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In This Issue
Healthy Lunchbox Week 2024
Packing a lunchbox for under 5's
Lunchbox finger foods for under 5's
Virtual menu planning training for cooks
ECEC Menu Reviews
ECEC Research Survey
2024 Food Safety Supervisor Courses
Recipes
Access links
Healthy Lunchbox Week 2024
Healthy Lunchbox Week is almost here!
From the 4th - 10th February lunchbox inspiration is coming your way!
The Healthy Lunchbox Week website features a range of user friendly recipes, fact sheets and guides, as well as videos. Be sure to inform families of this great annual initiative led by Nutrition Australia, which inspires Australian families to create healthy lunchboxes for their children.
Packing a lunchbox for under 5's
Children under 5 years of age are at different development stages when it comes to eating, and are learning to accept new tastes and textures. Exposing them to a variety of different foods is important, and making sure these foods are manageable and safe. For Healthy Lunchbox Week, we have a new resource with tips on packing a lunchbox for under 5's.
Special considerations for children under 3 years of age:
For children under 3 there is a higher risk of choking. It is important to be mindful of foods in lunchboxes that can be a choking risk, including:
- Hard fruit and vegetables such as apple or carrot. Swap for lightly steamed or grated fruit and veg
- Nuts, seeds and popcorn - swap for nut or seed butters
- Roasted chickpea or fava beans - swap for bean based dips such as hummus or white bean dip
- Tough or chewy meat, skin on sausages - swap for shredded chicken, mince, or soft slow cooked meat
- Round foods such as grapes or cherry tomatoes - swap for sliced grapes or cherry tomatoes
Lunchbox finger foods for under 5's
Lunchbox finger foods are often more manageable for younger children. Cutting sandwiches into smaller triangles or squares and chopping up fruit or veggies can make lunchboxes much simpler for little hands.
We have created a resource for families to stick on their fridge so that they can have some inspiration on what to pack into a lunchbox for their little one. Children can get involved by looking at the pictures and choosing a lunchbox food for the day.
Virtual menu planning training for cooks
Do you want to sharpen your menu planning skills?
We are holding another virtual menu planning training for cooks in February.
Date: Wednesday 28th February
Time: 2-4pm
Cost: $85 + GST
This course will give you the foundational skills, knowledge and confidence to create menus with wholesome meals and snacks that meet children’s nutritional needs each day. You will learn about:
- Food group guidelines
- The menu planning process
- Budgeting
- Creating standard recipes
- First foods for babies
- Allergies and Intolerances
ECEC Menu Reviews
Have you had your menu reviewed recently?
Reviewing your child care menu and nutrition practices will support your centre to meet the National Quality Standards, but more importantly, ensure the children in your care are receiving nutritious foods for growing healthy minds and bodies.
We offer a few different menu review options:
Level 1 Menu Review: Review of your menu to assess if it is meeting 50% of children’s daily food requirements. $550 + GST
Level 2 Menu Review: Level 1 menu review + a review of infant feeding practices and all food and mealtime practices/ policies at the centre. $950 + GST
Additional Mealtime Review: Ask us about adding on an onsite audit of mealtimes to support positive meal environments and feeding practices.
The menu review process:
- Choose which level of menu review you would like completed.
- Send us a copy of your 4 week menu and recipes to foodfoundations@naqld.org. For a level 2 menu review, you also need to send copies of nutrition policies.
- We will arrange a virtual or phone meeting with an Early Years Dietitian.
- During the meeting we ask clarifying questions about your menu and recipes, and gather extra information that we need to complete the assessment.
- A comprehensive report including tailored recommendations will be sent to you within 2 weeks.
- You can request a follow up meeting afterwards to discuss your menu and recommendations.
ECEC Research Survey
Help support research into promoting child health
Researchers from Deakin University want to know how to support ECEC services with child nutrition and movement behaviours. To do this, they are inviting managers or leaders of ECEC services (Long day care, family day care, kinders) to complete a 15-minute online survey.
Services highly attended by priority populations are highly encouraged to participate. The survey asks about what is currently provided regarding nutrition and physical activity, potential ways to provide support and implementation considerations. Participants may choose to go into a draw to win a $100 gift voucher.
2024 Food Safety Supervisor Courses
Food Safety Supervisor Full Course Cost: $385
This full-day face to face course is available to participants in early years, OSHC, aged care and disability settings and prepares food safety supervisors to supervise and oversee day to day operations and to prevent and recognise food safety hazards through nationally recognised training.
Upon completion, students achieve a statement of attainment for the following units of competency:
- HLTFSE001: Follow basic food safety practices
- HLTFSE007: Oversee the day to day implementation of food safety in the workplace
- HLTFSE005: Apply and monitor food safety requirements
Tuesday 6th February 2024 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 19th March 2024 9am - 4pm
If these options don’t suit, please don't hesitate to email us at training@naqld.org with your preferred date and time. We also offer private courses at suitable venues for a minimum of 8 people. We will try to accommodate your request if possible.
If you are due to renew your food safety supervisor certificate in light of the new five year requirements, we are offering many recertification courses in 2024 as enforcement commenced 8th December 2023.
This 3-hour face to face recertification course is available to participants in early years, OSHC, aged care and disability settings that have previously obtained a food safety supervisor certificate. Please note: you will be required to provide a copy of your previous statement of attainment upon registration in order to confirm your booking.
Upcoming recertification course dates:
Tuesday 27th February 9am - 12pm OR 1pm - 4pm
Tuesday 26th March 9am - 12pm OR 1pm - 4pm
If these options don’t suit, please don't hesitate to email us at training@naqld.org with your preferred date and time. We also offer private courses at suitable venues for a minimum of 8 people. We will try to accommodate your request if possible.
Recipes
This month we have two delicious 5-ingredient recipes to share:
Egg bites that are great for morning tea or a lunchbox snack, and our cheesy tuna pesto pasta, a one pot meal for feeding hungry tummies.
Access links
Once logged in to the subscriber section of our website, access the following:
Do you have a question for the Food Foundations team?
Feel free to give us a call (07 3257 4393) or email through your questions to foodfoundations@naqld.org
Nutrition Australia Qld
Ph: (07) 3257 4393
Email: foodfoundations@naqld.org
Website: www.naqld.org
Nutrition Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land we work on and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
