Childminders and food allergy legislation

The EU food regulations are changing from 13th December 2014 and all early years providers who provide food for children (including snacks, food used in crafts and meals) must comply - including childminders. The Food Standards Agency have provided advice about the changes for childminders here.

14 common allergens have been recognised and we must record what food we give children each day so that we can inform parents what their child has eaten if they ask us for the information.

How are you complying with the changes?

At Knutsford Childminding we are using the ‘scribble what children have eaten down each day’ method of recording what food has been provided for children. We are busy and this is one more layer of paperwork we don’t need… but the ‘scribble it down’ method has been in place for a few weeks and we have found it to be successful.

We have also provided parents with information about the new legislation in our newsletters and our chef has taken a training course (details to follow) and displayed the certificate.

We have taken the opportunity to chat to parents about the new regulations and ask them to re-confirm whether their children have any diagnosed allergies … but of course it’s not always the child with known allergies who reacts to food, so we are happy to comply with the new EU regulations.

The change in regulations has led to some childminders to decide that they do not want to provide food any more and from January they will be asking parents to send in packed lunches. Here is some advice for childminders who ask parents to bring in food for their children to eat…

Healthy eating

If the food parents put in their child’s lunch box is not considered healthy it is possible that you will be downgraded and / or actioned by Ofsted at inspection. We have information from a group member that on the day she was being inspected a child had a biscuit in their lunch box – our member’s action is that she must work more closely with parents to ensure children eat healthily.

So, if parents bring food you will need to have a conversation with them about the contents of their child's lunch box - getting the right balance between carbs, fruit and veg, protein, dairy, fat and sugar. It might be a good idea to make a healthy lunch box leaflet to share with parents with ideas for ensuring children are offered a variety of different foods through the week – you will be able to show your inspector that you have given parents healthy eating information.

If you do this you might also include information that early years children (up to the age of 4) should not be given low fat foods and need a little sugar and fat in their diets. There is a useful booklet from the Caroline Walker Trust to refer to when putting together your leaflet – and you might also share it with parents.

Some childminders have a healthy eating policy in writing to give to parents. It is not a requirement of the EYFS to have a written healthy eating policy – the requirement is to be able to explain your healthy eating policy to parents and an inspector. However, if you do have a written policy, you can add information to that about healthy lunch box contents and what you will do if the child arrives with an inappropriate balance of food in their lunch box.

Independence

Ofsted are looking for children being independent during meal times – opening their own yoghurts, setting the table, preparing their own food as part of their daily routine, finding their own plates, pouring drinks, serving their friends, helping to clear the table etc.

You might need to consider how to make sure you promote independence for children who bring packed lunches in the same way as you would for children if you were all making lunch in the kitchen together because their food is already prepared so they can’t help with that part of the routine.

Some problems you might encounter...

You need to think about what you will do if –
• Parents forget to bring lunch;
• Parents do not provide enough food or the child says s/he is still hungry after eating;
• Parents provide too much food for their child;
• The child wants what another child is eating;
• The child does not eat the food parents have provided.

Will you give children extra food – and if so, will you charge parents for the food? If you decide to charge extra you will need to publish your lunch cost somewhere and check parents are happy with the extra charge – and you will need to make sure you have appropriate food in the house for the child to eat. How much will you charge? When will you ask parents for the money? What if they refuse to pay, saying they can’t afford it or they have provided a lunch and you shouldn’t have given their child extra?

What if children bring unsuitable food and drink – a can of coke and a bag of salty crisps? Will you put it back in the lunch box or let them eat it – what will you say to parents – how will you deal with the inevitable tantrum if you don’t let children eat what they have brought? Will you offer the child healthy alternatives if they don’t have enough food in their lunch box without the food you are refusing to let them eat – what will you do if the alternatives you offer are not eaten and the food goes into the bin … and the child is hungry later?

How will you tackle it if parents are sending too much food for their child’s dietary needs and their child is overeating? We have a duty of care to ensure children are fed appropriately through the day and not over-fed – especially with the rise in infant obesity. The Infant and Toddler Forum contains useful information which you can share with parents about portion sizes.

Childminders who ask parents to send in packed lunches report there is often food jealousy between the children with one child asking for something another child has got because they feel they are missing out. Think about how you will manage this to minimise issues.

Storing packed lunches

To comply with food hygiene legislation you need to ensure lunch boxes are stored appropriately in a fridge which is temperature checked to between 0 – 5 degrees each day. Safer Food Better Business for Childminders (which every childminder should be using) does not say that childminders have to write down the fridge temperature unless there is a problem – in which case you will need to record the problem and what you did to resolve it in your Safer Food Better Business file. There is a print friendly version of Safer Food Better Business for childminders here.

Do you have enough room in your fridge for lunch boxes? What about on a Monday morning when you have your family shopping in there from the weekend? You will also need to ensure lunch boxes are kept separately from raw food and unwashed vegetables – preferably on their own shelf. Are lunch boxes sent by parents clean? What will you do if a child regularly arrives with a dirty, smelly lunch box or if it is not cleaned out properly each day? How will you tackle it with parents?

Allergen legislation

Regardless of whether parents supply food or you make it for children, you need to know what each child eats through the day to ensure you comply with the new EU food legislation.

Will you have a ‘no peanuts’ policy? What if a child in your provision is allergic to nuts – how will you manage the situation if another parent repeatedly sends nuts for their child to eat? You might find it useful to think about where children sit for lunch if they are eating a packed lunch which contains food that other children round the table are not allowed to eat.

