Hot lunch back on the menu for early years in Moray
Hot lunches will restart in most early learning and childcare (ELC) settings in Moray from 28 September.
Similar to schools, a cold meal choice has been offered in nurseries in Moray since the start of term while plans were put in place for the hot meal option to return. Now, with the relevant covid-19 safety measures in place and the return of hot lunches in schools established, the hot lunches prepared in schools for nurseries can resume.
From Monday, lunches will return to pre-covid delivery for most settings with meals being prepared in school kitchens and served in the nursery. There will also be an additional offering of packed lunches for nurseries utilising outdoor learning opportunities over a lunchtime.
Some partner nurseries receiving hot lunches from school kitchens will resume their meals at a later date due to space and capacity issues that are being addressed with the assistance of Moray Council’s catering team.
Acting Early Years Service Manager, Isla Dickinson, says the reintroduction of hot meals in nurseries is “one more step towards normality” for ELC settings.
“Children in ELC in Moray who receive their funded hours over lunchtime are entitled to a meal in their setting, and we know how well received our hot lunch offering has been in the past, so we’re delighted these can resume from next week for most nurseries.
“With each kitchen and school operating their lunchtimes differently we thank all nursery managers for their assistance while we’ve put plans in place to reinstate hot lunches in a way that works for all concerned.
“We’ll continue to work with partner nurseries to find a suitable solution to any space issues so they can reintroduce hot lunches as soon as possible too. It may be that they make the most of the option to have a packed lunch delivered to take on a trip to the woods.
“We know things are taking some time to get back to some sort of normality and this is just one more step towards that for all our ELC settings and partners.”
ELC lunches will also move to a four weekly rather than six weekly menu rotation in-line with primary schools – the menu can be found on the Moray Council website and is downloadable. Monday 28 September will start at week two of the menu cycle.