MEMBERS of staff at Freshford Pre-school were thrilled to collect a prestigious Healthy Early Years award at the end of their spring term.

As well as completing audits into aspects of the school’s healthy activities, the Department of Health team were also impressed with some of the changes the Freshford staff had made, including changes to the pupils’ morning snack routine. The children now enjoy a group snack time and are heavily involved with the preparation of food, using safety knives to chop ingredients.

The result from this is that interactions and teamwork between the children has been increased as well as them being encouraged to act more independently, all of which helps to promote a positive, socially rich environment.

Debbie Giles, manager of Freshford Pre-school, said: “We pride ourselves on our ethos of supporting healthy behaviours and creating healthy environments for the children to explore and discover. When we heard about the DPH award, it seemed like the most natural thing to work towards.”

Now the team are aiming towards achieving the Healthy Outcomes Award which will see the children going on to enjoy gardening and physical activities with their families. All of the initiatives have been welcomed by everyone in the pre-school’s community.

The pre-school has said it is happy to add this achievement to its Outstanding Ofsted rating, proving that its care and education for children between two-and-a-half years and five-years-old is recognised as being of high quality.

For more information on Freshford Pre-School visit freshfordpreschool.co.uk or email business manager Jen Harper at business@freshfordpreschool.co.uk.