Nutritional Advice and Workshops, Consultancy for Early Years Settings (EYFS)
In the Early Years settings, Sarah works with Early Years childcare providers to support them in the importance of nutrition and how it is key to promoting a healthy lifestyle for children. Understanding how food should be part of the whole day rather than just mealtimes can make a huge difference to a child’s development. Sarah’s sessions also enable the children to develop their sensory skills and understanding of where food comes from.
Sarah also offers workshops that can be offered in person or online at times to suit. These are educational whilst at the time being fun and very much wanting you to join in the discussion and take the opportunity to share ideas and thoughts and ways that you deal with situations that arise.
NUTRITION SERVICES FOR EARLY YEARS
Nutrition Workshops for Early Years (EYFS)
Enabling children to achieve their full potential and be physically and emotionally healthy provides the cornerstone for a healthy, productive adulthood. Socially disadvantaged children are more likely to have poorer oral health and speech, language and communication difficulties than their peers, which has implications for their educational attainment and future life chances. Children with learning disabilities or with complex health care needs will have individual needs, which may include problems with eating and drinking. It is essential that awareness of nutrition and hydration and the importance of exercise begins in childhood, to promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent and, or manage constipation from an early age. source Public Health England.
Our EYFS Nutritional Workshops can be offered in person or online at times to suit. These are educational whilst being fun and encourage people to join in with the discussions. The workshops provide an opportunity to share ideas and help deal with situations as they arise. Sarah supports childcare settings in saving money by reducing food waste, working with parents and encompassing food education for staff.
Contact us to discuss your requirements or to discuss
how to secure funding for workshops you might like to run
GRANTS
If there are courses, workshops or initiatives you would like to run in
your organisation, we can apply for the grants you need to fund them:
At Wise About Food, we are committed to working with a range of communities and groups to not only help promote nutrition awareness but also to bring people together and to forge friendships.
A grant is money that is available from funders that wants to support work in the community. Being awarded a grant is what enables Wise About Food to carry out the amazing work that it does in the community. To date we have been lucky enough to win a selection of grants that has enabled Sarah to reach a wide selection of the population and has enabled her to make a difference to their lives.
If you’re an organisation or community group and have an idea you would like to talk about, please get in touch to discuss how we can help you.
We’d also love to hear from funders so please get in touch to see how your funding can make a difference!
Nutritional Fact Sheets for EYFS
Support is offered via a selection of fact sheets that have been produced for early years settings. Offering down to earth advice around areas that might not have been thought of. For example catering for Vegan options in your setting or childhood constipation.
Sarah also offers nutritional advice and information on other topics for EYFS and many other sectors.
I know I should be doing something about nutrition.
But where do I even start?
You are busy. You are already juggling Ofsted, staffing, safeguarding, budgets and a hundred other things. Nutrition keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the pile — not because you do not care, but because you are not sure where to start and you are worried about the cost.
You are in exactly the right place. These are the questions we hear most often.
Start with a conversation. There is no commitment, no cost and no jargon. Just a quick chat about where your setting is right now and what would actually help.
From there, we work out together what makes sense — whether that is a one-off training session for your team, a parent workshop, a food policy review, or something more ongoing. You do not have to know what you need before you get in touch. That is what the conversation is for.
Email sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk or call 07706 576 260. We will take it from there.
This is the question we hear most often. And the answer might surprise you.
You do not need to find the money yourself. You do not need to write a grant application. You do not need to know anything about funding at all.
All you need to do is say yes.
Sarah brings everything — the knowledge, the session plans, the equipment, the resources, the activities. Everything needed to run brilliant nutrition sessions for your staff and your families arrives with her. You provide the people and the space. Sarah handles everything else.
That includes finding the funding. There are grants and funding streams available for exactly this kind of community nutrition work — and Sarah can help you access them. She will ask you a few simple questions, handle the application, and let you know what is possible. Most settings are surprised by how straightforward it can be.
You do not need money, time or expertise to get started. You just need to get in touch. Email sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk and tell her what you would love to offer your families. She will take it from there.
This is one of the most common challenges early years managers tell us about — and one of the most delicate.
