Perfect for Childcare Directors, Educators, Cooks, Educational Leaders and WA Services Preparing for ECRU Assessment and Rating
By BEST Childcare Consulting
Developed by Edith Cowan University, this FREE national guide goes well beyond healthy eating and encouraging children to eat fruit and vegetables. It explores how mealtimes influence children’s emotional wellbeing, independence, relationships, cultural identity, inclusion and learning.
Why is this guide particularly important?
- ECRU was involved in its development, and the guide includes dedicated information for regulatory and quality staff.
- It connects with the National Quality Standard and EYLF, making it relevant to Assessment and Rating, critical reflection and quality improvement.
- It contains six comprehensive modules and guidance for eight professional groups, including educators, cooks, directors and approved providers.
- It provides FREE posters, family factsheets and practical professional development resources.
- It is also relevant to educator training as the sector reviews and updates Certificate III and Diploma qualifications.
Importantly, this is not another regulation or compliance requirement. It is an evidence-informed resource that can help services understand and strengthen the quality of their everyday practices.
BEST encourages every childcare service to explore this guide and share it with their team. Even small changes to the language educators use around food and how they support children during mealtimes can make a meaningful difference.
Our latest BEST article explains what the guide contains, why ECRU’s involvement matters, how it complements existing resources such as Staying Healthy and Get Up & Grow, and practical starting points for different staff members.
Access the free guide: https://ecec-best-practice-guide.com.au
1. Why Is This New Guide Important?
The guide was officially launched in September 2026 following a national collaborative project involving 53 experts, 28 workshops and six working groups. Its development brought together professionals from across early childhood education, nutrition, health, regulation, research and training. Rather than concentrating exclusively on what children should eat, the guide recognises that children’s food environments are influenced by many interconnected factors, including relationships, educational practices, service policies, family partnerships, inclusion, sustainability and leadership.
Importantly, it connects with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF V2.0) and National Quality Standard (NQS), helping services translate evidence-informed recommendations into everyday educational practice and continuous quality improvement. This makes the guide relevant not only to cooks and educators, but also to directors, approved providers, educational leaders, regulatory officers, allied health professionals and training organisations.
2. What Makes This Guide Different? It Is About Much More Than Healthy Eating
For many years, early childhood nutrition resources have understandably concentrated on healthy foods, balanced diets, appropriate serving sizes and encouraging children to eat fruit and vegetables. These remain important. However, the new guide takes a much broader, more holistic approach.
It recognises that how children experience food can be just as important as what is on their plate.
Food is connected to children’s physical health, emotional wellbeing, relationships, independence, identity, culture and sense of belonging. Think about what happens during an ordinary lunchtime in a childcare room. One child is reluctant to try an unfamiliar food. Another eats very slowly. A toddler wants to serve themselves. A child with sensory sensitivities becomes distressed by certain textures. Another child’s lunch reflects their family’s cultural traditions. How educators respond in these moments can influence children’s confidence, emotional security and developing relationship with food.
The Language We Use Around Food Matters
One of the simplest places educators can begin is by reflecting on the words they use. Well-intentioned comments such as “Good girl, you ate all your vegetables”, “Just one more bite”, “You can’t have dessert until you finish your lunch” or “That food is naughty” can unintentionally introduce pressure, judgement or moral labels around eating.
Instead, educators can use neutral, respectful and descriptive language.
| Instead of saying… | Consider saying… |
| “That’s bad food.” | “Different foods help our bodies in different ways.” |
| “You have to try it.” | “You can explore it when you feel ready.” |
| “Good boy, you finished everything.” | “Are you feeling full or would you like some more?” |
| “Yuck, that smells funny.” | “That food has a strong smell. I wonder what ingredients are in it?” |
| “You don’t like broccoli.” | “You don’t feel like eating broccoli today. That’s okay.” |
| “Just one more bite.” | “You can listen to your tummy and tell me when you’re finished.” |
These small changes can help children develop confidence, recognise hunger and fullness, and explore unfamiliar foods without unnecessary pressure.
Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing
Mealtimes provide regular opportunities for children to develop emotional regulation, communication, confidence, independence and positive relationships. Educators can support this by creating relaxed mealtime environments, sitting and engaging with children, respecting individual eating needs and allowing children to participate in decisions appropriate to their development. For some children, eating can be associated with anxiety, sensory discomfort or previous negative experiences. A supportive response recognises these individual differences rather than assuming that reluctance to eat is simply challenging behaviour.
Inclusion, Culture and Belonging
Food is closely connected to family traditions, culture, religion and identity. Inclusive food environments recognise and respect these differences without making children feel that their food or family practices are unusual or inferior. This includes considering children with allergies, disabilities, developmental differences, sensory processing differences and individual feeding requirements. It also means engaging with families to understand children’s needs rather than expecting every child to participate in mealtimes in exactly the same way.
Children’s Agency and Rights
The guide encourages educators to consider children’s voices, preferences and participation. Children can be supported to serve themselves where developmentally appropriate, recognise their hunger and fullness, participate in food preparation, and communicate their needs. This connects strongly with the EYLF’s emphasis on children’s agency, wellbeing, identity and belonging. Of course, children’s choices must be supported within appropriate health, nutrition, allergy and safety requirements.
The key message is simple: a positive food environment is not measured only by what children eat. It is also reflected in how safe, respected, included and confident they feel during food experiences.
3. The Six Modules: What Does Each Cover?
The guide is organised into six comprehensive modules, allowing services to explore particular areas of practice rather than attempting to review everything at once.
Module 1 – Mealtime Environment and Practices
This module examines what happens when children sit down to eat.
It explores responsive feeding, children’s appetite regulation, food preferences, developmental feeding skills, body image, language around food and the design of positive mealtime experiences.
For educators, this is particularly relevant to everyday practices such as allowing children to recognise when they are hungry or full, respecting individual preferences and creating relaxed, supportive mealtimes.
It encourages services to consider whether their practices support children’s independence, agency and positive relationships with food.
Module 2 – Menu and Meal Quality
This module focuses on the nutritional quality and safety of food provided to children.
It covers Australian dietary and infant feeding guidelines, introducing solids, menu planning, food allergies, food safety and evaluating menu quality.
It is particularly relevant to centre cooks, kitchen staff, directors and educators responsible for feeding infants and young children.
Services providing meals can use this information to review menus and food preparation practices, while lunchbox services can draw on the principles when supporting families.
Module 3 – Food Education
Food education is about much more than encouraging children to eat vegetables.
This module explores how food can become part of intentional teaching, cooking experiences, investigations, play and everyday learning.
Children might investigate where food comes from, grow vegetables, explore ingredients, prepare simple meals, compare textures or learn about different cultural food traditions.
For educational leaders, this module provides opportunities to strengthen curriculum planning and demonstrate how food experiences contribute to children’s learning.
Module 4 – Staff and Family Engagement
This module focuses on communication, collaboration and supporting families.
Topics include sharing information about meals and menus, supporting families who provide lunchboxes, recognising children’s diverse needs, and accessing appropriate professional advice.
It also considers families of children experiencing disability and children with food allergies.
For directors and educators, the module provides a useful foundation for reviewing family communication, individual mealtime arrangements and inclusive practices.
Module 5 – Sustainable Food Practices
Sustainability is increasingly embedded in early childhood programming and service operations.
This module explores reducing food waste, seasonal and local produce, plant-based and minimally processed foods, food packaging, biodiversity and establishing gardens.
Services can use this guidance to extend sustainability initiatives beyond recycling and into purchasing decisions, menus, children’s learning experiences and everyday routines.
Module 6 – Quality, Leadership and Governance
This is an especially important module for directors, approved providers and educational leaders.
It connects food environments with the National Law and Regulations, food safety, quality improvement and leadership responsibilities.
Rather than treating food practices as simply the responsibility of the cook or kitchen, this module encourages services to examine their entire approach.
This includes policies, procedures, staff knowledge, monitoring, reflective practice and the consistency of implementation throughout the service.
For services preparing for Assessment and Rating, this is a valuable starting point for reviewing whether their documented practices are genuinely reflected in everyday routines.
4. Eight Professional Groups: Where Should You Start?
One of the strengths of the guide is that it recognises different professionals have different responsibilities.
BEST recommends beginning with one practical improvement relevant to your role, rather than attempting to implement the entire guide at once.
