Healthy Eating at Chrysalis
At Chrysalis Day Nursery we pride ourselves on the quality of care our staff provide for the children.
Children enjoy a range of healthy snacks and meals which they often help to prepare.
All food at Chrysalis is cooked fresh on the premises by qualified staff employed in the kitchen. Carol endeavours to make sure the children eat a healthy well-balanced diet every day. Carol uses recipes from the NDNA Nursery cook book and also uses the internet to refresh and introduce new recipes for the children.
Useful sites include www.eatwell.gov.uk, www.foodgloriousfood.org.uk, www.grub4life.org.uk, www.baby-ledweaning.com and www.rapleyweaning.com
Carol our cook holds a City & Guilds Food & Beverage qualification, Jackie the housekeeper has D32, D33 Assessor in Hotel Catering & Hospitality, and Ronnie their assistant holds NVQ L3 Stocktaking, Food & Beverage Control. On our recent Food Hygiene Inspection, Carol was awarded the “5 Stars On the Door”. The inspector said that “Carol had a well managed and documented food safety management system with an interesting imaginative menu”.
To ensure we meet the needs of the child we request that all allergies and special dietary requirements are brought to the attention of the management at the time of registration. Carol is very experienced and special dietary needs can be catered for and alternatives to the set menu can be offered after discussion between parents/carers/the management and Carol herself.
Special treats – if parents/carers wish to bring in a cake for their child’s birthday this can be supervised and distributed by the staff at mealtimes. Click here to see a a typical menu:
Our healthy children
Meals are carefully planned to cover the full range of dietary requirements needed by young children. Menus are rotated on a four weekly basis with a ’Summer’ menu and a ‘Winter’ menu. It is nursery policy NOT to provide food that is generally regarded as unhealthy but to promote healthy eating on every occasion.
Mealtimes are an important pleasurable part of the nursery day. We strive to make this an enjoyable unhurried occasion during which acceptable social skills will be developed.
We like to sit the children in small groups with a member of staff in which to create a ‘homely’ atmosphere and to encourage the children to eat and enjoy their food.
No child is ever forced to eat anything he/she doesn’t like and if a child refuses, then alternatives are offered as far as possible and the parent will be informed.
Babies – It is always a worry for parents when baby first starts nursery. Here at Chrysalis we like to make the transition from home to nursery as comfortable as possible for both parent and child.
If babies are still on formula milk when they start Chrysalis we ask parents to provide formula milk which can either be made-up at home or we can do that for you and bottles would be stored in the fridge until needed.
Nursing Mother’s – if you are still feeding baby yourself it is not a problem as this can be expressed at home and brought into nursery and stored in the fridge until required.
Baby-Led Weaning – Some parents prefer Baby-led weaning which is a way of introducing solid foods that allows babies to feed themselves- there’s no spoon feeding and no puree’s.
If you have introduced your child to Baby-led Weaning then we can continue with this when they start nursery. For more information go to www.baby-ledweaning.com or www.rapleyweaning.com.
At Chrysalis we promote attitudes to healthy eating through play opportunities and discussions. The nursery provide information about each child’s intake of food each day.
Our happy healthy Chrysalis children!
