Would you like your child to stay for longer at Ladybirds? 

Why not enroll them for the Lunch Club? Not only do they get to sit with their friends and chat whilst they happily tuck into their packed lunch, but they are also looked after in a safe and friendly environment.

Your child will be able to attend the Lunch Club by either staying for lunch after the morning session, attending the Lunch Club followed by the afternoon session, or by staying at the pre-school all day.

Lunchtime is an important time at pre-school as the children get to sit down at the table and eat their lunch together. The children thoroughly enjoy this part of the day as they like to talk about what they are eating and compare food with each other.

If your child attends our Lunch Club, it would be very much appreciated if you could bear the following in mind:

Your child’s lunch box should be clearly labelled ON THE OUTSIDE of the box with his/her name. We do not have the facility to put the lunch boxes into our fridge. If your child’s lunch box contains yoghurts or other perishable food you might like to put a freezer block into the lunch box to ensure the yoghurt or food item stays ‘fresh’. 

Please bring a named water bottle each day. We will also offer your child milk.

Due to choking HAZARD we ask parents to cut sausages, grapes, olives, cherry tomatoes and blueberries into 4 pieces. Due to the number of children attending Lunch Club, the staff are not in a position to cut up any child’s food.

As you can appreciate, we do have children attending the pre-school who have severe food allergies.

Please DON’T include the following items in your child’s lunch box:

Any products containing NUTS in any shape or form (in ‘breakfast bars’, cakes, peanut butter, etc.) or SEEDS. We have children attending the pre-school who have a severe reaction to these ingredients.

We know you will encourage your children to eat healthily, and things like wraps, sandwiches, muffins, crackers, rolls and pitta breads are an excellent bulk for your child’s lunch box. Wholemeal is particularly healthy!  Every child has their favourite filling, but if you are stuck, things like marmite, cheese and ham, egg mayonnaise, chicken, tuna mayonnaise or cream cheese and ham are always popular!

If you can include a portion of fruit and/or a portion of vegetable in your child’s lunch box, then that would be great. Frubes, Fruit Flakes, Mini Baby Bells, cheese strings, fromage frais and raisins are a nice way to add an enjoyable but healthy snack into your child’s lunch box.

Here are some simple ideas for healthy snacks that you can make at home or add to lunch boxes:

Fruit muffins or slices, baked using monounsaturated or polyunsaturated oils and margarine instead of butter;
Fresh, frozen, canned (in natural or unsweetened juice) or occasionally dried fruit;
Raisin or fruit toast;
Toasted English muffins, preferably wholemeal or wholegrain;
Reduced fat custard with fruit;
Rice crackers or corn cakes;
Muesli and fruit bars – look for the healthier choices or those with the Heart Foundation Tick;
Scones (plain, fruit or savoury);
Plain breakfast cereals, such as wheat breakfast biscuits with reduced fat milk, topped with sliced banana and a drizzle of honey;
Snack-sized tub of reduced fat yoghurt (plain or fruit flavoured);
Cubes, slices, shapes or wedges of reduced fat cheese with wholegrain crackers or crispbread;
Corn on the cob;
A boiled egg.