Young children cannot build healthy habits unless their important adults offer them plenty of opportunities to take the healthy options in food, self care and physical exercise.

Nothing beats the smell of home cooked food! At La Petite Academy we place a very high importance on healthy & nutritious food.

The daily menu is displayed in the porch every day.

We prepare breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea which include at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day. Salt or sugar is not added to the cooking process. We do not fry any of our food.

The children are taught to wash their hands before snack and any meal. The children bring in their own toothbrush every day. Following their lunch the children are taken to the bathroom to brush their teeth and have a warm flannel to wash.

La Petite Academy employers a nursery cook who prepares a hot two course lunch daily.

Breakfast consists of a choice of 4 cereals, fresh fruit or yoghurt and wholemeal toast and is served up until 8.15am each day.

Mid morning & afternoon snack consists of a choice of 4 of the following:

As the options are all healthy the children can genuinely choose whatever they want from the range available ensuring that we are respecting a child's preference at all times.

Tea Time is a light tea which varies each day.

We ensure that mealtimes are a happy and social occasion. We have some great conversations and encourage the tasting of new foods. The children sit down in small groups at laid out dining tables with their own cutlery and are served their lunch by a member of staff who sits and eats lunch with them. They are taught manners at the table and how to use their knife, fork and spoon.

Eating together with other children encourages even the faddiest of toddlers to taste and enjoy foods they would not normally eat at home.

Vegetarian options are provided and special diets whether for reasons of health or religion are catered for.

Independence is encouraged by allowing the children to serve their own drinks, get their own cutlery and cups and the children are free to help themselves to breakfast cereals/snacks/cold deserts/buffet tea under the supervision of the staff. This encourages children to make choices from a range of healthy options.

We always offer a selection of milk water and weak juice to drink at snack times and meal times. Water is available in all of our rooms for the children to help themselves throughout the nursery day.

At La Petite we celebrate various cultures and festivals and on our event days we theme the food according to the topic therefore tasting foods from all over the world such as Chinese New Year, Caribbean Day, Diwali, India Day, Australia Day, American Independence Day to name just a few!

We also encourage children to bake and prepare a range of foods. The children are taught how to make their own sandwiches, pizza, cakes and prepare salad and fruit salad on a regular basis. The nursery has its own herb & vegetable garden which we have recently developed to grow tomatoes, beans, chives, and carrots. Therefore all the children have the opportunity to see how to grow healthy and nutritious foods right from the start and then utilise them in cooking or sandwiches.

We have regular healthy days at nursery where food & the importance of exercise are discussed with the children whilst they have the opportunity to take part in lots of outdoor activities.