Healthy lifestyles
Eating together, because it’s more than just a meal
When it’s time to eat, we all sit together with the children - just as you might do at home, as a family. For us, mealtimes are about more than nutritious food (although that is incredibly important). They are a time to swap stories, strengthen bonds, and deepen relationships - to feed your child emotionally and physically, as well as supporting children’s language and communication skills.
Healthy Lifestyles
Eating well in the Early Years
Good nutrition is essential during childhood, as it is a time of rapid growth, development and activity.
General eating habits and patterns are formed in the first few years of life. At The Old Station Nursery Group, 'Our People' play a key role in introducing the children to a wide variety of foods and establishing a pattern of regular meals and healthy snacks.
Our nurseries work alongside families, to understand their child’s eating habits, preferences, dislikes and any allergies or dietary needs. The key person can then share participation in healthy eating activities, new foods the child has tried and the setting’s menu with the parents.
The teaching of healthy and nutritious food within our nurseries can also introduce diverse opportunities and activities across the EYFS and specific areas of learning and development.
Healthy Lifestyles
Home-cooked food always tastes better
Growing children need plenty of energy (calories) and nutrients, eg protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
That's why our recipes are carefully crafted, to ensure the very best for your child's health and wellbeing.
Good nutrition is the building block of a healthy, happy child, which is why we only serve nutritious meals at our nurseries. Every dish is cooked from scratch, using fresh ingredients and organic vegetables, whenever possible. Our eggs are free-range, and we buy our food from local suppliers. Our Nursery Cooks are trained using the Eatwell NHS guidelines to ensure mealtimes are delicious, packed with good things and enjoyable for children to eat.
And whenever we can, we meet with nutritionists to ensure our menus have all the right ingredients for strong bodies and alert minds. We can also cater for all dietary requirements and any particular allergies – and we’ll discuss them with you during your child’s settling in visits.
Healthy Lifestyles
Did you know some of our nurseries own an allotment?
Some of our nurseries have allotments and bedding areas, in order to grow their own fresh fruit and vegetables.
Children at our nurseries enjoy and take pride in the allotment areas they have, fascinated by the process of how things grow, and what their fresh harvest will taste like. Children’s allotment gardening is also a great way to encourage more physical activity at the nursery, improving their health and wellbeing, as well as being able to feel connected to nature.
By implementing allotments and bedding areas for our nurseries to access, there is the opportunity for wildlife to grow, making the local environment thrive.
Explore the benefits of growing your own fruit and vegetables by interacting with the section below.
Promotes a healthier lifestyle
An allotment is a great way to start eating healthier and encouraging a nutritious diet, as well as improving physical activity through our regular walks to the area.
Reduces carbon footprint
By growing our own produce at some of our nurseries, it limits the amount of wasted packaging, emissions from transporting food, and possible chemicals.
Gets children involved
Visiting an allotment is a fun 'day out' for the children, who are bursting with joy when crops are ready to be harvested. This is also a great way to encourage conversation about sustainability.
Healthy Lifestyles
Seasonal foods and sustainable eating
Instead of eating produce flown in from around the world, we can eat seasonal food grown in the UK reducing our carbon footprint - which is more sustainable.
Within our nurseries, we aim to use as many seasonal ingredients as we can, whilst teaching children about why it's great to use these fruits and vegetables within regular meals at nursery and at home.
Educating children about these foods, and the concept of seasonality, provides many benefits for the development of children, expanding their knowledge on other skills, such as time, weather, and the seasons. It’s important for children to understand that fruit and vegetables naturally grow, ripen and are best eaten during certain seasons each year.
The taste and nutrition value of these particular foods is considered to be at their highest when they are in season, and also encourages children to think about the process of how food that is not in season can make it to our supermarket shelves. This provides opportunity for children to have conversations about advanced technology, modern farming and stronger transport links, further cementing their knowledge in our planet and the environment.
Eating seasonally also supports local farmers and suppliers and ensures greater variety in our diets. Take a look at what's currently in season by clicking the button below.
Food Safety & Allergies
Our nursery settings work closely with families to support children with allergies, dietary needs and/or intolerances and are treated with diligence.
Read More
Physical Activity
There is good scientific evidence that being physically active is good for our health. For children and young people, being active has a wide range of benefits.
Read More
Weaning
The introduction of new foods is a gradual process. Our nurseries work closely with families to ensure your child's nutrition needs are met.
View Policy
Creed Partnership
We work with Creed, an award-winning UK Food Wholesaler, providing some of our nurseries with sustainable and nutritious ingredients.
Explore Creed
