Nutrition
Food, Allergies and Preferences
Our menus include breakfast, a morning snack, cooked lunch, an afternoon snack and afternoon tea and each daily menu is designed to incorporate fresh fruit, vegetables, and meals that are balanced, nutritious and tasty. Our food is prepared in-house from scratch using low-salt, low-sugar recipes and high-quality ingredients.
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All the children participate in group eating times, where we promote:
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Physical development - cutlery control and taking your own portions of food
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Personal and social development - time to talk and share
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Numeracy - counting and laying the table
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Language development - reading your name on placemats
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Knowledge and understanding of the world - where the food comes from
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The older children are encouraged to take their own portions during afternoon tea
Every child is asked to bring in a water bottle at the start of the day so that they can take a drink whenever they want one, with staff encouraging them to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
We have built several planting boxes in our garden and the children get the opportunity to spend time learning about how to grow vegetables and flowers. The children often plant their own individual pots in advance of key dates and then give them as gifts.
Babies and Weaning
Babies in our care are fed with the breast milk or formula milk provided by their parents. Their mealtimes are dictated by their routine at home. Weaning onto solid foods is always done in consultation with the parents. We feed a variety of pureed food, and only introduce new ingredients once you have tried them at home. We tell you what your child has eaten and how much, keeping to the routine they have at home.
Allergies or Preferences
When you complete the All About Me, we ask you to tell us if your child has any allergies or food preferences. We cater for allergies with a GP or doctors note, vegetarians, vegans and religious beliefs.
We assess children’s needs prior to commencement of attendance:
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Proof of allergy from a GP
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Discuss with parents, what signs and symptoms to look out for on a Careplan
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Obtain written permission to administer medication if needed
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Ensure that parents provide an adequate, in-date supply of the required medication. This must be kept at the setting all the time that the child is present and all staff must know where to find it.
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All staff will be made aware of your child’s allergy. Details of the allergy will be on a allergy chart in tall rooms so that all food prepared for your child avoids the allergens identified
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Arrange additional training for staff, if required
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If your child has a severe allergy and requires an auto-injector, we will have staff onsite who are trained to administer this. Please ask to see a copy of our policy on this subject.
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