Healthy Eating and Nutrition (HEYA)

Healthy Eating and Nutrition Policy (including lunch club, and birthdays)

(Updated 6/3/2020 for Silver HEYA and then 15/1/2021 due to delay with COVID)

Background Information

Porchester Road setting: We are a pack away setting in a Scout Hut in Woolston with a large outside area. We offer full day care and/or sessional within the hours of 845am – 330pm Monday to Friday, term time only. We cater for children aged 2 years 4 months to five years old.

The named person responsible for ensuring this policy is implemented, monitored and evaluated (Porchester Road setting) is Jade Cavill (The Healthy Eating Lead)

 This policy links to the Physical area of learning and development in the EYFS; in particular Health and Self-care.

This policy has been developed through consultation with parents of the setting, immediate staff and our Board of Directors. This has been shared through an information letter setting out the rationale behind the HEYA award and our decision to move to the silver award and then a draft of the proposed policy and lunch box samples, we welcomed any contributions.

Rationale and Aims:  This policy is important because it will help establish good eating habits early on in life, will help reduce nutrient deficiencies, reducing the chance of becoming overweight or obese, and contributing towards gaining the Healthy Early Years Silver Award. It will also encourage children to learn more about different foods and to eat a well-balanced diet, it will set out the foundation for their future/adulthood health and well-being.

We will aim to ensure all food and drink within our setting promotes health and well-being to the children, staff and visitors, and that food provided by parents for lunch club also meet the healthy nutrient requirements and portion control. This award and policy will help improve the nutrition of under 5s and to ensure we are meeting the statutory requirements of the

EYFS.

This policy applies to the following people.

*Staff when they are eating snack or lunch with the children.

*Parents/carers when they are providing their child’s lunch box including drinks.

*The Healthy Eating Lead when she is checking the food to create our weekly snack menu.

*Lunch time staff when they check the children’s lunches to ensure they meet our healthy eating checklist.

Objectives: As a setting we would like to deliver a consistent approach to nutrition, meet the Food Based Standards for the Award and ensure the food provision reflects the ethical, cultural, legal and medical requirements of the children. We want our staff to be effective role models to the children and families in regard to nutrition and healthy eating and we will further their knowledge with relevant training. The overarching purpose of the HEYA is to increase physical activity, reduce levels of obesity and promote good oral health.

In addition we will work with parents to ensure packed lunches provided have a variety of foods from food groups, and will ask that lunch boxes have a maximum of five items ( 1 item from any of the four  food groups) to help with portion control, and to ensure they are of better quality and quantity. We have a handy guide to help parents make these choices and as a setting we reserve the right to send home certain food items (chocolates, sweets, fizzy drinks etc)

Furthermore, we will be ensuring we still celebrate special events and occasions, such as birthdays. But will do this through the use of singing, cards and small gifts rather than parents providing cakes to ensure our approach to healthy eating is promoted continually through the setting. When we ask parents to provide food for parties, we will have a very specific item list and quantity to ensure healthy and balanced foods are provided.

If we celebrate a special occasion, be that chines new year, grandparents day, children in need, we as a team will try an ensure our activities are not all food based and that we explore other areas to enhance the children’s learning and understanding around celebrations (craft, dance, experiments etc)

Within our planning whenever we do cooking we will research healthy options and share these recipes with our families to enhance cooking opportunities at home as well as discussions around healthy food choices. As a setting we will also enhance our learning opportunities by linking  healthy eating to the seven areas of learning and development (for example under physical development we can explore why our bodies need food to grow and energy for physical activities, when we look at the dentist we can also talk about healthy food choices and the impact on our teeth, Understanding the world we will look at where food comes from, what food other countries eat and look at the food wrappers in our countries and talk about what they tell us about the contents. Like all our activities these will be shared with parents to continue at home.

Our settings roles and responsibilities around nutrition and healthy eating are; Food and drink we provide for snack meet the healthy eating checklist by ensuring we have a starchy option once a day, a portion of fruit/vegetable once a day, a portion of vitamin C rich fruit 3 times a week. At times we will provide dairy products as part of a snack, any spreads we use will be rich in mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats, all tinned fruit will be in natural juices and we will not be providing dried fruit. We will also be using portion guides from https://infantandtoddlerforum.org/health-and-childcare-professionals/factsheets/ to ensure children and staff are being provided the correct quantities for their age.

