Healthy Eating

We regard snack and lunch times as an important part of the children’s day. Eating represents a social time for children and adults and helps children to learn about healthy eating. To help us comply with government initiatives and for the general well-being of the children, we adhere to the following guidelines:

  1. At snack time, we aim to provide healthy and nutritious food which meet the children’s individual dietary needs and promote healthy eating.
  2. For the lunch times sessions, children can bring a balanced packed lunch with them or else freshly cooked food will be provided.

Snack time: Drinks and snacks provided by Rising Stars is of low salt and sugar content where possible.Mid-morning snacks include fresh fruit and/or vegetables with a carbohydrate accompaniment such as whole meal wraps, crackers with butter, cheese, bread sticks, dips, cheese and chive dips, Fresh water is supplied to drink.

Lunch time: for child who do full days we provide a healthy balanced lunch for their child. Avoid including any kind of sweets and chocolate bars.

At Rising Stars Romford we have completed our First Steps award in Healthy Early Years London and Environmental Health have awarded us the the highest award of 5 stars in Food Hygiene Rating.  

Procedures

We follow the procedures below to promote healthy eating at Rising stars.

  1. Prior to a child attending Rising Stars Romford we enquire about his/her medical, cultural and/or dietary needs – including any known allergies. This information is recorded on a registration form and signed by parents/carers. We ask that parents advise the nursery of any changes to their children’s dietary needs –including allergies.
  2. To ensure continuity of care, we display current information about individual children’s dietary needs so that all staff and volunteers are fully informed about them.
  3. We aim to ensure that children receive only food and drink that is consistent with their dietary needs and preferences as well as their parent’s wishes.
  4. In order to protect children with food allergies, we discourage children from sharing and swapping their food with one another and constantly supervised.
  5. Through discussion with parents and research reading by staff, we obtain information about the dietary rules of the religious groups to which children and their parents belong, of vegetarians, vegans and about food allergies and intolerances. We take account of this information in the provision of food and drinks.
  6. We organize snack and lunch times so that they are social occasions in which children and staff participate.
  7. All tables are cleaned with an approved antibacterial solution.
  8. We have fresh drinking water available for the children throughout each session. We inform the children about how to obtain the water and help them if necessary.
  9. We inform parents of our policy on healthy eating
We suggest:
  1. Sandwiches with children’s favorite fillings (excluding peanut based fillings)
  2. Yoghurts
  3. Small portion of crisps or savory snacks (to bring in lunch)
  4. Fresh fruit/vegetables – we can chop or peel if necessary
  5. Other suggestions: dried fruit, pasta or rice salads, raw vegetables with dips, tinned fruits. Please ensure there are no nuts in these food or any traces of nuts. We are unable to heat up foods. Please provide foods which do not require heating up.
Rising Stars Physical Activity Statement

We want to ensure that we promote the health and well-being of the setting through encouraging physical activity and providing messages to children, parents, carers and staff.

Being active is important for children under five because it helps them build and maintain a good level of health.

Children under five need time to play and master their physical environment and fundamental movement skills. The early years are also an important time to establish habits relating to physical activity. We are aware that the Chief Medical Office provides guidance on how much physical activity children under five should be doing.

Physical activity guidelines for infants (under 5s) who are not yet walking:

  1. Physical activity should be encouraged from birth, particularly through floor-based play and water-based activities in safe environments.
  2. All under 5s should minimise the amount of time spent being inactive/sedentary (being restrained for example in walking aids or baby bouncers or sitting for example in infant carriers or seats) for extended periods (except time spent sleeping).

 

Physical activity guidelines for infants (under 5s) who are capable of walking:

  1. Children of pre-school age who are capable of walking unaided should be physically active daily for at least 180 minutes (3 hours), spread throughout the day (most UK pre-school children currently spend 120–150 minutes a day being physically active, so achieving this guideline means adding another 30–60 minutes each day).
  2. All under 5s should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (being inactive, restrained or sitting) for extended periods (except time spent sleeping) by reducing screen time (e.g. watching TV, using a computer, tablet or smart phone) and reducing time spent in a pushchair or car seat.

