Dietary Support

Dietary support

Pupils who may display significant restrictions, anxieties or behaviours around eating require a targeted dietary support plan. The Pupil Support Manager works closely with the class staff to identify pupils who may display:

  • Consistent challenging behaviour at eating times.

  • Refusal of a wide range of foods

  • Consistent refusal to eat a balance diet

  • Throwing meal consistently

  • Absconding from dinner hall

     

Once pupils have been identified staff will:

  • Discuss any significant issues with Jade Ashton (Pupil Support Manager)

  • Conduct an observation of the named pupil

  • Put a plan will be put in place, if required.

  • Inform parents and send the plans home to be signed

  • Inform Lianne Buchanan (DSL) who will sign the plan

  • Monitor and record plan daily

  • Update plans termly

     

The plans are individually designed to target the needs of the named pupil and provide a key area of focus. This will focus on; where the pupils are most anxious, what causes the anxieties and how are they displayed and how can we best support the named pupil? Information is recorded daily, monitored and evaluated each term to establish progress and any further action that is required.

General eating:

  • Many children display ‘fussy eating’

  • Children's tastes change

  • Developmentally, this is the toddler stage

  • Children should be introduced gradually to unfamiliar/disliked foods.

  • Keep going back to the foods they didn’t like before

     

General tips:

  • Give small portions and praise the pupil for eating, even if they only eat a little.

  • If the pupils reject food, take the food away without saying anything

  • Make mealtimes enjoyable and not just about eating

  • It takes many tastes to decide if you like/dislike something