Meals and Toiletries

Food and Drink

Our award winning kitchen produces healthy, nutritious, home cooked meals and snacks each day and this is included in your fees. A typical day will include:

Breakfast ~ Snack ~ Lunch ~ HighTea ~ Late Snack

We believe that eating healthily is extremely important in the development of young children. We recognise that children should be able to enjoy food as well as learn good behaviours for the future:

We acknowledge that sugary foods and drinks, fatty foods or foods containing additives are almost unavoidable in the modern diet. We will however plan our menus to minimise these influences and encourage enjoyment of a wide range of foods, including some organic and multi-cultural produce.
Meals will be prepared freshly each day in our purpose built kitchen. Menus for the week will be posted on the Menu notice board.
We encourage children, where appropriate, to get involved in the planning and preparation of snacks. Snacks will include foods such as raw vegetables, raisins, cheese, toast, fruit, milk and water.
Our milk kitchen in the baby unit will be responsible for storing and preparing all formula and expressed milk. Mothers are able to breast feed at the nursery during the day if they wish to.
Babies are encouraged to try different foods which will be prepared in our main kitchen. Food is blended to suit every child's particular development.
We periodically send parents and staff a "Food and Drink Questionnaire" to canvass their opinions on the standard, quality and variety of food we prepare. We aim to take on board any comments and act/feedback as necessary.

Awards

We have been awarded 5 stars by Brighton and Hove Council under their "Scores on the Doors" Food Hygiene programme. 5 stars represents "very high standards of compliance with food safety legislation, demonstrating best practice in managing and achieving this". We have received 5 stars in 2008 and 2009. We have also just received a "Healthy Choice GOLD Award" from Brighton and Hove Council, which reflects our commitment to diet and nutrition We have two marvellous cooks, Diane and Barbara, as well as a kitchen assistant Dee. All kitchen staff hold a current Food Hygiene Certificate.

Typical Menus

We rotate our menus over a 4 weekly cycle and also introduce new recipes to take advantage of seasonal produce. There is also a range of baby weaning menus. We would also welcome suggestions from parents on any aspect of the children’s meals and snacks. Apart from the sample menu shown below you can download our current menus (click on underlined words).

current menus - week 1

current menus - week 2

current menus - week 3

current menus - week 4

Monday
	Lunch - 11.30 a.m.	Tea - 3.15 p.m.
Main	Fish pie with carrot, swede and peas	Jacket potato with hummus and grated cheese
Dessert	Peaches and cream	Rice crispy cakes with fruit slices
Tuesday
	Lunch - 11.30 a.m.	Tea - 3.15 p.m.
Main	Lamb or veggie mince flaky pastry plait with mashed potato, cauliflower, green beans and vegetarian gravy	Macroni cheese with cherry tomatoes
Dessert	Frozen Frubes	Seasonal fresh fruit platter
Wednesday
	Lunch - 11.30 a.m.	Tea - 3.15 p.m.
Main	Cheesy bean pie with vegetarian sausages	Tuna, sweetcorn and salad cream in wholemeal rolls
Dessert	Fresh fruit salad	Home-made rice pudding
Thursday
	Lunch - 11.30 a.m.	Tea - 3.15 p.m.
Main	Chicken/Quorn and vegetable casserole with garlic bread	Baked beans and wholemeal toast
Dessert	Jelly and fruit	Home made fairy cakes
Friday
	Lunch - 11.30 a.m.	Tea - 3.15 p.m.
Main	Penne Primavera with cheese sauce	Mini croissants with cheese and ham filling
Dessert	Apple, pear and raspberry crumble with ice cream	Little Stars fromage frais
Important Note – Menu choices will be offered to all children taking into account their dietary requirements entered into the care plan (vegetarian, lactose free, wheat free, gluten free etc) and also taking into account each child’s ability to chew and digest food that is not in a liquid or pureed form. Apart from the information in the care plan, please let us know as your child progresses if there are any changes to dietary needs. Fresh fruit or yoghurts can be offered as alternatives to our dessert menu. From time to time we may need to substitute menus choices due to the availability of ingredients or the best use of ingredents.

Toiletries

As part of our all inclusive fee, we will provide the following:

Nappies ~ Creams ~ Wipes ~ Sun Cream ~ Soap

We will select two brands for each category of toiletry in order to provide a sensible choice and this list will be published on the Parent's notice board. In the main we will opt for recognised names at the quality end of the market.