A vegetarian / dairy free alternative is available on request daily
 

At Rainbows we work with the Early Years Nutrition Partnership to ensure our menu is Nutritionally complete and offers a wide variety of foods. As a setting, we now hold an ‘Advanced Status’ for Supporting Children’s Nutrition and Hydration.

Our menu is on a 3 week rotation and our cook caters for children who have special dietary requirements, including dairy free or vegetarian. Some of our babies that are weaning may be using our ‘First Tastes’ menu or be doing baby-led weaning; We follow the family’s lead. Copies of our ingredients list are available for every meal as are our allergen lists. Plenty of notice will be given for changes to the menu for special days (eg Chinese New Year) so that families can ensure they are happy with their child having this.

All our meals are made fresh on site and contain high levels of fruit, vegetables, Omega 3 and complex carbohydrates.

The children at nursery are given lots of opportunities to learn about food and where it comes from, whether that be a trip to the supermarket or learning in the playroom/nursery garden. We grow our own vegetables and turn them into soup at tea time.

Our menu is reviewed regularly, based upon feedback from our children, families and staff. Suggestions are fed into the review process and changes made as appropriate.

Staff are encouraged to eat with the children to role model positive eating practices. We have found that this supports the children who may be reluctant to try and helps children learn how to use cutlery effectively. Conversation around the table is a fantastic opportunity to develop speech and language, as well as social skills.

Our mealtimes are as follows:

Breakfast (Cereal) – 7.30-8.30am

Breakfast (Toast and milk) – 9am

Lunchtime – 11.15am

Afternoon snack – 1.30pm

Afternoon Tea – 3.45pm