Snacks and Lunches
At Freshford Preschool we believe the food environment we create for the children is important and will support them in developing healthy behaviours around how, when and why they eat. We aim to encourage the development of lifelong positive attitudes towards food, starting with the contents of their lunch box and their culinary creations when we include baking or cooking in a session!
Both snack time and lunch time are group activities where children and staff can sit down together. We provide milk (if wanted) at snack time and ensure that fresh drinking water is available at all times.
Parents/carers are asked to provide healthy, balanced snacks and lunches for their children and to include only water as a drink. Due to the risk of allergies children are not permitted to swap or share food. An ice pack should be provided during summer months.
When packing lunch boxes, we suggest that parents/carers:
only include small portions of foods that are high in sugar, saturated fat and/or salt.
consider how any foods that are high in sugar, saturated fat and/or salt fit into the balance of foods a child is eating over a day.
try not to pack more food than their child can eat.
avoid any type of juice drink, due to the strong link with the development of tooth decay. We ask parents to provide water only in packed lunches, in keeping with what the children are used to at snack time. A reusable water bottle also helps reduce packaging waste.
We understand that ensuring a child has eaten an appropriate amount, and is happy around snack and mealtimes, can be a source of concern. We encourage parents to discuss any worries they may have with their play partner.
We aim to ensure a balance across the day, as well as managing allergy and dietary requirements and respecting families’ own choices around giving their children ‘treats’. In line with this, we ask that you do not bring in food as a gift to mark a special occasion (e.g. cakes or sweets on birthdays). We kindly ask parents to respect this part of our policy to avoid putting staff or other families in any awkward situations.
Parents/carers are asked to inform Freshford Preschool of their children’s dietary requirements at the time of registration.