Food and Meal Times

Healthy, fresh, exciting and nourishing food is a key part of our ethos.  All our food is cooked from scratch on site by our in house chef. We are committed to offering children healthy, nutritious and balanced meals and snacks which meet individual needs and requirements.

 

We provide nutritious, fresh food at all snack and meal times, avoiding large quantities of fat, sugar and salt and do not use artificial additives, preservatives and colourings.  We only use organic beef, lamb and pork from Riverford Farm and  organic milk and eggs.  Each room has their own bread machine and the staff bake all their bread freshly each day.  This enables us to limit processed carbohydrates and fills the nursery with a wonderful scent! 

 

Menus are rotated on a 25 meal rota and reflect cultural diversity and variation. These are displayed weekly for parents.  Lunch menus include lots of  vegetables and pulses as well as fish and vegetarian meals.  Morning and afternoon snacks always incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables with sandwiches, dips, homemade pate's and much more. 

 

Organic full fat milk is offered at morning and afternoon snacks and water is offered at lunch as well as being freely available throughout the day.          

 

Individual dietary requirements are respected and we gather information from parents regarding their children’s dietary needs including any allergies.  We provide foods from the diet of each of the children’s cultural backgrounds, providing children with familiar foods and introducing them to new ones.  Cultural differences in eating habits are respected.

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Oral health is linked closely with our healthy eating. Children are able to explore oral health not only through the wide range of food we provide but by making their own healthy snacks, having healthy choices and exploring related activities. We believe that an early understanding of personal health will give our children the best start in life.

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At Sunrise Nursery we aim to make meal times a happy, healthy and sociable occasion for both staff and children.  Positive interactions are shared and enjoyed at these times.  The children love to help, and take it in turns to wear an apron to serve their peers lunch, pudding and snack.         

 

Meal and snack times are organised so that they are social occasions in which children and staff participate in small groups.  Staff set a good example and eat with the children, sharing the same food, sitting at the same table and showing good table manners.  During meal and snack times children are encouraged to have good manners and say 'please' and 'thank you' and conversation is encouraged.        

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Staff use meal and snack times to help promote independence  by encouraging children to make choices, serve food and drink and feed themselves. 

           

Staff are always positive, kind and most of all patient with children at mealtimes. We never force a child to eat something they do not want to eat and children who are slow eaters will be given time and not rushed.