About Us

Ministry of Health (2021): Reducing food-related choking for babies and young children at early learning services.
Ministry of Education (2017): Principles/Kaupapa whakahaere.

Aim: We want to support and encourage parents and whānau to make healthy and safe food choices for their children. Together we can teach children healthy eating behaviours and habits to stay healthy and grow for a lifetime. Food offered should provide children with important nutrients and energy to be active learners throughout the day.

Rationale: To promote an ongoing collaborative approach to children’s physical well-being and health within our centre. An important aspect of this is creating a sustainable healthy eating environment which is safe and informative for all involved.

With today’s society full of convenience foods and busy lifestyles, developing and sustaining healthy eating behaviours in children is an integral part of the daily curriculum. Experiences and education offered to the children will reflect this.

We consider that healthy food and beverage choices can enhance educational outcomes.

The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, Te Whāriki has four principles that underpin practices in Early Childhood education services and provide a basis for including food and nutrition guidelines. Providing opportunities for children to practice health promoting behaviour, enables them to take or lead actions to bring about change and enhances their motivation to learn, their ownership of the learning, and it’s relevance to them. 

WHAKAMANA / EMPOWERMENT – Children are empowered to make choices about health, food and nutrition. For example, by preparing, serving, and eating food; finding out which foods are healthy; and making choices from those provided.

NGĀ-HONONGA / RELATIONSHIPS – Learning about healthy food and nutrition choices is promoted through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things in the early childhood education service. For example, through growing, harvesting, and sharing vegetables and fruit, and using the produce when cooking with children. This provides them with a range of learning opportunities as well as encouraging them to make healthy food and beverage choices.

WHĀNAU TANGATA / FAMILY AND COMMUNITY – Involving the family, whānau, and community is an integral part of supporting and promoting healthy eating choices. For example, by discussing and experiencing culturally diverse foods, providing parents with feedback about vegetables/fruit the children are eating, and offering tips about how to encourage vegetable/fruit consumption at home.

KOTAHITANGA / HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT – Making connections with healthy food and nutrition choices affects aspects of the children’s learning and development. For example, by serving a balance of familiar and unfamiliar foods and establishing routines around mealtimes that encourages enjoyment. 

Procedures:

1.Food Safety

· All qualified and permanent unqualified kaiako will have current first aid certificate including training on choking and allergic reactions.

· We will provide a safe and hygienic kai eating space, where tamariki can sit, that is always supervised when food is available.

· Food allergies and intolerances will be a shared responsibility of the child’s family and the centre. On enrolment, we ask parents/caregivers to share with us any information regarding children’s allergies or intolerances. In individual cases, it may be necessary to have a management plan in place. If an allergy develops, parents will inform the centre staff so that we can take all relevant steps to reduce or prevent any negative reactions.

· If an allergy is severe we will consider eliminating the risk across the centre e.g. nuts. If this decision is made, all parents will be notified, and lunchboxes checked daily.

· The names of children with food allergies are displayed in the kitchen for the teachers to be aware of.

· A fridge is available ensuring all food is stored in a safe and hygienic manner. Food placed here needs to be clearly named – unnamed food cannot be given to children.

· All lunches should be brought in a clearly named lunchbox.

· All children and staff will wash their hands before kai times.

· A staff member will actively supervise tamariki during kai times. 

· A record will be kept of any food prepared or given out by the teachers to the children in the Cooking/Menu book located in the kitchen.

· Staff will ensure that all food prepared at the centre will meet guidelines for safe food handling practices and the Ministry of Health NZ (MOH NZ) document “Reducing food-related choking for babies and young children at early learning services” at all times.

2. Food Choices

· Parents of tamariki currently enrolled will need to sign their acknowledgement and understanding of the food-related choking guidelines detailed by the MOH NZ. This form will be filed along with each individual child’s enrolment paperwork.

· All new enrolments following the date of this policy will be asked to sign their acknowledgement and understanding of the food-related choking guidelines contained in their enrolment paperwork.

· Parents are asked to provide foods that their child is able to eat safely, which they have experienced on more than one occasion while at home.

· Parents are encouraged to follow the guidelines documented in “Reducing food-related choking in babies and young children at early learning services” (MOH NZ) which is available on our website. 

· In the interest of promoting healthy eating habits, we would like to see a reduction in the number of ‘treat’ foods eg. Biscuits/cakes/muffins, muesli bars, fruit bars, jelly, chips etc. 

· Children are asked to keep high sugar treats like jelly, lollies, chocolate bars, juice, flavoured milk etc for a treat at home.

· Health professionals state that water is the ideal drink for children. To support this, water is available at all times for children to drink. A named water bottle from home is preferred although the centre does keep spare bottles at the centre for children to borrow when theirs is unavailable.

· In the event of a child having insufficient food, the centre will supplement using additional healthy food available that meets the food-related choking guidelines (MOH NZ) and this will be recorded. Replacements may be asked for when informing the parent/caregiver.

3. Birthday and Celebration Foods

If you wish to bring a cake, treat food or other healthy snack alternative to share for a birthday or special occasion, please see a staff member and we would be happy to accommodate this. We will advise on this to ensure food shared with tamariki meets the food-related choking (MOH NZ) guidelines. For example, smarties and pebbles are no longer acceptable as these have been identified as a high choking risk.

If the centre holds an event such as Matariki, Christmas parties, discoes and other celebrations, we ask parents to provide and supervise their own children while eating. If we the centre are to provide food for a special event or celebration, we will ensure a menu is available and consent is to be signed by all parents/caregivers, relevant to the occasion.

4. Food and Nutrition Education

· As a community of learners, we will strive to provide ongoing opportunities to engage our learners and their whānau in food and nutrition activities and experiences that are aligned with the food-related choking guidelines (MOH NZ). This policy, along with supporting information, will available on our website for whānau on their child/ren’s enrolment, so that healthy eating guidelines are made clear from the beginning.

· The centre will offer information around healthy eating through a variety of ways to the children and their families. If stuck for lunchbox ideas have a chat with one of the teachers.

· We support children’s knowledge around where food comes from and look to plant an edible garden each spring where the children are involved in caring for the plants and enjoying sampling them when they are ready. This will take into account the food-related choking guidelines (MOH NZ) and food will be prepared by following these guidelines. Where appropriate, we will request a signed waiver from parents so that children can experience fresh food on a safe and supervised environment.