Nursery World - A Unique Child: Health & Nutrition

One nursery has made good nutrition the keystone of all areas of practice, discovers Karen Faux

For the Outstanding Clockwork Day Nursery and After School Club, the development of a healthy eating ethos has been much more than a culinary adventure. An emphasis on good nutrition now underpins every aspect of its practice and management, and has been embedded across all learning areas of the EYFS. With its stated belief that ‘every child deserves the best’, a focus on food is seen as essential to raising outcomes for all individual children, and it is something that the 34-member staff team fully supports.

Gail Smith, manager of the Ashton-under-Lyne-based setting, says, ‘We are passionate about ensuring that all meals are freshly prepared, include all the required nutrients each day, offer variety and, most importantly, are tasty. We source fresh produce from local suppliers to ensure our children are getting the best ingredients. Menus are devised seasonally and rotate on a three-week basis, while fresh fruit is provided every morning and afternoon, and only water or milk is served at mealtimes.’

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