Flexischools in the news
Flexischools News & Media
2 January 2024
In January, Flexischools CEO Rachel Debeck spoke with The Daily Telegraph’s Eilidh Sproul-Mellis, for her report on the unexpected impact of mobile phone bans at school canteens in New South Wales.
Rachel spoke about the experience of many New South Wales school canteen operators, who have told Flexischools they experienced a revenue drop of around 30% with the introduction of phone bans, because students could no longer use their phones to tap and pay at the counter.
Here’s some of what Rachel shared with the Daily Telegraph.
“Flexischools has been working to help school canteens manage the transition to phone-free environments, and keep students fuelled through the day.
“Flexischools was one of the first to bring online ordering to school canteens in 2008, and we’re now a market leader in giving schools ways to integrate canteen and in-school purchasing to the humble student library or ID card, as well as through online and app-based ordering.
“It’s a simple solution that means students can pay for things like canteen lunches and photocopying at school, using the student card they have in their school bag already. The school doesn’t have to issue new cards, and parents can just link the card to their existing Flexischools account.
“It’s a fast, phone-free solution, using simple and existing equipment.
“Like many parents, I know I’d prefer for my own high school aged-children to be buying a wrap and juice from the school canteen, rather than taking their mobile phone off campus to get fast food and a soft drink!
“We work closely with canteen operators across the country and unfortunately, we have seen some canteens having to wind back their services due to several challenges including rising costs and fewer volunteers. In some cases, those over-the-counter sales can be the difference between keeping the canteen service open, and not.”
