Every child at nursery enjoys a well-balanced healthy diet to build a strong body and mind. We provide nutritious and wholesome meals and snacks in carefully designed menus, prepared by experienced chefs. We follow nutritional guidelines and include suggestions from parents in our planning. We can cater for all special diets and allergies.
The meals are prepared in the nursery kitchens from locally sourced fresh ingredients and the menu is changed frequently to reflect the seasons of the year and the diverse culture we live in. We use a variety of beans, pulses, lentils and wholemeal options throughout our dishes allowing children to experience a wide variety of tastes.
Good nutrition is important during the early years, to support children's growth, development and learning. Our menus work on a 4 week rotation to enable us to offer the children at our nurseries a diverse range of tastes and dishes.
Mealtimes are valuable for encouraging social and personal skills and provide opportunities to learn about healthy eating. Children help set the table and are encouraged to serve themselves. When the weather permits, snack and teatimes take place in the fresh air All our staff eat alongside the children.
Allergen Awareness: Please ask a member of staff for our recipe and allergy information
Recognition
Our menus have been awarded the Early Start Nutrition stamp of approval, recognising that we put nutrition at the heart of our practice by providing nutritious meals and snacks that meet all dietary requirements while being culturally diverse.
Our menus also align with a number of measures that create better futures for children, such as the Eco School values and the Soil Association's Food for Life Award, offering a healthy, low carbon footprint menu.
All our nurseries hold 5 Stars for Food Hygiene.
Useful Information
Educating children on the topic of healthy eating and nutrition is paramount at Portland Nurseries and the importance of providing children with a balanced diet is becoming increasingly evident. Please take a moment to read the Children's Food Trust - 'Child obesity: their lives in our hands'
Menu
A strong vision for a healthy food culture inspired by research and a passion to provide the best food foundations for young children. Meals are prepared by passionate and capable chefs who take great pride in feeding children well, preparing everything from scratch without processed foods.
Comments from Nursery World Judge. Winners of the 2023 National Nursery World Awards - Food Award
Ted loves his food and we've found him a tricky customer at times when it comes to his dinner at home. As parents, it is very reassuring to know he gets a balanced and nutritional meal whilst at nursery and we can try and supplement this at the end of the day with his dinner.
Ted's parents, Harlequin 2021
I’ve always wanted to give Zoë a good foundation when it comes to food. Especially introducing vegetables and a variety of healthy foods. Because of multiple food allergies and a desire to eat less meat, we eat a lot of vegan food anyway, so knowing that she goes somewhere where she is guaranteed healthy, nutritious food is invaluable.
Zoë's Mum, Oakwood House 2020