1. Educators and Room Leaders
Start with: The language you use around food and how you support children during mealtimes.
Educators have a direct influence on how children experience food every day.
BEST’s top tips:
- Listen to the words educators use when children refuse food, finish meals or ask for more.
- Avoid labelling food as “good”, “bad”, “naughty” or “fattening”.
- Avoid using food as a reward, punishment or bargaining tool.
- Encourage children to recognise hunger and fullness without pressuring them to finish their plates.
- Reflect on whether educators are sitting and engaging with children or concentrating mainly on cleaning, supervising and completing routines.
- Support children with sensory differences, feeding difficulties and individual preferences.
Try this first: At your next room meeting, discuss five common phrases educators use around food. Work together to develop more respectful, neutral alternatives.
Relevant guide: Module 1 – Mealtime Environment and Practices.
2. Directors, Service Leaders and Educational Leaders
Start with: Observing whether your food and mealtime policies reflect actual practice.
A service might have an excellent healthy eating policy, but does that policy explain how educators respond when a child refuses food, has sensory difficulties or needs additional support?
BEST’s top tips:
- Observe mealtimes across different rooms, including babies, toddlers and kindergarten.
- Review whether practices are consistent between educators.
- Check that policies cover responsive feeding, inclusion and children’s agency, not just nutritional requirements.
- Include food environments in critical reflection and professional development.
- Seek family feedback about food, mealtimes and individual needs.
- Consider relevant improvements for your Quality Improvement Plan.
Try this first: Complete a short mealtime observation in every room. Compare what you see with your service’s policies and the guide’s recommendations.
Relevant guides: Modules 1, 4 and 6.
3. Cooks, Chefs, Food Coordinators and Kitchen Assistants
Start with: Looking beyond nutritional adequacy to children’s experiences of the food provided.
Cooks have an important role in creating inclusive, enjoyable and developmentally appropriate food environments.
BEST’s top tips:
- Review menus against appropriate dietary guidelines and nutritional requirements.
- Consider how different textures, flavours and presentations support children at different developmental stages.
- Ensure food allergies, medical conditions and individual dietary requirements are carefully managed.
- Work with educators to understand children’s food experiences rather than simply recording what was eaten.
- Explore culturally diverse meals and family food traditions.
- Involve children in appropriate menu discussions and food preparation experiences.
Try this first: Arrange a meeting between the cook, educational leader and room leaders to discuss how the menu is experienced by children, including those with additional feeding needs.
Relevant guides: Modules 2, 3 and 5.
4. Family Day Care Educators
Start with: Reviewing the whole food environment in your home-based service.
Family day care provides valuable opportunities for children to participate in everyday food preparation, shared meals, gardening and family-style routines.
BEST’s top tips:
- Consider whether mealtimes are relaxed, inclusive and responsive to individual children.
- Support safe opportunities for children to participate in food preparation.
- Review food storage, preparation and allergy management.
- Discuss family food traditions and preferences.
- Use everyday experiences such as shopping, gardening and cooking as learning opportunities.
- Encourage children’s independence while maintaining appropriate supervision and safety.
Try this first: Choose one daily food routine and identify how it could better support children’s independence, language development or sense of belonging.
Relevant guides: Modules 1, 2, 3 and 4.
5. Approved Providers and Management Teams
Start with: Reviewing how your service’s leadership and governance arrangements support positive food environments.
Food environments should not be viewed as solely the responsibility of educators or kitchen staff.
BEST’s top tips:
- Ensure food-related policies reflect current legislation and evidence-informed guidance.
- Review staff induction and professional development arrangements.
- Consider whether sufficient resources and equipment are available.
- Ensure clear responsibilities for food safety, allergies and individual dietary requirements.
- Support meaningful family consultation and continuous improvement.
- Include food environments in service audits and quality improvement discussions.
Try this first: Ask your director to identify three strengths and three improvement opportunities relating to food environments across the service.
Relevant guide: Module 6 – Quality, Leadership and Governance.
6. Allied Health Professionals
Start with: Supporting inclusive mealtime practices for children with individual feeding and developmental needs.
Dietitians, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals may contribute specialist knowledge to support children and educators.
BEST’s top tips:
- Help educators understand feeding development and individual differences.