If children drop food on the floor you will need to pick it up immediately to ensure other children to not eat it to keep children safe. If a child mistakenly eats food that contains any of the 14 allergens you will need to record it and share the information with parents.

You might find this food allergy training (with certificate at the end) useful.

Outings

If you take children on outings you need to think about how you will safely transport the lunch boxes while keeping contents cold. If you buy food for children on outings (any food) you will be required, from 13th Dec 2014, to know the contents so you can share the information with parents on request. Most childminders are using their mobile phones to take photos of labels so they can be downloaded later and put into a file in case they are asked about the food the child has eaten at a later date.

Similarly, if you visit friends houses or go to groups and eat food there, you will need to write down what the child has eaten, including allergen information, so you can share the information with parents on request. You could, of course, take your own snacks / meals with you.

You will find more links and information about the allergy legislation changes here in free downloads on the Childminding Forum.

I have updated e-book 21 ‘Healthy Eating’ from Knutsford Childminding to include information and advice about food allergies – please contact me if you have an old copy and would like me to send you a free update.

If you have any questions about the new food allergy requirements or about healthy lunch boxes, please ask.

Observations and the EYFS

There are lots of different types of observations and they serve different purposes.

Typical observation sheets offer you the option of filling in a series of boxes and can be useful as prompts. However, you do not have to use them – and if they don’t make any sense to you or there are boxes that are never filled in, change them to something that you feel more comfortable using.

For example, if your observation sheet has a gap for ‘parent comments’ and they never write anything – why set yourself up for a fall? Remove the box and ask them verbally for feedback which you can write on their behalf.

There are lots of reasons why you might want to write an observation such as to find out –
• The child’s current interests;
• How they interact with other children;
• The child’s learning styles – characteristics of learning ;
• What the child has learned by asking questions and watching their play closely to see how it has developed over time;
• What they know and you need to teach them next;
• Whether the child likes or dislikes something;
• Whether the child is happy or sad / involved or disengaged;
• How they interact with other adults;
• Where they prefer to play so you can support their learning in other areas;
• Whether behaviour is linked to a time of day, play with another child etc.

You might just want to write a short observation –
Jack makes a tower with 3 bricks.
EYO link – physical development (handling)
Ideas for next steps – build more towers with jack to support his interest. Maybe use Lego as well.

…………

You can focus on Jack’s learning at home –
After mum said that Jack really enjoyed playing with the bricks at the weekend, we got them out here. He made a tower with 3 bricks.
EYO link – PSED (following Jack’s interests)
Ideas for next steps – find out more about what Jack enjoys doing at home and plan some activities to link into his interests.

…………

You can write a long observation to look at what Jack did in more detail – this is often called a focussed / narrative observation –

Jack was playing with the bricks. He carefully selected 3 of the same size and shape (maths) and made a tower with them (PD). Jack pointed to the tower and started making counting noises using some of his new counting words – one, two (maths / C & L). I sat with Jack and we counted together using his counting finger to point at the bricks. Jack started laughing and knocked the bricks down with a big shout (PSED)!
Jack is learning about / EYO link…
Next steps activities to extend Jack’s learning might include…

…………

If Jack has done something new for the first time you might write a WOW observation to share with parents –

WOW! Jack made a tower today!
He has never played with the bricks before!
He was so proud of himself and we all clapped 

…………

Some childminders use time sample observations to look at parts of a child’s day and note what they are playing with and what areas of provision they might need extra support to access –

9 – 905 – Jack came in happily, greeted his friends and went to read a book.
905 – 915 – Jack was invited to join us to welcome everyone, sign the register, talk about the day and weather and sing our ‘hello’ song. We had also planned to read a story. Jack got up and wandered off very quickly.
915 – 930 – we had a planned activity building some towers in the construction area. Jack was busy with the playdough but he did come over and play with the bricks – he made a tower with 3 bricks.
Etc…

You only need to look at a short part of Jack’s day to know you are not meeting his needs during the group session… he enjoys playdough… he likes adult led activities as well if they interest him!

…………

 
Your observations might include the child’s learning characteristics –
Jack made a tower with 3 bricks, counted out the bricks, knocked it down and re-made it – we have noticed that he is concentrating for longer during his play when it interests him and that he is making lots of towers and lines of toys.
Links to learning characteristic – Jack is learning using a trajectory (straight line) schema.

…………

Some childminders – but mostly group providers – carry out group observations to see how a group of children are learning or interacting.

It is not easy to maintain confidentiality if you do group observations and I tend to do them in my head rather than recording the information.

I then use what I have seen to plan my days better, for example –
• If a 3 year old needs my attention to make a model and the baby wants milk, I might decide to organise model making while baby is asleep…
• If a 4 year old needs to read his book after school and the little ones need attention at the same time, I might read the older child’s book while the little ones are having their tea with my assistant.

…………

An observation might link a child’s learning in another setting –
Jack’s pre-school key worker told me that he really enjoyed using the blocks today so we got out our big blocks in the garden. Jack….
EYO link – physical development (handling) or maybe maths (counting) depending on the focus of your observation.

…………

You should aim for a range of different types of observations through the months. This will keep your Learning Journey files interesting and will stop you getting bored!

For a part time child I try and write a range of observations from different settings as well - 1 x inside the house… 1 x in the garden… 1 x on an outing… 1 x from home… 1 x from another setting (if relevant). This will give you a good overall view of the child / what the child can do / what the child is learning / how the child learns etc which you can feed into the child’s individual planning.

I have written an e-book about observations including lots of ideas and sample documentation - it is e-book 14 and you can buy it from www.knutsfordchildminding.co.uk.

Thank you. Sarah x