Nutrition at Starfish
Our Catering Company, 
, work closely with Sarah Almond, a paediatric dietician to design our menus, which are analysed using specialist software to ensure they meet the specific dietary needs of nursery age children. We are proud to announce that our lunch menu now meets the Caroline Walker Trust daily nutritional guidelines for under 5s. This is a fantastic achievement and ensures that the children we cater for receive a low intake of salt, but the right levels of carbohydrates and nutrients.
At Starfish Nursery we know that a varied and nutritionally balanced diet is essential to every child’s development and active participation during their time at nursery and home. Depending on the session attended children will enjoy a morning snack and/or afternoon tea and a hot lunch served with pudding. Alongside snacks, we provide milk, water and a variety of fruit juices. Water is accessible in each room throughout the day. In addition to milk or water at meal times, drinking water is available throughout the day. Our preschool children develop their independence by being able to access water within their room, water fountain whilst toddlers and babies choose their own cups which are provided at their own level. This personalised approach ensures our staff support you and your baby when your baby develops from milk to pureed, finely chopped, chopped and normal food. Our delicious meals and approach to meal times ensure any child’s eating habits are developed with patience, understanding and encouragement.
Seasonal products prepared on site
Our nursery cook works on site in our well equipped kitchen. All meals, prepared by our catering company, reflect seasonal local produce and are prepared daily from ingredients selected for their absolute freshness and quality. By focusing on this we avoid the use of salt, pepper, colouring, artificial flavours and additives. We are also able to accommodate special dietary needs such as nut allergies and dairy or wheat intolerance. Your child’s Key Person will always be available to talk to you to ensure that your child’s dietary requirements are being met.
Involving the Children
Our commitment and approach to your child’s learning values their participation, experimentation and decision making. Therefore, cooking and tasting, where children experiment with new textures, colours and smells as they mix, pour and measure ingredients, form part of our early childhood curriculum. Including the children in elements of food preparation gives the opportunity for discussions about healthy eating and diets.