- Provide guidance where children experience sensory sensitivities or feeding difficulties.
- Support safe and appropriate mealtime adjustments.
- Work collaboratively with families and educators.
- Assist services to distinguish ordinary food preferences from concerns requiring professional assessment.
- Ensure individual feeding recommendations are communicated clearly and consistently.
Try this first: Where a child has an existing feeding support plan, review whether educators understand the recommendations and can implement them safely.
Relevant guides: Modules 1, 2 and 4.
7. Quality and Regulatory Staff, Inclusion Support and Health Promotion Officers
Start with: Understanding what a high-quality food environment looks like in everyday practice.
This professional pathway is particularly interesting for WA services because it includes regulatory and quality personnel, alongside inclusion support and health promotion professionals.
For ECRU and other regulatory authorities, the guide provides an evidence-informed reference that can support professional understanding of food environments.
BEST’s top tips for services preparing for assessment:
- Review how food practices connect with the National Quality Standard.
- Consider whether educators can explain the reasons behind their mealtime approaches.
- Look for evidence of inclusion, children’s agency and respectful interactions.
- Ensure individual health, safety and dietary requirements are understood and implemented.
- Examine how services identify and address improvement opportunities.
- Remember that the guide supports best practice but does not create additional legal obligations.
Try this first: During a mock Assessment and Rating observation, include mealtimes as an opportunity to examine practice across QA1, QA2, QA5 and QA6.
Relevant guides: Modules 1, 4 and 6.
8. VET and University Educators, RTOs and Placement Supervisors
Start with: Connecting current evidence about food environments with the practical skills expected of early childhood students.
This guide provides an opportunity to strengthen how future educators are taught about children’s nutrition, food experiences, responsive feeding and inclusion.
BEST’s top tips:
- Include responsive feeding and respectful food language in teaching materials.
- Use real-world mealtime scenarios to develop students’ critical thinking.
- Explain how food experiences connect with the EYLF and NQS.
- Include disability, sensory needs, cultural diversity and family partnerships.
- Encourage students to reflect on their own attitudes towards food.
- Use the guide’s case studies and practical resources during training and placement discussions.
Try this first: Introduce a scenario in which a child refuses lunch and ask students how they would respond, including their language, actions, duty of care and respect for the child’s agency.
Relevant guides: Modules 1, 3, 4 and 6.
One Resource, Different Starting Points
The important message is that everyone in an early childhood service has a role in creating positive food environments.
The cook may begin with menu planning, educators with responsive mealtimes, the educational leader with intentional teaching, and the director with governance and quality improvement.
BEST recommends using the guide’s role-specific pathways to make professional development more relevant and manageable for each team member.
Explore all eight professional pathways: https://ecec-best-practice-guide.com.au/for-your-role
5. Why WA Childcare Services Should Pay Attention: ECRU Was Involved
One of the most noteworthy aspects of this resource is the involvement of Western Australia’s Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU). ECRU has publicly acknowledged its contribution to the development of Australia’s first national Best Practice Guide for Early Childhood Education and Care Food Environment. The guide also provides a specific pathway for quality and regulatory staff. For WA directors, this reinforces the value of understanding the resource and using it to examine existing practices.
Does this mean ECRU will now assess every childcare service against the guide? Not automatically. The guide is a best-practice resource, not a new regulation or a replacement for the National Quality Framework. ECRU’s formal compliance and Assessment and Rating responsibilities continue to be governed by the applicable National Law, Regulations and National Quality Standard. However, because ECRU contributed to the guide, it is particularly relevant as a resource for understanding evidence-informed approaches to children’s food environments. Directors should consider how the guide’s recommendations might support improvements to their service’s practices, policies, staff training and Quality Improvement Plan.
ECRU resources: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/document-collections/education-and-care-regulatory-unit-other-resources
6. What Does This Mean for Assessment and Rating?
Food environments can provide evidence across several areas of the National Quality Standard.
Quality Area 1 – Educational Program and Practice
Food education, intentional teaching, child agency, children’s interests and learning experiences involving food.
Quality Area 2 – Children’s Health and Safety
Healthy eating, safe food handling, allergy management, appropriate feeding practices and supporting children’s health and wellbeing.
