We believe in the long-term health benefits of children enjoying a wide-ranging balanced diet incorporating all food groups. Meals at all Bristol Childcare nurseries are freshly prepared on site every day by our cooks. There’s a morning snack of milk and fruit; a two course lunch is served between 11.45 and 12.30 for different ages of children, and an afternoon snack is served at 3pm.
We work hard to create healthy and varied menus of meat and vegetarian dishes using seasonal fruit and vegetables grown in nursery gardens and by Bristol Childcare Directors. We source all meat, except chicken*, from Origin Butchers, a butcher that only provides ethically sourced meat. We use a four-week rotating menu, changing for summer and winter. The weekly menu is displayed in each nursery. Our menus are planned with reference to the Action for Children Eat Better Start Better Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines for Early Years Settings in England and the Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance.
Dietary requirements and allergies are respected and catered for and meals are carefully adapted or prepared independently for the Babyroom children. We have been exploring “baby-led weaning” in our babyrooms and have discovered how much the children benefit from making choices and eating independently. Please ask our babyroom managers for more information on how this works for us.
Children and staff sit together to eat lunch which is a social time for conversation and for staff to role model table manners and the value of social interaction over meals. This is a key part of our family ethos and curriculum.
Because we are not session based, you can choose to book the hours that suit you. Therefore, you do not have to book hours over lunchtime to access funded hours. If you do choose for your child to attend nursery over lunchtime or snack time, then part of the curriculum during this time is to eat nursery food, which is payable in addition to the funded hours. If you will struggle to pay for the meal packages, please contact the Managing Director, Saffia Bullock to discuss this.
*chicken will be continued to be sourced elsewhere so that it remains Halal