School-age Room
— Meals and Nutrition
Where a program runs for six hours or more in a day, an age-appropriate, adequately furnished space must be designated for eating. Enjoying food and meal time depends to a great extent on the way food is offered.
All furnishings must be maintained in a safe and clean condition as well as kept in a good state of repair.
Post planned menus in a conspicuous place for the current and following week. Any substitutions must be noted on the posted menus. Menus must be kept for 30 days after the last day for which they are applicable.
RATIONALE
- It is important to retain an accurate record of any food substitutions made so that the food intake of a child may be traced.
- Posting menus allows parents to see what the child has been served when planning meals at home.
Special dietary and feeding arrangements are to be carried out in accordance with the written instructions of a parent of the child.
Each child one year of age or over must be provided with meals for in accordance with Schedule 1 except where otherwise approved by a Director.
Each child one year of age or older in attendance for six hours or more must be offered food in accordance with Schedule 2 and should receive the quantity of food within the age ranges as outlined in Schedule 1.
Nutritious between-meal snacks must be provided for each child one year of age or over, that:
- promote good dental health;
- will not interfere with a child's appetite for meal time.
RATIONALE
Careful menu planning is essential to meet children’s nutritional needs and to expose them to a wide variety of foods.These should include:
- guidelines for nutritious bag lunch content, with examples;
- allergy awareness procedures;
- what food/drink, if any, will be provided by the operator of the school-age program;
- backup procedures if bag lunches are forgotten.
Staff should be vigilant regarding the content of bag lunches and take appropriate action when there are concerns regarding the nutritional adequacy of the lunches.
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