Food & Nutrition
Food is an extremely important part of nursery life and we are very keen to give children a balanced diet and to encourage them to see eating as sociable, healthy and fun.
We understand that food is also important to our parents and families, so we work hard to share our ethos with you and take you and your children on our healthy eating food journey. ​
A child's diet needs special care and planning - the requirements for energy and nutrients are high, but appetites are small and eating habits can sometimes be finicky. So our menus are carefully planned and follow the key principles of Eat Better Start Better guidance. ​
They also meet the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommendations on feeding children aged 1 – 5 years and have been reviewed by a qualified dietician.
Our Menu
We have a winter and a summer menu both of which contain a 3-week rotation of meals and reflect a variety of cultures. We know that parents worry about children having desserts or puddings, concerned that this will lead to a ‘sweet tooth’. But our menus contain a pudding as part of each meal as advised by the ‘Eat-Better-Start-Better’ guidance. This is because children under 5 need the calories provided by desserts as part of their daily energy intake.
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As part of our aim to reduce our ecological footprint, we also include a minimum of 3 meat-free main meals a week.
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Children are offered water or milk to drink. We do not use cordials or squashes unless there is a medical reason for doing this for a specific child. We do not use salt in our cooking. All our menus contain a high proportion of fresh fruit and vegetables.
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Within the nursery day, 3 meals are offered to the children plus snack times mid-morning and afternoon. The children also have access to drinking water throughout the day and are encouraged to drink at frequent intervals.
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The most wonderful conversations happen at mealtimes and we encourage this alongside good table manners. As they sit to eat in small groups at nursery children, begin to be able to serve and feed themselves, pass food when appropriate, engage in social interactions, improve fine motor skills, learn how to eat in response to hunger and satiety, and gain confidence and independence.
