At Treetops, we pride ourselves on healthy, nutritious snacks and meals for the children attending our centre. This means that the parents can have peace of mind, knowing that their children are being offered a variety of hot, home-cooked meals throughout the day, which are made out of fresh and nutritious ingredients. 

Four-week cycle of seasonal menus

The cooks in each of our centres are specially trained to ensure that each meal we offer is balanced, carefully planned, and suitable for children of different ages. We follow the criteria from the Pa-Harakeke/Gold level of Healthy Heart Award checklist, which specifies how many servings of different types of food we need to include in the meals each day. The recent regulations and guidelines, which were introduced by the Ministry of Health, are also taken into consideration.

At the beginning of each season, standardised four weeks of menus across all three centres are carefully planned and set by our centre cooks. This allows the cooks to incorporate the produce which is in season and review all the dishes which are most enjoyed by the children during the previous season to be taken into account. 

Special dietary requirements

If your child has special dietary requirements or other needs, e.g. cultural reasons, we also cater different versions of the snacks and meals so that no child is left out or is unable to enjoy delicious meals with their friends. Our younger children will be offered pureed vegetables and fruit as they get used to eating new foods. 

Lunch box days

Each Treetops Centre has a set day for the ritual of Lunch Box Day each week for the children who will be transitioning to primary school in the near future. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to become familiar with different types of everyday food, experience in the preparation of simple lunch box items, as well as develop independence in enjoying snacks and meals which are prepared by themselves! Lunch box day is always a hit, and you’ll find your children reminding you about the Lunch Box day in anticipation of the excitement.

Keeping our children safe

You may have read about the changes we sent out recently from the Ministry of Health regarding guidelines around food as a choking hazard. Here at Treetops, we rapidly set about looking into the food we currently serve and ensuring this meets the guidelines from MOH. Our centre cooks met with our managers and our director to go through all our menus to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our children safe while eating at Treetops. So you can rest assured your child's safety is our top priority.  

Upcoming Menu

If you’d like to see what your child has enjoyed during the day, please have a look at the menu displayed around the centre. The upcoming menu for the following week is always sent out to the parents/whanau on Educa at the end of each week for your reference too.