Our setting provides freshwater drinking stations that the children freely access; the adults promote the use of this throughout the day. The water is regularly topped up and changed to ensure it remains fresh. We provide milk and water at snack time and lunch club.

At Porchester Road setting our weekly snack menu will be available to parents on arrival at each session on the parent table and updated regularly. Children will be shown pictures of the snack products on offer that day or shown the actual products at Welcome Time so they understand what they can eat if they wish to. At the snack table we will also have pictures of each food item on offer and the quantity we can offer for our age group.

If your child is a “fussy” eater we will try and encourage them to come to snack and try a small amount, we will feedback to you what they have/have not tried. Please keep your child’s key person informed if they struggle with food and need any additional support. At snack time we are aware of any dietary or religious requirements and we either offer an alternative or sometimes parents provide their child’s own snack,

At snack time we provide a variety of options during the week. During some of our weekly activities we plan food themed events to encourage your children to try new food and explore tastes and textures.

Role Modelling from practitioners

All practitioners promote positive social skills at eating times; we ensure our table set-up is small enough to engage in meaningful conversation with peers and adults, we use this opportunity to talk about the food choices they have made, to encourage sitting on their chair, waiting their turn, to ensure they have a drink and support them in using any cutlery needed.

Staff at snack and lunch tables, and if conversation during play turns to food will always talk positively about healthy food options, and talk briefly about the impact of unhealthy options to give children a balanced understanding.

Staff lunch boxes  are also spot checked by the Healthy Food Lead and will be challenged if they are seen to not promote healthy eating both verbally and through what they eat. Staff also have free access to fresh water and role modelling drinking theirs and encourage children to have a drink at the water station throughout the session, again verbally promoting the benefits to drinking water.

Birthday Celebrations: In line with our training around healthy choices and the obesity crisis facing our children we will not be allowing birthday cakes into pre-school for birthdays. We will continue to sing to the children and give them their card and present to ensure their special day is acknowledged.

Communicating messages home about HE ( regularly – not just in the policy): During our ½ termly newsletters we will create a feature around healthy eating and signpost parents to useful information, give them ideas for lunches and snacks at home and pre-school and produce any recipes or favourite food items we have tried at pre-school that were healthy and popular. We will of course inform them of any changes to our policy and use tapestry and emails to do so. We also have a HEYA notice board that we will ensure is updated regularly with useful information.

At Ladybirds Pre-school (Porchester Road) staffs well being is very important as well. They have access to water freely throughout the day, and have a lunch break away from the main part of the pre-school (either in the kitchen area, out in the garden or they can go for a walk) they will always be with another member of staff so they are able to have a chat with someone. During the year every staff member has an annual appraisal and every term we have one: ones with the manager, where along with pre-school life staff have the opportunity to talk about their own wellbeing – including home and work life balance and together we can put in more support if required.

We are a Breast feeding friendly setting and a parent can choose to breast feed in the main area of pre-school; we can provide adult sized chairs if required, or they can breast feed in the kitchen away from the main pre-school area with or without the door closed depending on their preference. We have signed up to the Breast Feeding friendly scheme and will ensure we have these conversations with parents visiting who have a baby to feed.

As a setting we are here to also support our children and their wider families and would like to support them with any weaning queries they may have. We would suggest that families can have a look at the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/weaning/   and also speak to their child’s Health Visitor or Local Sure start Centre for further guidance.

Staff are kept up to date with practice through annual training via educare online that has a very thorough course which we will look at annually as a team. Also the Healthy Eating Lead will ensure she reads current publications around trends and changes in anything that will impact on our day to day practice, and cascade this information down to the team at our regular staff meetings.

Rewards and treats: At pre-school we do not use food as a reward or treat. We use positive and specific praise for children to help them understand why we are praising them and for children  to understand about their actions and want to follow pre-school rules and boundaries, be a kind and helpful person.

