cooked lunches in pre-school childcare

[MisforMama]

Hi,

I've been looking around nurseries and pre-schools and had this idea that there will be a freshly cooked lunch for children but it looks hardly anybody does it. I just find the thought of 2-3-4 year olds sitting with their lunchboxes quite depressing. It just seems too early to get into the whole "I will eat a sandwich at my desk" mentality. Why is cooking such a big no-no?

[KatsuQueen]

Yes, I know what you mean! I was really keen to find a nursery where my son would eat a freshly cooked lunch; and also eat communally with the other children i.e. all of them eating the same thing. In case you are wondering, he is at Little Jungle and very happy there, it is fab.

[Monkey]

Really? All the ones I visited: excel, asquiths, bright horizons and gumboots offer freshly cooked meals. Daughter is at asquiths and the food is really yummy. My daughter calls the cook her " best friend"!

[srisky]

MisforMama Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi,

> I've been looking around nurseries and pre-schools

> and had this idea that there will be a freshly

> cooked lunch for children but it looks hardly

> anybody does it.

Were you looking at private nurseries or state (attached to a primary school)? I can't comment on the latter but agree with monkey, as all private nurseries I visited offered a cooked main meal at lunch.

[Mathilda]

I'm surprised - thought all nurseries provided cooked meals. My daughter is at My Favourite Nursery and they provide cooked lunch every day as well as other meals & snacks.

[srisky]

Just to add, my daughter's also at My Favourite Nursery and they also all eat lunch together within their own age group i.e. in the under-2 room the little ones are in high chairs side by side and the older ones all sit round a table together. I would have thought this would be the case in most nurseries, as surely it would me much easier to feed them all together and then move onto to naps/activities??

[oimissus]

Miss Oi is at The Villa and they always have a cooked lunch together.

[sunbob]

Our daughter used to go to a children's centre in Kennington and that, plus another cc in kennington also serve cooked lunch for everyone.

[crystal7]

My daughter is at Gumboots and they provide a cooked lunch. O suppose it depends on the type of nurseries/pre schools you're looking at. Some are based in church halls and may not have the facilities to cook lunch. State nurseries attatched to schools mostly have an am and pm session so lunch is not provided. My daughter is super fussy and not keen on the meal provided more often than not but I keep hoping this will change. Really want her to have school lunches when she starts reception as I hate making packed lunches!

[Polmoche]

Both nurseries my kids went to (Puddleducks and Chelwood) had cooked lunches...

[MisforMama]

Thank you very much, everybody. It's probably the type of nursery I've been looking at. Montessori schools don't seem to have any cooking facilities.

[Trish]

First Steps on Upland Road is a Montessori Nursery and they do freshly cooked dinners each day.

[snowboarder]

As crystal7 says, I think there is probably a distinction between full time nurseries in permanent buildings, and term time pre schools in halls etc. My little boy was at Buds pre school in the cricket pavilion on the South Circular - they took a small packed lunch (they would heat up if required) and actually I quite liked that he did - he would not have eaten anything else and it began to teach him how to manage to eat his lunch away from me with his contemporaries.

[lucyA1308]

Most of the Montessori schools don't offer lunches, which is a shame, because a cooked lunch is always such a nicer option, but many don't have the facilities for this.

[Saffron]

Are they accredited Montessori schools that you've seen, or just Montessori style schools? There can be a lot of differences among non-accredited schools, I'm recently learning! Check this thread for more info: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,924530,924530#msg-924530 .

I've just seen a lovely Montessori style school near my work, which is offering hot lunches every day. Is the lack of hot lunches reflected in the cost of pre-school care at the schools you've seen? Just because a school doesn't have the fascilities to prepare food itself, there is no reason hot food couldn't be catered every day. There are small catering companies that specialise in this market. Personally, I'd have to think twice about paying big fees to a pre-school that wasn't offering hot lunches, Montessori or otherwise. However, for people who are trying desperately to save money every month, maybe there are savings to be had by sending their LOs with packed lunches?

[Hollybush]

Camberwell Grove EYC do hot lunches and probably the other Southwark Early Years Centres.