Mealtimes
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All food will be freshly cooked at nursery. Menus have been carefully planned to meet the nutritional requirements of children and guidance from the Children's Food Trust has guided menu planning. Menus will be published in due course.
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Mealtimes are an important time of day for children. Within the baby room the mealtime routine will be dictated by the individual needs of the babies themselves. Some babies may be fed in highchairs whilst others may sit at a table to eat. Some babies may still be bottle fed or feeding mothers may choose to come in to nursery to breast feed.
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Within the toddler room children will eat in their key groups with their key practitioners, the same applies with children in preschool.
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Preschool children will be expected to serve themselves from choices made available on their tables. Staff will support children to make healthy choices, e.g., to choose a balanced meal consisting of carbohydrates, protein and vegetables. Children in the preschool will eat from china plates and drink from glasses at all mealtimes, unless a risk assessments informs us otherwise. Toddlers and babies will use plastic plates and beakers.
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Ofsted registered full day care nursery
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Promoting Positive Behaviour​
Young children spend their waking hours learning new skills including skills in managing their own behaviour. Our policy at Mill House is to support children to manage their own behaviour and to be proactive in supporting children to resolve their own problems and minor conflicts.
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Conflict situations within a preschool environment are normal and to be expected. Most conflicts happen over equipment, resources or playmates and when frustration enters a situation then tempers can boil over. Children will not be punished for expressing their feelings or emotions, instead they will be supported to identify and manage their feelings and to find solutions to deal with such situations, which is referred to as 'self-regulation'. Children are incredibly intuitive, resourceful and adaptable and it is these characteristics which we aim to tap into when supporting children to manage their feelings and behaviour.
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Practitioners follow a problem solving approach to support children in solving social conflict which involves 5 simple steps (High/Scope, 2001); further support may be provided if necessary. ​
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Where concerns are raised about a child's behaviour we will work in partnership with parents to ensure that any additional support required is identified and provided.
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Rules and Boundaries
All settings will have rules and boundaries which children are expected to observe. Our rules are clearly displayed for children to see; wherever possible children will help to develop the rules where this is age and stage appropriate. Rules are 'common sense' based, e.g., walking indoors, no climbing on furniture, and being polite and respectful to each other. Children will be gently reminded about the rules in order to support them to develop an understanding of behaviours which are expected of them whilst in nursery.
5 Steps to Resolving Social Conflict
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The following 5 steps will be followed by all staff when supporting children to resolve conflict situations:
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Approach conflicts situations calmly, stopping any hurtful or harmful behaviour (name calling/grabbing etc)
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Acknowledge children's feelings ('you look really angry/disappointed/sad') in order to support children to identify the feelings or emotions they are experiencing
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Gather information to find out what has happened and to avoid jumping to conclusions. Other children may also input at this stage
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Restate information in order that children may clarify points which may have been misunderstood or misinterpreted by the practitioner
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Ask for ideas on how to solve the problem and consider all ideas; agree on a solution
Follow-up support may be provided if necessary, e.g., ensuring that an agreed action takes place (perhaps where children have agreed to share a piece of equipment for 5 minutes each).