At Newdale Nursery and Primary School healthy eating isn’t a one-off event but part of their culture and curriculum. The school have worked hard to introduce positive changes to promote healthy eating across the school day, to make sure that every child in their care enjoys a balanced, nutritious diet.

In the UK, children’s diets often include too much sugar, unhealthy fats, and processed carbs, contributing to poor eating habits and childhood obesity. Newdale Nursery and Primary School wanted to tackle this via three simple goals:

• Cut down on excess sugar and unhealthy fats in foods provided at the school
• Promote balanced meals and food education
• Work with families to support healthy habits at home.

Working with Early Years staff and the catering teams, and using the Eatwell Guide, the school redesigned their menus so that sugary puddings were not on offer every day of the week. Pudding portions were made smaller, and recipes were used with less sugar and fat, and more vegetables, wholegrains and lean proteins were used.

Steps to success!

Newdale also ran Healthy Eating sessions where families could ask questions and see examples of a healthy lunchbox and were encouraged to make healthy swaps such as a piece of fruit instead of a bag of crisps. Parents fed back that their children are now asking for healthier snacks at home and making healthy swaps for themselves.

To make healthy eating more meaningful and fun for the children, the school introduced weekly hands-on cooking sessions where children made easy, nutritious snacks. They also learned more about where food comes from and how it benefits the body, and started growing their own herbs and vegetables to use in their recipes. These practical activities have sparked curiosity and excitement about healthy food.

As a result, not only are the children and their parents making healthy choices, but the nursery staff have noticed increased energy levels and focus in the children during activities, and the local Food Standards inspectors praised Newdale’s menus as a model of best practice for nurseries in Telford and Wrekin!

“I’m delighted with the difference that this healthy eating project has had upon our setting. It not only positively impacts our children but spreads further into their families and our community.

Our cooking sessions are a highlight of the week, there’s always a lovely smell of delicious, healthy recipes and the colours create a visual delight for the children. The language and conversations that are being had with the children shows that they are absorbing and understanding that healthy eating is a brilliant choice for our bodies.

What a wonderful project!”

Mrs Pablos, Newdale Nursery teacher

If your school would like some help or guidance around the School Food Standards, take a look at our post: The School Food Standards, let us help get your school up to date.

You can also find helpful resources on the Schools Health and Wellbeing Toolkit: