Environment
Busy days spent collecting rainwater for the garden, making a home for insects and bees, growing vegetables… are all typical activities at The Yellow Door Day Nursery.
Sustainability is built into our ethos, we are paperless and make every effort to avoid plastic toys/single use plastic. We are committed to reducing landfill waste and warmly welcome parents who have chosen reusable nappies. Our staff wear sustainably produced uniforms…
All these little things help us to model and support children as they grow up with a relationship and respect for the environment and the area in which they live.
As a Reggio inspired setting we view the nursery environment as the second teacher- it is our belief that the child absorbs their environment and it shapes the way in which they think and react. Our nursery is beautifully designed and often provokes Visitors to The Yellow Door to comment on, ‘the nice feel’, and the calm purposeful environment.
Design of The Yellow Door has been painstakingly thought out with children at the forefront of the design project - neutral colours, natural materials, cosy places for children to sit and look at books in natural soft lighting. A strong emphasis on the natural world is a big part of our environment- we take every opportunity to create a home from home learning environment, not a watered down version of school. Bright colors, painted windows and rooms crammed with walls full of displays, laminated sheets and number lines will never be found at The Yellow Door. Our environment is skillfully maintained and presented to provide excellent learning opportunities.
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Children are encouraged to explore their inherent connection to nature, including dirt, sand and water.
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Children form empathy towards all living things through enjoyment of nature and a sense of responsibility within quality environmental programs.
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The Yellow Door community is dedicated to promoting and implementing sustainable practices, including edible gardens. Sustainable uniforms choices, reduce, reuse recycle programme.
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The Yellow Door promotes the use of recycled, reusable, natural and sustainable resources.
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Inspired by Reggio Emilia, the environment is recognised for its potential to inspire children, we take extra care to look after and inspire our children to care for their surroundings and each other.
Nutrition
Children at The Yellow Door Day Nursery are provided with breakfast, brunch, lunch, wake up snack and tea. We operate a ‘grazing’ style menu with food/snack served every two hours so no one goes hungry!
"Our in house cook provides a nutritionally balanced menu prepared on our premises each day. We love the aromas coming from the kitchen - Italy on a Monday, Morocco on a Tuesday - the world is our oyster…"
Healthy, Fresh & Local.
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Whenever possible we are mindful to consider air miles when purchasing our fresh fruit and produce, preferring to support local suppliers.
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We serve only Fairtrade bananas. We will always opt for Fairtrade items to support our menu.
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As part of our commitment to become more sustainable we offer a pescatarian menu.
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All meals follow a menu supported by Tameside Gold standard and are prepared fresh on the premises by experienced cooks.
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All rooms have access to fresh fruit bowls available for all children and families upon entry and exit to encourage healthy eating.
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To increase the nutritional benefits, we reduce the amount of white carbohydrates and sugar given to the children. We use a lot of brown rice, wholemeal flour, wholemeal noodles and brown bread.
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We careful plan our menus to suit dietary needs.
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Water is always available and offered throughout the day.
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During various cultural celebrations children have opportunities to help cook special meals for the day. For example, pancakes on Pancake Tuesday.
A Typical Day
Explorers provide a nutritionally balanced seasonal menu that changes every week. An example of a days menu for Explorers children:
Breakfast
Healthy Cereals and Toast. Water and milk
Brunch
Fruit platter, crispbread/malt loaf/crackers served with milk/water
Lunch
Traybakes, Pasta Dishes, Curries
Afternoon Tea
Fruit, crackers served with milk and water
Tea
Dahls/cheese on toast/jacket potatoes