At my placement, they are involved with the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. This is a part of the 5 a day programme to help increase fruit and vegetable consumption (Appendix 7.1). Under the scheme, all four to six year old children in LEA maintained infant, primary and special schools are entitled to a free piece of fruit or vegetable each school day. It was introduced after the NHS Plan 2000 which included a commitment to implement a national fruit scheme by 2004 (Appendix 7.2). I feel that this scheme is effective because the children are being introduced to different fruit or vegetables they may have never tried before and that it has been reported that over a quarter of children and their families ate more fruit and vegetables at home after their school joined the scheme (Appendix 7.3). This is good because it shows that the children are benefitting from at least one piece of fruit or vegetable at school, especially if they don’t tend to eat it at home.
While the setting is making sure that their meals include having a balanced diet, they would also need to take into account allergies. There could be certain children who could be allergic to food i.e. dairy, nuts, fish, pulses and so on. If a certain child does have an allergy, the kitchen staff, the office staff and the classroom teacher and assistant must know, especially if they eat that certain food and have a reaction or have anaphylactic shock. In the kitchen, there should be a chart or list of the children who have allergies to food and in the classrooms where they have a child with an allergy, there should be a note on the notice board, especially if a supply teacher comes in and doesn’t know about that child/children. In the office, in the child’s file, there should be a note about their allergy.
The setting should also take into account the different cultures and religions of each child. Some children’s religions forbid them to eat meat or pork i.e. Muslims aren’t allowed to eat meat and Hindus are vegetarians. If for example sausages were on the menu, the setting should offer the child that can’t eat that food with something else like vegetarian sausages. This way, the setting is implementing their equal opportunities policy, and that the child is being involved the same way as everyone else.
Another aspect of a healthy lifestyle is exercise. Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health. It is performed for many different reasons. These include:
- Strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system
- Honing weight loss or maintenance.
- Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system and helps prevent diseases of affluence such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
- It also improves mental health and helps prevent depression.
Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries.
There are many aspects of exercise. These include:
- Indoor exercise
- Outdoor exercise
- Activities i.e. dance, gym, swimming, rugby
- Outdoor play
At my setting, some of the children do indoor exercise. This can range from dance to gym. The children do dance once a week with a qualified dance teacher who comes into the setting. She bases her lessons around different stories, and as it is Christmas soon, the children have been dancing to frosty the snowman and the night before Christmas for example. The children enjoy this activity, as it enables them to jump around and to move around the hall. The children also do gym once a week, if they want to as well. Once again they do this with a qualified gym teacher who comes into the setting. Their lesson is based outside, weather permitting, and they do a range of activities. This can include:
- Football
- Hula hoops
- Skipping
- Running games i.e. traffic lights, the bean game
The children enjoy this session because they get to move around and jump around to release their energy.
When the children go outside for outdoor play, there are a range of toys they can play with. These include:
- Slides
- Climbing frame
- Tricycles
- Bicycles
- Hula hoops
- Footballs
- See-saws
There is a choice of equipment for the children to use, so it can stimulate them and they don’t get bored playing with the same thing and they can learn the concept of sharing and being patient. This is also important, because it is helping them to exercise, in fun ways and helping them to move their muscles.
All of these activities link into the Early Years Foundation Stage. It links into the physical development stage. It also links with the movement and space focus group. From the ages of 3 – 5 years, it explains what the child should be able to do at those ages, and plans what the practitioner should do, to help the child to achieve the norm or to get them ready for the next level. One example that the EYFS suggest to do with the children is to “motivate children to be active through games such as follow the leader”. The practitioner could play the game follow the leader or even the traffic light game, and the practitioner can motivate the children by taking part and encouraging them to follow her. She could also praise the children when they take part, as this motivates them even more.
Another aspect which the practitioner works in promoting in the setting is the environment. This could include the outdoor environment and the indoor environment of the setting.
E.2
E.3
E.4
E.5
I am going to include three routines which happen at my placement. The 1st one is their lunchtime routine, then the nappy routine and finally the sleeping routine.
Lunchtime routine
11:00am – The hall is set up for lunch
11:30am – The children come in from outside, take their coats off and wash their hands.
11:45am – The children are seated at their own tables, i.e. in their group with their room leader.
11:50am – Lunch is served. The meals are different each day, the setting take into account if any children have dietary requirements or have culture/religious requirements. When I did this observation, the food was spaghetti bolognaise, with garlic bread, sweet corn and green beans.
12:20pm – The practitioner takes the plates once there have finished and desert is served. Once again it varies from day to day. We had angel delight served with fruit.
12:40pm – The bowls are collected and the children are sent to the bathroom to wash their face. The younger children then go off to bed.
Each day the setting tries to include 4 to 5 different fruit and vegetables a day. They have two vegetables with lunch, fruit with desert and cucumber or carrot at tea. This is good because they are aiming to give the children at least 5 fruit or vegetables a day. The setting also takes into account dietary requirements especially at my setting there is a child who has an allergy to dairy. This means she can’t eat certain foods that the other children can eat. Instead that child as an alternative to the children, i.e. soya products or fruit. The setting also takes into account children who have culture/religious requirements. At my setting there are two children, who aren’t allowed to eat pork, and one child who is a vegetarian, so they have alternatives i.e. vegetarian products.
Nappy changing routine
This routine keeps going until the practitioner had changed all of the children’s nappies. Depending on what is in the child’s nappy; it usually takes the practitioner half an hour to 45 minutes to complete the nappies. Once she has done all of the nappies, then she cleans down the mat one final time and places everything away, she then records down in the nappy changing book, each child at what time they were changed and what was in their nappy.
Sleeping routine
After lunch, the children who tend to go to sleep go to the back room, where two practitioners are setting up the beds and the cots and get out the covers for the children. Then the practitioner undress the child, and they either sleep in there nappy and babygro, or in their top and nappy. Soft music is played in the background and the staffs are allocated so many children, depending on how many there is. The practitioner then rubs the children’s back or pats it to try and get them off to sleep. Sometimes the practitioner might gently stroke their head or nose, it depends on each child. It can sometimes take quite a while to get all the children off to sleep. It tends to depend on how many children there is, and if the child is sleepy or not. When I helped with the sleepers, it took about 45 minutes to get all of the children off to sleep. The practitioner then records in a book, what time the child went to sleep and what time they got up. This is then relayed to the parent, so the parent knows how long their child had been to sleep for, and can work out what time to put the child to bed in the evening.
E.6
E.7
E.8
E.9
D.1
C.1
B.1
A
