Health & Nutrition - Quality time
By Meredith Jones Russell
Monday, December 9, 2019
Taking time to enjoy food on-site and in the community is a winner for Townhouse Nursery. By Meredith Jones Russell
A ‘diligent food culture’ and ‘inspirational chef’ were just two of the factors that helped Townhouse Nursery, part of the Village nursery group, in Stoke-on-Trent, impress the judges and win the Nursery World Nursery Food Award 2019.
Nursery manager Alison Fisher says, ‘It is a big passion of ours to provide children with the best opportunities through food, both nutritionally and through teaching and learning.’
This approach is led by cook and nutrition co-ordinator Wendy Pullizzi, who continuously evaluates the setting’s food and drink provision and keeps up to date with latest good practice in meeting the welfare requirements of the EYFS and the Eat Better, Start Better guidelines (see panel, right).
She works across the two Alsager-based Townhouse settings within the group to ensure they are implementing menus successfully. She mentors the other nursery cooks, coaches them in practice, chairs termly cooks’ meetings and models engagement with children through activities and experiences.
Ms Pullizzi’s approach is not unique, says Ms Fisher, but it is rare. ‘Some cooks prefer to simply stay in their kitchen as that is where their skill is,’ she explains. ‘But Wendy is out and about meeting parents and in the community. She finds out about allergies, dietary requirements and preferences, and plays a central role in working out how we can best meet parents’ and children’s needs.’
Ms Pullizzi holds cooking demonstrations at regular parents’ nights and organises meet-and-greet sessions with parents at the beginning and end of the day before the launch of seasonal menus to find out what families like. After the launch, she provides taster giveaways from the new menus to enable parents to provide feedback.
She is also involved in introducing new parents to the setting, sharing the food policy with families and inviting them to talk about any concerns relating to their children’s health, backed up with support and information from professional services, such as health visitors and a dietitian.
Interacting with the children is another central part of her role. ‘Wendy is constantly engaged with the children and involves them in her routine,’ says Ms Fisher.
‘The pre-school room is next door to the kitchen and the children are constantly at the door, asking what’s on the menu and whether they can help. I only wish we could provide a takeaway service too. If I had a pound for the number of times I’ve heard a child say to their parents, “Your food doesn’t taste like Wendy’s!”’
IN THE COMMUNITY
One Nursery World judge noted that at Townhouse, ‘food support to families and the community is exceptional’. Ms Fisher explains, ‘Part of our ethos is being at the forefront of our local community. Food is very sociable, and it opens so many doors. It helps us show the community what we can give them, and vice versa.’
The setting holds stay-and-play sessions in a community hall, with activities including cooking sessions which introduce people to recipes for meals they can try at home.
Every week the setting runs a community snacktime event, in which a ‘spare chair’ is left in each room for a grandparent to visit and share a snack and a book or a memory from their life. Staff also work with local food banks, holding collections through the year and inviting volunteers to come in and talk to the children. Children help to collect and distribute food among the community.
The setting works with Tesco on the supermarket’s Farm to Fork scheme. Children have been invited to explore their local store, baking bread with the baker, meeting the fishmonger and preparing fruit kebabs. ‘It means when they go shopping with their mum and dad, they know more about where their food is sourced and comes from,’ says Ms Fisher.
This understanding is also enhanced by the nursery’s work on its nearby allotment and with a local farm shop, from which the setting sources all its food.
‘They are not just our suppliers, we have a real partnership,’ explains Ms Fisher. ‘The children go to the farm shop and help out with the food, sheep and other animals.’
When food is brought back to the nursery, mealtimes are sociable, with background music and staff talking to children about what is on offer. Visual menus describe what children will be eating and the impact it will have on their body, and food items are placed in the centre of the table for children to explore by look, touch and smell. A child helper is appointed to assist with setting tables, fetching equipment from the kitchen and helping to serve.
‘Food is part of a whole experience, not just preparation, and it runs fluidly through the whole nursery,’ Ms Fisher says. ‘Children absorb the things they learn about food, and share them in conversations over their meals. Mealtime is not just a time of day. It is part of the whole daily routine.’
TURKEY AND TINSEL
The nursery links food to events and stories, for example by using activities linked to Jack and the Beanstalk when eating beans, or reading Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper at Halloween before preparing and eating their own pumpkin soup.
At Christmas, the setting holds family Turkey and Tinsel evenings, when children, parents and staff share a turkey dinner, and Christmas craft afternoons, where families enjoy canapés and festive foods while getting involved in activities.
They also use food to celebrate other holidays, such as the Dutch arrival of Sinterklaas at the start of December, when the children make spiced winter biscuits to leave in each other’s shoes as gifts. This year, children will also bake with residents at a local care home to mark the festive season.
As for the benefits for the children, Ms Fisher says, ‘The amount of teaching and learning you can deliver through food, whether that’s outside planting strawberries, using the farm shop to engage with where food comes from or using an allotment in the local community, is huge. It helps make children confident about where their food comes from and how it affects their bodies. What we do undoubtedly has an impact on the children, and we are proud to say we have very confident eaters as a result.’
MORE INFORMATION
www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Eat-Better-Start-Better1.pdf
FOOD AND DRINK GUIDANCE
EAT BETTER, START BETTER
Settings aiming to improve the quality of food in their nursery can be guided by the Eat Better, Start Better early years code of practice for food and drink. It recognises a setting meets or is working towards meeting the following principles:
- Has a food policy in place outlining an approach to all aspects of food and nutrition.
Everyone involved with the setting knows what foods are on offer to children, when and where they eat, and how food is used to support children’s learning, health and development. - Consults with families and children, keeping them informed about issues relating to food and drink.
Staff talk to families about issues such as timing of meals and snacks, the types of food and drink provided, and what their children eat. - Plans, in advance, varied menus for meals and snacks, which include different tastes, colours and textures of food and take into consideration seasonality, sustainability and the impact on the environment.
Staff with appropriate skills plan menus so that all the children are offered varied and balanced food and drink. - Provides meals and snacks that meet the national best practice guidelines.
This means that meals and snacks are in accord with Eat Better, Start Better – Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines for Early Years Settings in England. - Caters for the dietary requirements of all children wherever possible.
Staff work with families to ensure any special dietary requirements (including food allergies and intolerances) are accommodated, and that children of all cultures and religions can enjoy appropriate meals and snacks. - Provides a positive and welcoming eating environment to encourage children to eat well and develop good eating habits and social skills.
Staff use the whole day, as well as meals and snacks, to teach children about healthy eating and encourage a positive attitude towards mealtimes. - Provides training to ensure staff are able to provide children with appropriate food and drink for their needs and are effective role models.
Staff who plan and prepare meals should have relevant training in food hygiene and talk to children about food in a knowledgeable and enthusiastic way.