 

Our planning for both indoor and outdoor physical activities is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage. Each programme of activity supporting physical development is planned, reviewed and evaluated on a regular basis.

For children who cannot yet walk we plan opportunities for them to move freely on their tummy or back. For children who are capable of walking, we provide free space to move and play imaginatively either inside or outside. Children have free access to the outdoor area in pre-school and younger children are taken outside twice a day as part of their daily routine.

We have a local park and encourage an appreciation of the natural environment, walking, gross motor skills, road safety and a sense of exploration. We also have a Sports Teacher for pre-schoolers provided by Super Stars Sports.

We provide equipment to facilitate play and a custom made covered decking for all weather play and ample running space in second garden. We have a range of resources including natural resources like barks, mud and tyres, blocks, spades, boxes, dens etc. We regularly run structured activities that encourage movement, e.g action songs, games etc.

We endeavour to provide an environment which promotes physical activity throughout each day including travel to and from our setting. We ensure that outdoor activities are planned and children can access these on a daily basis as mentioned above.

We are aware that in order for children to learn about managing risks associated with physical activity, we need to offer stimulating and challenging environments; through these environments children are supported to explore and develop their own abilities and understanding. Alongside this we aim to manage the level of risk so that children are not exposed to unacceptable dangers. We conduct risk assessments and establish suitable arrangements for off-site visits to encourage children and their families to take advantage of the range of physical activities available within the local community.

Our pre-schoolers are involved in doing risk assessment to develop an understanding of safety from the start. We minimise the amount of time children spend being sedentary for extended periods (except time sleeping).

In the Early Years spending time sedentary (being inactive, restrained or sitting) limits the opportunities that children have to move. Sedentary behaviour is any low-energy activity that takes place while sitting or lying down. We avoid using restraining equipment (buggies/chairs/car seats) for long periods of time, unless for reasons of safety. We only use sitting devices for children who cannot sit upright safely and independently. Children are only required to sit when eating and can sit when involved in activities if they wish. We interact regularly with every child to encourage movement.

We provide suitable physical activities for all All of our children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are entitled to a comprehensive programme of physical activity opportunities that allows all children to improve their skills of coordination, manipulation, control and movement and to develop positive attitudes towards physical activities including sports. Our provision is also fully inclusive of children from different cultures and religions. All staff are aware of the need to be sensitive to individual beliefs about what is acceptable in relation to physical activity.

Our resources reflect physical diversity such as dolls, books, and displays will be representative of people with different physical abilities. Working with families Staff are confident in giving out advice to parents and carers in relation to families adopting healthy lifestyles and being physically active. We encourage parents to walk, scoot or cycle with their children for part or all the way to the setting. We facilitate this by providing somewhere safe to leave buggies or scooters.

We have developed a range of outings that our children can walk to. This supports children’s and families’ knowledge of places of interest in the local environment that are easy to reach on foot. These include regular trips into the local community that help us integrate with the local community as well. These include trips to the local shopping centre, post office, libraries, and supermarkets.

Health and Self Care Under the Early Years Curriculum, Self Care forms part of the Physical Development Goal. For this, we encourage independence in children from a young age such as baby led weaning, using cutlery for toddlers and self-serving/laying table etc for pre-school. Our planning regularly reflects self-care and activities are planned to support independence, hygiene and personal health such as dental hygiene, nose wiping stations, water stations and accessible sinks and aprons.

Children are toilet trained in partnership with parents as toddlers, in preparation for pre-school. Toilet training information and support is given to parents and we work closely with families to mirror home and nursery toilet training schedules. We also contact local schools to assess what they require from pre-schoolers at Reception and ensure that by the time the children leave the setting for school, they can feed themselves, use the toilet, put on and take off their jackets and shoes and ask for help if needed.

We take care not to provide foods containing nuts or nut products and are especially vigilant where we have a child who has a known allergy to nuts. To avoid the risk of a child with a known nut allergy being exposed to nuts during a lunch time session, we ask parents not to provide packed lunches that include nuts or nut products (e.g. snack bars, peanut butter, and pesto).

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