The school and the university have developed a new contract that will involve students operating the canteen at the university’s Wimmera campus.

Principal Matt Copping said the move would enable the students to develop real life customer service skills and money handling skills.

“This will lead to real opportunities for them in the future,” he said.

“We’ve been running a catering curriculum at the school for about two and a half years and this is the next step.”

About five or six students will man the canteen each school day, with staff supervision.

Mr Copping said the students involved were aged 12 to 18 years old.

The students had their fist day in the canteen on Wednesday.

To celebrate the launch, Federation University students were able to get a hot lunch for a gold coin donation and all the money raised went to the Wimmera Cancer Centre.

Mr Copping said the students provided about 90 lunches on Wednesday.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the students,” he said.

“The university’s Wimmera campus really supports people with disabilities and has special education programs tailored specifically for these people.”

Mr Copping said students were also part of an external catering program at the school, where they could go out to businesses or events and provide food.

Wimmera campus head Geoff Lord said both the school and the university had been negotiating this contract for some time.

“It’s something we all wanted to see happen earlier, but we had to wait until now when everything was approved,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful use of resources and a great opportunity for the students to learn retail and face-to-face skills.

“The till is running, so they will learn about money, and there is also a barista course the students can do to learn how to make coffee.”

Mr Lord said the partnership was permanent and ongoing.

“All the safety aspects have been considered and the students will work in safe environments,” he said.

“This could be the launch of something bigger for these students and this program benefits the entire region, not just Horsham.”