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Eating a healthy diet plays a crucial part in long- and short-term health. Children need to eat a variety of foods to obtain all the essential nutrients and energy they require to grow. This is why we have been working with the British Nutrition Foundation to put together healthy menus for the children in our care.

View our sample menus
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These are a few of the guidelines we have been working towards:

• as a general rule serve meat/chicken dishes as well as a vegetarian alternative
• try to serve fresh fruit each day as snack or dessert
• a good source of calcium (eg yogurt, fromage frais, milk based dessert) should also be included if possible
• providing foods containing calcium (eg cheese) as snacks (rather than sugar containing or acidic foods) can help to protect teeth from dental caries
• usually if the main dish is vegetarian, a meat dish should be provided for tea
• quorn and soya are good sources of protein, particularly for vegetarians but not a good source of iron (as is red meat). Iron absorption can be increased from non-meat sources of iron by including a source of vitamin C (eg fruit, vegetables, juice)
• foods high in sugar can be served with a meal but should not be offered as snacks (because of the link between frequency of sugar consumption and dental caries)
• try to include an oily fish once a week as part of a main meal or snack (eg sardines in tomato sauce on toast, sardine/salmon paste on toast etc)

Additional considerations when setting menus:

• Cutlery and crockery must be appropriate to the stage of development for each child regardless of their home room/Key Carer group.
• Level of assistance - Little Learners are not much beyond being a baby and still require high level support. They need very specific equipment - eg suction plates - whilst taking the first steps towards eating independence along with the close proximity of staff.
• Texture - chewing must be encouraged and developed therefore texture must be varied. Equally children need to have the opportunity to practice cutting food themselves whilst managing a knife and a fork for a number of functions - pushing food, lifting food to the mouth without it continually falling from the fork.
• Experiencing individual flavours - sometimes casseroles mask flavours and textures - it is important that some meals are more individually based and not sauce based eg a piece of fish or chicken, boiled potatoes and another vegetable.
• Clothing should be protected - there must be no expectation that children will remain clean and clothing unsoiled during meal times. Meal times are naturally messy and the level of co-ordination and concentration required for eating, sitting still, sitting in a group, being in the midst of a great deal of activity (food being served, drinks being poured, children requiring assistance) requires enormous "multi tasking" by the children.