What a year it’s been for the EYN Partnership! We’ve packed a lot in and we wanted to have a quick trip down memory lane to highlight some of our 2018 highlights!
January
We kickstarted the year with a website makeover. We included new information on our Quality Mark, which is designed to recognise settings who have a strong whole-setting approach to nutrition. We also added some new blog posts to showcase the brilliant work of some of the settings we are working with and our new registered nutrition professionals.
February
Our Registered Nutrition Professionals took to the stage at the Nursery World Show in London where they spoke about fussy eating and gave lots of helpful advice on how to tackle it in early years settings.
We celebrated the grand launch of our CACHE endorsed Level 2 award unit, Preparing Meals to Meet Current Nutritional Standards in an Early Years Setting. The course is a fantastic opportunity for a nursery chef or cook to upskill and develop an understanding of nutrition that they can then apply practically in their setting.
March
We were delighted to head back to Childcare Expo at the London Olympia and meet lots of passionate practitioners! Our team of Registered Nutrition Professionals were on hand to answer all kinds of questions about how EYNP can benefit a setting and about particular nutrition challenges too.
We welcomed six new Registered Nutrition Professionals to the EYN Partnership expanding our service even further across the country!
April
A new cohort of learners began our Level 3 course in Nutrition and Hydration in the Early Years in April and we were delighted to be getting really positive feedback from the course.
Seven new registered nutritional professionals joined us in April!
May
We posted lots of new blogs in May and were thrilled that some of our settings chose to share their stories with us. We heard from Sunbeams Day Nursery in Bristol, and Rainbows Nursery and Fledglings Nursery both of which are in Greater Manchester. It is always fantastic to hear from our settings and we caught up on what different challenges and different triumphs they have experienced to date.
Sunbeams became the first in the South West to achieve their Accredited Quality Mark and Rosebank Nursery Group in Lymm, Cheshire were also awarded the Accredited Quality Mark. We also celebrated our first Level 2 learners Jane Lauriston, Joanne Dunn and Claire Sampson completing their training.
June
It was a very exciting time in June when we created and hosted a Nutrition Area in the Health & Wellbeing Zone at Childcare Expo in Manchester. Visitors to the zone, supervised by the famous ‘EYN Pea’ mascot, sowed their own pea seeds, took part in a character naming competition, and coloured in the healthy eating mural adorning our section of the zone. We were also joined by Ben Faulks (better known as Mr. Bloom on CBeebies) who taught delegates how to play The Healthy Eating Song on the ukulele. If you missed it, take a look at the video here.
On our website, Professor Judith Buttriss, Director of the British Nutrition Foundation and member of the EYN Partnership board shared her thoughts on the importance of early years practitioners acting as role models when it comes to children’s nutrition.
Aberdeen Park Nursery in Highbury were overjoyed to have Ben Faulks pay a visit to their setting where he spent time with the children exploring the garden and ran a special live workshop performance of the Healthy Eating Song.
July
The winners of our Childcare Expo Manchester competition were announced and congratulated for their very creative submissions! Winners named our Healthy Eating Song characters: ‘Gus the asparagus’, ‘Purplebear the aubergine’, ‘Pablo Pear’, ‘Chelsea Cheese’, ‘Trixie Tomato’, ‘Wayne Water’, ‘Obble Orange’ and ‘Bertie Broccoli’.
August
Red Balloon Day Nursery received their Committed certificate from one of our original Registered Nutrition Professionals, Catherine Lippe, and we also welcomed RNP Harman Mohal onto the EYN Partnership team.
September
The EYN Partnership team were on hand at Childcare Expo Midlands for another great Health and Wellbeing Zone appearance at the end of September. You can check out what we got up to at Expo on our YouTube channel.
Willows Pre-school in Wimbledon and Colliers Wood achieved their advanced accreditation in September, a fantastic achievement! Castle View Nursery in London received their committed certificate and there was another warm welcome for our newest RNP Yvonne Richards!
October
October was a big month of growth for EYN Partnership as we welcomed ten new Registered Nutrition Professionals! The newest members were Dr Xanthi Maragkoudaki (Greater London); Wendy Milligan (Kent); Roz Witney (North Yorkshire); Rachel Marklew (West Sussex); Michelle Aldous (Ipswich); Melanie Smith (Poole); Lucy Jayne (Cardiff); Laila Charlesworth (Wakefield); Gina Gorvett (North Tyneside); and Claire Tuck (North Wales).
Both Monkey Puzzle in Highbury and the Fennies Nurseries chain joined the EYN Partnership and received their Committed certificate. We also really enjoyed our trip to Playhouse Community Nursery, in New Cross, a London Early Years Foundation setting, to find out how they were looking forward to working with the EYNP.
The EYN Partnership and the Early Years Alliance worked together to develop a new online EduCare module about the fundamentals of nutrition for one-to-four-year-olds, including information about optimum portion sizes and healthy packed lunches. The simple and flexible course is suitable for all levels and can be completed online in just three hours, and as an added bonus it is free for Alliance members.
November
In November Heirs and Graces in Tring started their journey to achieve their Quality Mark! Tanya Wright, practitioner at Kids Allowed in Manchester, achieved her CACHE Level 3 award and The Bath Nursery Company achieved their Accreditation! Also, the Fennies Nurseries team in Sanderstead received their Committed certificate from their RNP, Dr Janet Aylott. This meant that all 11 Fennies settings were now well on their way on their Quality Mark journey!
Melanie Pilcher who is the Quality and Standards Manager at the Early Years Alliance wrote a helpful blog on how the Early Years Nutrition Partnership can benefit settings in delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage. You can read the blog here.
December
Feeling the festive spirit our RNPs provided us with some fantastic festive ideas and recipes for our EYN Partnership advent calendar. You can have a look at these on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We also have an inspiring Christmas food blog with some top tips to make tasty and healthy Christmas food.
The Nest Day Nursery achieved their advanced level award under the guidance of RNP Catherine Lippe. Beaumont House Nursery and Twickenham Park Nursery in Twickenham, The Old Station Nursery in Innsworth, Darling Buds Nursery in Cardiff and Willow Garden Day Nursery in Essex all received their committed certificated in December.