Here is the honest truth: most parents are not sending in chocolate bars and crisps because they do not care. They are rushing. They grabbed something on the way to the nursery drop-off. They sent in whatever was left in the fridge. They bought a meal deal because it was quick and they had three minutes before the school run. Life with young children is genuinely chaotic — and lunchboxes reflect that.
Your job is not to judge what arrives. It is to gently guide, without shame, towards something a little better. A few things that work:
- Share lunchbox guidance at the start of the year — warmly and positively, framed as helpful ideas rather than a list of banned items
- Show parents what a great lunchbox looks like rather than listing what not to send
- If you need to speak to a parent about a specific concern, always lead with something warm first and frame it around their child's energy and wellbeing
- Never comment on a lunchbox in front of the child or other parents
And remind yourself — and your staff — that improvement is the goal, not perfection. A lunchbox with one piece of fruit and a wholemeal sandwich is better than yesterday's. That counts.
We know that many parents will grab whatever is available — a supermarket dash, a meal deal, leftovers from the fridge. So we have put together a free Packed Lunch Guide that meets parents exactly where they are. It has a full week of quick ideas, simple swaps, budget-friendly tips and a reminder that lunches do not have to be complicated or expensive to be good. It is completely free to download and you are welcome to share it with every family in your setting.
I have children with SEND in my setting. I want to support my staff around feeding and mealtimes but I do not know where to go.
This is so important — and so often overlooked. Children with SEND, including autistic children and those with sensory processing differences, can find mealtimes genuinely overwhelming. When staff do not understand why, it can lead to frustration on all sides.
The good news is that small changes make a huge difference:
- Always having one safe, accepted food on the plate
- Using a visual menu so children know what is coming before the meal begins
- Reducing background noise and distractions at mealtimes
- Understanding that food play is not mess — it is the beginning of the eating journey
- Knowing that pressure backfires, and that calm, repeated exposure over time is what works
Sarah delivers staff training on supporting children with SEND around food and mealtimes and has practical resources including factsheets and communication guides for talking to parents. Get in touch to find out more.
Email sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk to find out about SEND mealtime training for your team.
You just did.
Sarah Scotland BSc Nutrition, Exercise and Health (Hons) delivers in-person and online nutrition training and workshops for early years settings, schools and community groups. Sessions can include:
- Staff training on food, nutrition and mealtime practice
- Parent workshops on healthy eating, fussy eaters, weaning and feeding on a budget
- SEND mealtime support training for practitioners
- Bespoke sessions designed around the specific needs of your setting and your families
Sarah is DBS checked, fully qualified, warm and completely jargon-free. She brings everything she needs. You provide the people and the space.
Email sarah@wiseaboutfood.co.uk or call 07706 576 260 to check availability.
As little as possible. Everything Sarah offers is designed to fit around real working lives.
A staff session can be done in an hour over lunch. A parent workshop can run for 45 minutes after pick-up. We come to you, we work around your schedule and we keep it focused and practical.
The goal is always the same: your team walks away feeling more confident, not more overwhelmed.
Yes — but it does not have to be overwhelming.
The DfE updated its Early Years Nutrition Guidance in April 2025 and it is now part of the EYFS statutory framework. That means Ofsted can inspect against it. Settings are now expected to have a current food and nutrition policy, clear allergy systems, and staff who understand good food practice.
The good news is that most settings are closer to where they need to be than they think. Often it is a case of updating a policy, refreshing staff knowledge and putting a few simple systems in place.
Not sure if your setting is compliant? Get in touch for a free initial conversation. No charge, no commitment.
Wise About Food CIC is run by Sarah Scotland BSc Nutrition, Exercise and Health (Hons), a community nutritionist based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
Sarah has spent years working with early years settings, families, schools and community organisations to make good nutrition accessible to everyone. She is warm, practical and completely jargon-free. She is DBS checked and works in person across Hertfordshire and online UK-wide.
Wise About Food is a community interest company — which means every penny goes back into the work. We exist to help people, not to make a profit.
"Food is the appetiser. What we are really about is helping people realise what they are capable of."
Ready to talk?
No pressure. No commitment. Just a conversation.