Mealtimes

Food and Drink

SNACK TIME

During mid-morning snack, the children sit at small tables or in a circle, where they are encouraged to help themselves to fruit/vegetables and pour their own milk or water.

The children enjoy regular opportunities to help prepare food such as homemade pizza or scones for tea-time and snack.

DINNER TIME

At The Railway Children, we believe mealtimes should be a happy and social experience where older and younger children can sit together with staff and learn from example.

Current research suggests that this sort of social experience impacts heavily on positive mental health.

Sharing meals helps to develop social skills in children. Children learn from behaviour modelled by parents and older siblings. Mealtimes provide an opportunity where children and adolescents can learn to listen and learn how to interact in conversation. The ritual of the shared meal continuously reinforces individual identity: who he/she is, where does he/she belong or what his/her role might be. Qualities such as empathy and understanding can be developed as views and perspectives other than one's own can be discussed.

Importantly, mealtimes make people feel connected to others.

Through this type of social experience, our children are taught table manners, how to use cutlery correctly,  how to feed themselves and how to drink from a lidless cup.

We use Cupcake Caterers to provide our food.

We only offer water to drink during dinnertime, milk/juice are offered at breakfast and teatime.