The government has placed a duty on nurseries to ensure that every child is healthy. This includes all food that is consumed whilst at nursery. Children need a balanced diet to ensure their overall health and growth is prioritised.

Packed lunches are optional for all children. You can opt in to the nursery meals (see website for more details).

The following guidelines are set to help families pack an appropriate and healthier meal and snacks for their children whilst at nursery.

• We cannot heat food up that is brought in from home.
• As fridge space is not available, children are advised to bring packed lunches in insulated bags with freezer blocks where possible.
• Label your child’s packed lunch box.
• All left over food and waste will be sent home with your child in their packed lunch box so you can monitor the food they are eating and anything that can be consumed at a later date will not go to waste.
• We provide water for all our children, so no drinks are required.
• We provide milk and milk alternatives for over ones.
• Include some foods high in carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, wraps or rice.
• Add some protein such as chicken, turkey, ham, tofu, cheese, beans etc.
• Add some vegetables such as carrot sticks, tomatoes, cucumber; fresh fruit such as apple, banana, pear. You can put in a tub some tinned fruit but choose fruit in its own juice or water not syrup or frozen fruit.
• You could make your own lunchables in small containers such as a healthy wrap, a meat, cheese, veg etc low sugar sauce and give your child some autonomy over making their own. Alternatively you could make fajitas, mini pizza, fruit or savoury kebabs.
• We will not accept ready made baby meals in jars or pouches as these can be high in salt or sugar. Babies should only have these occasionally if necessary.
• Make sure all food that needs cutting is already prepared and cut appropriately.
• You can include a dairy product or dairy alternative such as yoghurt.
• Snacks such as chocolate, crisps, biscuits or cake should not be sent. If you do send them then limit it to only one item and keep it small (a few crisps in a tub, few chocolate buttons in a tub etc).
• Try to find alternative options or make your own where you can control the sugar/salt intake (i.e. healthy cake bar, rice cakes etc).
• Snack foods tend to be high in fat, sugar and salt, causing weight gain, possibly leading to heart disease.
• High sugar foods are high in calories and are bad for teeth-please avoid these.
• Nuts are not allowed. Some children can have a severe reaction to nuts.
• For environmental considerations please be mindful about how you pack your child’s food. Reusable containers are good option.

We encourage parents to be mindful of portion size. Young children do not require very large amounts of food. This is not only wasteful but also costly to family budgets.