The Golden Apple Award Scheme is designed for early years settings who wish to improve nutrition, hygiene and dental health amongst children in their care. The scheme is managed by Bury Council's Food Safety Team, Bury Council's Public Health Nutritionist and Pennine Care's NHS Oral Health Team. The scheme aims to promote healthy practices within the settings that cover a healthy and balanced diet along with food being prepared in the cleanest and safest way.
There are three levels to the Award: Bronze, Silver, and Gold
Bronze Award
1. A written snack policy is implemented in your setting: food and drinks containing sugar are not provided at snack time.
2. A hand washing policy is implemented in your premises.
3. All food must be prepared in a hygienic manner, satisying the requirements of the Food Hygiene Regulations
4. Fruit and/or vegetables are provided as a snack for children at least once a day.
Silver Award
All of the above plus two of the following:
5. A sugar free reward system is in place for good behaviour and birthday celebrations.
6. Educational input from the oral health promotion team, a nutritionist or environmental health services occurs at least once a year.
7. Staff actively encourage families to continue with the Golden Apple Principles at home, for example, eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This could be via newspaper articles, recipes, display boards, or a parents' resource box.
8. At least one member of staff preparing food has a formal food hygiene qualification.
Gold Award
All 8 of the above criteria are implemented.
There are two resource packs; one for early years settings (private nurseries, play groups and primary school nurseries) and one for childminders. These packs with more information are available to download in the 'downloads' section of this webpage.
If you are a nursery setting and are interested in joining the scheme please email: foodsafety@bury.gov.uk
If you are a parent who would like to know more about the scheme - you can read the leaflet in the downloads section of this webpage. All nurseries signed up to the scheme are identified on this website via the 'Golden Apple' Logo.
