Nutrition Support Programme

About the programme

The Alliance's Nutrition Support Programme works to improve the future health outcomes of young children by setting a standard for nutrition practice in early years settings.

We provide bespoke and tailored support for early years settings, delivered by a network of registered nutritionists and dietitians with experience in the early years.

Our nutritionists work with settings in their local area, supporting them on their journey to improve and enhance their approach to nutrition practice across a wide range of criteria.

Through an assessment and accreditation process, the nurseries and pre-schools are awarded a Quality Mark at a level that best reflects their commitment to delivering the right foods and experiences to support the health and wellbeing of children in their care — providing parents and families with peace of mind.

Support is tailored and nuanced towards the demographic of each particular setting and community in which it operates, recognising each early years setting is different with its own unique challenges.

 

Nutrition packages 

Our nutrition packages are bespoke for your setting, rather than offering a prescriptive, rigid programme, we provide flexible support tailored to your needs. As such, it’s always best for you to get in touch with us so we can consider what support you need and guide you towards the most suitable package.  

Here’s an example of what our packages might include for you.

First steps on the journey  

This will consist of support from a registered nutritionist for 10 hours. In this time, our nutritionist will focus on the areas of food provision that are the biggest priority for you. This might include reviewing your menu and offer advice on areas to improve and observing your setting’s mealtimes and offer guidance to improve this experience. You will also be able to access online nutrition resources from our team. 

You will be able to display our Committed logo on your website for one year after signing up to this.


Quality mark  

This will consist of 22 hours of support. It includes all of the options above but you will have access to more in-depth support which might include staff training, webinars, meeting and supporting families, and assessing your setting against a robust set of criteria to help you achieve our Quality Mark accreditation.  
 
Once the quality mark criteria has been met you will be able to display our Accredited Quality Mark on your website, along with your certificate, for one year after being accredited. 


Premium package 

This consists of a much more detailed level of support; nutritionists will work with your setting for 40 hours. You will get all of the above, plus we can provide more training, more meetings or webinar with parents, some pre-recorded videos and podcasts, and resources based on your needs. 
 
With this level of support from our registered nutritionists, settings are often able to go the extra mile and may be eligible for our advanced level quality mark ward. Settings who meet the advanced level criteria will be able to display our Advanced Quality Mark on their website, along with a certificate, for one year after being accredited. We are keen to support as many settings as possible and we are happy to discuss your requirements. 
 
This is not a ‘tick box’ programme, nor will we be asking you to self-assess and do most of the work! You will be teamed up with one of our dedicated registered nutritionists, so you always have a point of contact and someone to turn to whenever you have questions. Your nutritionist will be on hand to support and empower you in improving the food provision and nutrition practice in your setting. We work hard to provide you with a bespoke, quality service, working alongside you every step of the way. The above descriptions are examples of the support we aim to provide you with, but we work with each provider differently. 


We are keen to support as many settings as possible and we are happy to discuss your requirements. 

This is not a ‘tick box’ programme, nor will we be asking you to self-assess and do most of the work! We are determined to provide you with a quality service, working alongside you every step of the way. The above descriptions are examples of the support we aim to provide you with but we work with each provider differently. 


Submit the form below to find out more about a 30-minute taster support session tailored to the needs of your setting.

ENQUIRY FORM