  3. Snacktime and lunchtime. The Phase 1 procedures focus on fruits and vegetables provided in the classroom at snacktime. In Phases 2 and 3, the focus shifts to maintaining children’s fruit and vegetable consumption at lunchtime.

  The Food Dudes Project Managers will need to decide which model is most appropriate for schools in the target area. The model that is chosen will be largely determined by the existing food supply in the schools and by other constraints, such as multi-purpose use of the school dining room.

  The Food Dudes Project Managers will need to maintain regular contact with the schools during Phases 1 and 2 through a schedule of regular visits and phone calls.

  An overview of the optimum structure for implementation of the Food Dudes Programme is shown in the figure.

• Food supply.

  On each of the 16 days of Phase 1, as well as on each day of baseline, all children need to be provided with a piece of fruit and a portion of vegetable at school.

  It is very important for children to repeatedly taste the fruit and vegetables in order to develop liking for their flavours. For this reason, four types of fruit and four vegetables should be presented during baseline and over the 16 days of Phase 1.

  On each day, a different food pair, one fruit and one vegetable, should be presented on a 4-day cycle. In this way, children taste each of the foods a total of four times over the Phase 1 period.

  An example of the fruit and vegetable pairings is shown below:

  Day 1, Phase 1	Apple & Red Pepper
  Day 2, Phase 1	Banana & Tomato
  Day 3, Phase 1	Orange & Cucumber
  Day 4, Phase 1	Pear & Carrots
  4 day cycle repeated for remainder of Phase 1 (Days 5-16)

  During Phases 2 and 3, fruit and vegetables should continue to be made available to children at school in order to maintain their increased consumption of the foods.

  The 4-day fixed cycle is no longer necessary, but where possible the four fruits and four vegetables from Phase 1 should continue to be presented regularly to ensure continual tasting.

  Schools that have dining rooms, for example, could provide fruit and vegetables as part of the daily lunch menu.

  In cases where children bring packed lunches to school, parents are provided with Food Dudes fruit and vegetable containers to help them to provide the foods in the children’s lunchboxes.

  It will be important for the Food Dudes Project Managers to ensure that there are sufficient quantities of fruit and vegetables to meet the extra demand that the Food Dudes Programme will inevitably create.

• Materials.

  Once the above are in place, the Food Dudes Project Managers may organise the materials to be used in the Programme. The total number of children and teaching staff in each school will first need to be calculated. The following materials will be provided to the school for the running of the Programme:

  Phase 1

  Item	Quantity Required
  Initial letter to school and Principal's brochure	1 per school
  Informational DVD	1 per school
  Instruction booklet for school co-ordinator	1-2 per school
  Instruction booklet for teachers	1 per class
  Parental consent letters	1 per child
  Food Dudes episodes DVD	1 per class
  Series of 10 Food Dudes letters	1 set per class
  17 reward items (16 for each day of Phase 1 and the homepack prize).	1 set per child
  Homepack booklet and fridge magnet.	1 per child
  Whole-school record card (to enable monitoring of results).	1 per school
  Instruction booklet for lunchtime supervisors (if required).	1 per supervisor

  Phase 2

  Item	Quantity Required
  Classroom wallcharts	1 per class
  6 reward items	1 set per child
  Homepack 2 (bookmark)	1 per child
  6 certificates	1 set per child
  Fruit and vegetables containers	1 set per child

  All of the print/photocopy items and the relevant artwork are available from the Food Dudes International Co-ordinator, who will also provide help and advise on identification and purchase of rewards.

  It is important that schools receive the materials and rewards with plenty of time to allow for distribution around the school.

  When the materials and rewards arrive at the schools, they need to be already organised into separate packs for each class teacher (i.e., the packs should contain all of the Phase 1 and 2 materials that each teacher will need to run the programme with his/her class).

  This procedure ensures that the programme is ready to run in the school and avoids placing additional burden on school staff by requiring them to sort materials and rewards into class groups.

  “Fulfilment” companies are available to undertake this “pick and pack” work and will deliver the appropriately packaged materials to the schools. The Bangor Food and Activity Research Unit will be able to advise on this.

• Monitoring schools.

  The Food Dudes Project Managers will need to monitor the progress of the Programme in each school to ensure that class teachers are adhering to the procedures.

  This may be achieved by asking teachers or other school staff (e.g., teaching assistants) to record the number of children who are eating fruit and vegetables in their classes before the Programme, and during Phases 1 and 2. A Class Record Card is provided for each class in every school for this purpose.

  The in-school co-ordinator will be asked to collate the results from all classes onto the Whole School Record Card; this should be returned to the Food Dudes Project Managers when completed. This information will enable the Food Dudes Project Managers to determine the overall effects of the Programme in each school, and provides useful material in support of the evaluation. See Evaluation & Monitoring Step 8

  This monitoring is also a useful exercise for the school staff as it provides immediate feedback on the Programme’s effectiveness.

  The information may be conveyed back to parents to ensure that they remain engaged with, and enthusiastic about, the Programme.

• Parents and the home environment.

  Communication with Parents throughout the project is essential in order to encourage their involvement.

  In the first instance, Parents need to be informed of the intention to implement the programme, and should receive an outline of its aims.

  Food Dudes Homepacks are provided at the start of Phase 1 and these include information designed to help Parents encourage their children to eat fruit and vegetables at home.

  It is useful if Parents can be given general feedback on their children’s performance in the programme (i.e., summary of consumption before and after the programme).

• Project management.

  In order for the Food Dudes Programme to be correctly implemented in schools, it needs to be co-ordinated and managed by designated members of staff, known as Food Dudes Project Managers.

  In many cases, the Food Dudes Project Managers will be based within one of the stakeholder organisations (e.g., health or education department).

  They will be responsible for the following key tasks:

  • Recruit schools and ensure that an in-school co-ordinator is appointed in each school;
  • Train school co-ordinators in the Programme procedures;
  • Ensure an adequate supply of fruit and vegetables in each school;
  • Reproduce materials, order rewards and arrange delivery of these to schools;
  • Ensure high quality implementation of the Food Dudes Programme;
  • Monitor the Programme’s progress over time in each school and provide a continual source of support;

  The number of Food Dudes Project Managers required will depend on the size of the project and the target number of schools to be involved.

  Reasonable consideration should be given to what each Food Dudes Project Manager will feasibly be able to achieve in the time allocated for the project.

  The most practical way for the Food Dudes Project Managers to manage a large number of schools is to use a “staggered block system”, whereby the Programme is introduced to blocks of schools at staggered intervals through the school year. We have found that around five blocks per academic year is the optimum number. In Ireland, where the Programme is being rolled out to 625 schools per year, there are 10 Food Dudes Project Managers who each cover approximately 63 schools per year over five blocks.

  It is essential that the Food Dudes Project Managers receive adequate training in the procedures and underlying principles of the Programme.

  The Food Dudes International Co-ordinator and Bangor Food and Activity Research Unit will provide advice, support, training and quality control in relation to the Programme’s implementation.