Mealtimes at Shining Stars Nursery are a fun, happy and social occasion where the children sit together at the dining tables and build on their interaction and listening skills. Our aim is to create a home like atmosphere and environment, encouraging children to set the table, share and serve food and develop their fine motor skills using their cutlery. Delicious home-cooked meals are prepared on-site every day by our local nursery cooks and chefs. In line with out home-from-home philosophy we believe that the kitchen is an important part of the nursery environment for children. They can learn valuable lessons watching the cook measuring, weighing preparing and baking and there’s nothing quite like the familiar smell of home-cooked food.
Our menus are planned using guidelines form the Food Safety Agency and with careful consideration given to salt and sugar content. We currently operate termly menus with a varied choice of breakfast lunch and high tea on a 4-week rotation system. This means your child will be given a wide variety of foods and types of meals, helping to develop their palette and appreciate a wide range of textures, taste and smells.
Our menus consist of a range of continental cuisine such as Indian, Italian, Chinese, to suit the needs of the children who attend our nurseries and we deliver a minimum of 4-5 portions of fruit and vegetable daily ensuring our children receive the required nutrients and minerals daily. Milk and water is available is throughout the day.
All allergies and dietary requirements are catered for. All allergens for produces used to cook the meals are displayed alongside our menus in our kitchens.
Menus are available for parents to view at all our nurseries and staff at your local Shining Stars Nursery will give you a summary of what your child has eaten at the end of each day.
At Shining Stars Nursery, promoting independence is a key factor with our children. The level of independence is promoted according to the age of the children, by the time the children have reached our preschool, they will have learnt to serve food to themselves and help others and pour drinks independently with the supervision of the teachers. All our staff are fully- training and ready to assist parents when it comes to weaning. Formula milk and pre-made meals will be provided by the parents.
All our kitchens are inspected by Environmental Health Officers employed by local councils who decide a score based on star rating from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest. We are 5 Star Rated in all 4 settings and recipients of a gold award for “Recipe for Health” awarded by Blackburn with Darwen Council.