Commitment we require from parents and families:  On your child’s application form and on your home visit you are required to inform the setting of any cultural, religious and medical/dietary needs of your child. This information will ensure that as a setting we are meeting your child’s individual needs.

At pre-school staff carry out a Food Hygiene training course and cascade information to the whole team for when we are preparing snack, how to store food correctly and the correct chopping boards to use, having to have hair tied up and regular hand washing. Furthermore, the children are required to wash their hands before snack ( and after during the current COVID pandemic) and this is explained to children and why it is important to keep our hands clean

We would like parents to be aware that we are a healthy eating setting and follow the guidance we provide in regard to providing packed lunches. If you require support in this to help your child eat healthier food, please see your child’s key person. Please see link below and photos of healthy lunch box ideas to ensure your children are having a nutritious and balanced lunch https://www.bristolearlyyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mix-Up-and-Munch-1-4-Years.pdf

LUNCH CLUB: We aim to provide a positive lunch club provision where we model and promote healthy eating, good social skills and good hygiene practices. Lunch club will be available to all children attending Ladybirds.  Places will be allocated in accordance with our admissions policy and a waiting list will be held once all of the available spaces have been allocated.  Some lunch box ideas (please see parents board for more detailed ideas)

Packed lunches will provide your child with a third of all their nutrients for the day.

Equipment

• Children attending lunch club will need a named lunch box. 
• Please be aware that we do not have facilities to refrigerate lunch contents.  When preparing lunch, please this in mind and do not add foods that will not be edible if left untilled. 
• We also do not have facilities to offer to heat lunch for children.  Our lunch club is for a packed lunch only.
• It is not necessary to provide a drink, as we supply water and cups to our lunch club participants.
• It is our policy to return any unused food to the lunch box, so that parents can see how much has been eaten.

We aim to provide a high-quality standard of care, with a quiet, restful atmosphere during the lunch club.

Healthy Packed Lunch

• We regard lunch time as an important part of the pre-school’s session, as it represents a social time for the children and adults and helps children learn about healthy eating.
• We actively promote healthy eating and ask that the lunch you provide for your child reflects this. Therefore, there should NOT be any fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolate bars (e.g. mars, dairy milk). And should try and follow the guidance above about food items from each of the food groups and have 1 item from each of the food groups in your lunch box.
• We also are aware of any dietary and/or allergies for individual children and to ensure these are catered for, we ask that NO NUTS are put into lunch boxes. This includes nut snack boxes, peanut butter sandwiches, and nutella sandwiches
• To help with portion sizes we would ask that only a MAXIMUM of 5 items are in your child’s lunch box
• We reserve the right to send home any of these unwanted food items with a note explaining why.
• We are able to offer advice regarding what to put into a healthy lunch box, should this be required. We also recommend looking at this website for ideas too

https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/food-facts/healthier-snacks-for-kids https://www.bristolearlyyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mix-Up-and-Munch-1-4-Years.pdf

Process for payment of fees

• An invoice will be issued to the parent/carer prior to the commencement of the term the child will be attending lunch club.
• All payments must be made in advance and preferably a half term in advance unless an alternative payment plan has been agreed with the preschool manager. 
• If payments are being made in instalments they must be made in advance.  Payments can be made using on-line banking, using the child’s initials as a reference or our SUM Up machine at work for card.

Late/Non-payments

• Late or non-payment of lunch club fees will result in the child’s lunch club place being withdrawn and the place offered to another child. 
• If the child’s fees have not been paid, the pre-school will pursue payment of the fees using a debt collection agency if deemed necessary.

Sickness and Holidays taken during term time

• If a child is unable to attend the lunch club for any reason (e.g. sickness or holiday) fees are still due and must be paid.

Notice

• If you decide to withdraw your child from lunch club, we will require 4 weeks written notice, if we do not receive this, any accrued fees will still be owed.

Evaluation and review

Our policies are all reviewed every 6 months by the Directors, Staff and parents.

All of our Food Hygiene certificates have a validation date and will be updated accordingly.

As this is a amended policy and award we will gather feedback from parents and staff termly for the first year and make any necessary amendments.

Signed on behalf of the pre-school       Name :Zoe Marler-Hausen              Position: Chair of Directors