Nursery World - Case study: Freshfield Nursery

The manager of Freshfield Nursery, Mrs Quinton, heard one four-year-old child refer to rice at lunchtime as 'chinky food'. Although she was already developing a strategy for equality in the nursery, this incident made her rethink her work on food. She decided to visit two local shops that sell foods different from each other - one owned by Mrs Elliott and the other by Mr Shah - hoping that the experience would enable the children, from various ethnic backgrounds, to understand each other's lives better.

She decided to visit two local shops that sell foods different from each other - one owned by Mrs Elliott and the other by Mr Shah - hoping that the experience would enable the children, from various ethnic backgrounds, to understand each other's lives better.

Mrs Elliott's shop catered for the 'traditional English' community and Mr Shah's shop catered for people from Asia, the Caribbean, Greece and Somalia.

Mrs Quinton visited both shopkeepers in advance to discuss the visit and explain that the children, both black and white, might ask uncomfortable questions. She assured them that she would prepare the children beforehand.

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