Healthy Living & Sustainability 

Healthy Eating

We pride ourselves on providing healthy, nutritious and delicious homemade meals. We believe in the importance of creating healthy relationships with children and food. We believe it’s really important to get the children involved in cooking/baking. We have a bread maker and the children often help to make fresh bread, they also help to prepare meals and snacks e.g. by chopping their own fruit at snack time. 

During meal times children and our educators sit around the table together like a family and enjoy meals together.  We believe this is an important part of building relationships, modelling healthy eating and table manners. 

We allow the children to use real (not plastic) plates, bowls and cups (with the exception of our babies using silicone) because we believe part of being independent is learning how to move and how to care for things of value. By trusting a child to use real plates, cups and utensils, they internalize a deeper respect for material objects within their environment. We are also aware that plastic contains dangerous chemicals that can leach into food which is another reason for us choosing alternatives to plastic. We are also consciously thinking about our environment (see our healthy living and sustainability page for more information).

Healthy Little Minds

Our ethos is about slowing down routines and finding calmness and joy in the simple things. 
We know the early years are the most important years for brain development, we believe supporting children to think positively, appreciate small things, provide an environment where the children feel safe and are able to talk about their feelings and where adults model positive behaviour will have a positive impact on future mental health. We also have range of activities such as yoga sessions which support this.

Sustainability

We believe we play an important role in children’s lives but we hope to have a lasting impact on generations to come by being a sustainable business that works towards protecting our planet. 
 

We…

- Reduce our use of plastic allowing the children to use china, glass and sliver tableware.

- Have lots of sustainable toys such as wooden toys. 

- Grow our own fruit and vegetables which the children help to care for.

- Use reusable flannels to wipe children’s hands and faces after meals/messy activities to reduce our use of single use wipes. 
- We use biodegradable nappies, wipes and nappy sacks.

- We use non toxic, chemical free, eco-friendly cleaning products. 
- We shop from local farmers.

- Spend time in the natural world, we use our outdoor spaces regularly. Our garden encourages diversity (butterflies and bugs), fosters respect for living creatures amongst the children and is used to teach children to grow food. We also do regular Forest School which supports children to love and learn about the natural world.  We believe outdoor play is vital for children to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them. Once away from technology and screens, children can, for example, be more creative by making handprints in mud, building dens, making fires and engaging in imaginative play with natural forest items like leaves and sticks.