A Humble Beginning: How School24 Started
Janet Miller and Abder bloul
Killarney Heights Canteen
The digital transformation of school canteens in Australia is a story of innovation born from necessity.
Traditionally, school canteens operated on a manual system, which for most was known as the "brown paper bag" method. This involved students bringing their lunch orders written on brown paper bags, often with cash enclosed.
While this approach was familiar, it was also fraught with challenges—long queues, misplaced orders, and limited menu options due to time constraints. As schools began to seek more efficient ways to manage these operations, a new era of online ordering was on the horizon.
Born as a Community Project
At the heart of this transformation was School24, originally known as SCAMPS, which began as a community project. The initiative was driven by a desire to resolve two pressing issues that many schools faced: food wastage and the dwindling number of canteen volunteers.
Back in 2008, Abder Bloul, while volunteering at the school his children attended, observed firsthand how these challenges impacted the daily operations of the canteen.
The Reality of Canteen Volunteering
Volunteering in the canteen was supposed to be a relaxing morning, where parents could meet for a social gathering while serving kids their lunches. But the reality was far from that. Working on a Friday in the canteen was incredibly stressful.
It involved going through each student's brown bag, trying first to decipher kids' handwriting, then meticulously writing down the items and quantities on a piece of paper. This was followed by manual tallying, which more than 50% of the time led to errors.
Just this counting exercise alone was stressful and consumed a significant amount of time. Then came the preparation of the food. At the time, healthy eating wasn't really in vogue. Most canteens or tuckshops served pies, fries, and lasagnas, foods that typically came straight out of the freezer.
Yet despite the exhaustion at the end of every shift, serving the kids made it all worthwhile. Their bright smiles and cheeky personalities brought a genuine joy that kept volunteers coming back week after week.
Driven by a commitment to the community and a vision for a simpler, more sustainable system, Abder Bloul decided there had to be a better way.
Where It All Began
Working closely with Janet Miller in a humble canteen at a school in the North Shore of Sydney, they began to craft what would become a transformative solution for school canteens across the country.
This vision led to the creation of SCAMPS, which was later rebranded as School24. The platform was designed to streamline the ordering process, allowing parents to pre-order and pay for their children's meals online, reducing the reliance on paper bags and minimizing food waste through more accurate demand forecasting.
Paving the Way for Digital Transformation
School24 quickly gained traction as more schools recognized its benefits. By alleviating the administrative burden on canteen volunteers and reducing food wastage, the platform not only improved operational efficiency but also encouraged more community involvement by making the volunteering process less daunting.
The success of School24 marked the beginning of a broader digital transformation within Australian schools, setting the stage for further innovations in school operations. Today, School24 continues to lead the way, helping schools across the country embrace technology to enhance their services and create a more efficient, connected educational environment.
Empowering Modern Schools
What started as a simple online lunch ordering tool has evolved into a comprehensive digital ecosystem. Today, School24 provides schools with end-to-end operational tech including modern self-serve Kiosks, Point of Sale (POS) systems, Kitchen Display Systems (KDS), fundraising management, and event ticketing.
By bringing all these tools under one roof, we continue to streamline school management, reduce administrative friction, and help school communities thrive.