Food FAQ’s

Frequently asked questions

Could you rotate the menus day-by-day rather than week by week?

We do not rotate our meals daily, but do try to give variety within the menus for children attending on set days. We encourage our team to work with parents so that children who may only attend one or two days a week can eat a variety of meals. If this is a concern for any parents they would need to speak to the Nursery and we can then vary the meals offered to these children.



I’m not sure children at my child’s nursery are offered breadstick/oatcakes at snack time? Also would be good to see either ready brek or porridge on offer particularly in winter- don’t think I’ve ever seen it served!

Breadsticks and oatcakes have just been added into our menus for snack times. They were not previously included so it is understandable that many parents would not have seen them offered until now. Likewise, Ready Brek and Porridge have also been added for the winter menus.



Do Lyndhurst provide breakfast to children in full day?

Lyndhurst will be continuing to provide breakfast to children in full day care. The confusion has arisen from our Nutritional standards information where we have not included Breakfast in our figures as not all children have breakfast.



Why are fluids not included in the Food information?

Our nursery offers milk and water to drink during the day. It is not included as part of the food and nutrition information as it needs to be looked at separately due to its importance.



What is a portion size?

The portion sizes we are working to are illustrated in the Information section of our Food and Nutrition guide.



What is the provision for children who are vegetarian?

We provide a vegetarian option for every meal time in all of our nursery. It is not always possible to detail all of the dishes or variations on offer which is why we complete specific dietary requirement sheets for the children. We would specify that any vegetarian diets are what we would call a preference diet where all of the specific preferences in order to follow that diet are listed. The cook then have a list of recipes and foods to be able to provide vegetarian dishes.



Can you offer a more substantial tea as my toddler is often hungry by the time he gets home?

The tea provided is not a full meal but rather a ‘top up’ for the children. It is a lighter option which is provided to give the necessary daily requirements of nutrients.



Is the meat used in the menus free range?

Our meat is not all free range. T raceability, sustainability and provenance are key and our suppliers are committed to this as well as to animal and farm welfare assurance schemes supporting British farmers wherever possible.



Is there any emphasis on fruit and/or yoghurt based desserts and less on cakes, biscuits and puddings?

The new menus include some new desserts whose ingredients include a higher proportion of fresh fruits and yogurt but a reduction in sugar. Fruit is also offered at snack times and number of different yogurts with low or no sugar content are used in the meal recipes. There is less of an emphasis on cakes and biscuits but again where these are offered we have changed the recipes to cut out the sugar.