Nutritional Education is delivered in a variety of ways on our programme. Through quizzes, colouring activities, discussions about how food groups help your body and the children getting involved in preparing healthy foods themselves, the children learn about healthy eating and why it is important.  Some providers did food tasting activities to encourage the trying of new fruits and vegetables.

Parents whose children attended one of our SEND provisions were impressed that their children had returned home liking certain fruits and vegetables that they would not have tried at home.  One provider (Ominira Learning) visited the supermarket with the children and gave them a budget to buy healthy ingredients, which they could then bring back to the setting to cook their meal with.  The children were learning what foods were healthy and how these foods could be used to cook with. They discussed how the meal was healthy and what was not good for them.

Parents could get involved in the nutritional education aspect of the programme, particularly with the Take and Make boxes, which are healthy recipes that families can cook together.  Parents were also given materials, in some cases, which guided them on healthy eating.

Signposting and Referrals

Our providers have knowledge on services local to them, including food banks, community groups, medical services and children’s services.  Many of our providers have either a list of services they can signpost parents to or leaflets that can be handed to them.

Safeguarding training is offered to all HAF providers, which includes support on where to refer parents to. Part of the training includes where to find information on support services and agencies.  This is found in Bexley’s Effective Support for Children and Families document, which all settings are signposted to.

Links for some services in Bexley are also given as part of our provider pre and post delivery meetings.  We also pass on any information that we have about individual initiatives or services, and have signposted Early Help services, local food banks, and agencies supporting with complex needs.

Providers can also contact us should they need support on where to signpost, or where to access specific training from, for instance first aid, food hygiene and DSL training.