Quality Area 3 – Physical Environment
Appropriate mealtime spaces, sustainable practices, food gardens and environments that support children’s independence.
Quality Area 5 – Relationships with Children
Respectful interactions during mealtimes, responsive feeding, children’s dignity and supporting their individual needs and preferences.
Quality Area 6 – Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities
Communication about food, cultural inclusion, family preferences and collaboration with health professionals.
Quality Area 7 – Governance and Leadership
Policies, procedures, leadership, professional development, monitoring and continuous quality improvement.
For services working towards Exceeding NQS, the guide can also provide a useful basis for deeper critical reflection, meaningful engagement with families and evidence of embedded practice.
The important consideration is not whether a service possesses the guide, but whether its practices are informed by evidence, understood by educators and consistently implemented.
7. Another Important Connection: Certificate III and Diploma Educator Training
The guide is also relevant to the education and training of future early childhood educators. It includes dedicated guidance for vocational education and training (VET) educators, registered training organisations (RTOs), university educators and placement supervisors. This is particularly timely because the national Certificate III and Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care qualifications are undergoing review. The guide offers an evidence-informed resource that training organisations can draw upon when developing learning materials, teaching students and connecting theoretical knowledge with practical expectations in early childhood services.
For example, future educators can learn not only about nutritional requirements and safe food handling, but also how to respond when a child refuses food, how to support children with sensory differences, and how to recognise the social and emotional aspects of mealtimes. These are important skills that educators need when working directly with children. For childcare directors, this highlights the importance of ensuring that existing educators, trainees and students have access to current evidence-informed practices.
Importantly, the guide’s relevance to educator training does not itself establish that it has been formally adopted in the development of the revised Certificate III and Diploma qualifications. Any such role should be confirmed through HumanAbility or the relevant training package review documentation.
Further information:
Best Practice Guide – Resources for VET and University Educators: https://ecec-best-practice-guide.com.au/for-your-role
HumanAbility – Early Childhood Education and Care Training Package: https://humanability.com.au
8. How Does This New Guide Fit with Existing Early Childhood Health and Nutrition Resources?
Childcare services already have access to several important national resources covering nutrition, food safety, infection prevention and healthy eating. So where does this new Best Practice Guide fit? The important point is that it does not replace these existing resources. It brings together and extends their application within everyday early childhood practice.
Staying Healthy – 6th Edition
Main focus: Preventing infectious diseases and maintaining safe, hygienic environments.
The National Health and Medical Research Council’s Staying healthy: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services provides guidance on infection prevention and control. This includes hand hygiene, cleaning, food handling, preventing contamination and reducing the spread of infectious diseases. The new Food Environment Guide complements Staying Healthy by considering what happens beyond infection prevention.
For example, Staying Healthy helps educators understand appropriate hygiene and safe food handling, while the new guide also encourages them to reflect on respectful interactions, responsive feeding, children’s independence and positive mealtime experiences.
Use both: One supports safe and hygienic food practices; the other helps services develop a more holistic approach to food environments.
Resource: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/staying-healthy-guidelines
Get Up & Grow – Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for Early Childhood
Main focus: Healthy eating, nutrition and physical activity in the early years.
The Australian Government’s Get Up & Grow resources have been widely used in early childhood services for many years. They provide guidance for directors, educators, cooks and families, including nutrition, menu planning, positive eating practices and physical activity. Although the Get Up & Grow program has concluded, its publications remain available. The new Best Practice Guide builds on many of these established themes, with additional depth around food environments, educator interactions, inclusion, sustainability, family engagement and quality improvement.
For example, Get Up & Grow can help a service review healthy eating and physical activity practices, while the new guide provides further opportunities to examine how children experience mealtimes and participate in food-related learning.
Use both: Get Up & Grow remains a useful foundational resource, while the new guide offers a broader, more detailed approach to food environments.
Resource: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/get-up-grow
Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
Main focus: What foods support health and wellbeing.
Many educators will recognise the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, commonly referred to as the healthy eating plate. It visually represents the five food groups and their recommended proportions in a healthy dietary pattern. This is particularly useful when discussing food variety, menu planning and nutritional balance. However, knowing what constitutes a healthy diet is only one part of creating a positive food environment.
The new Best Practice Guide explores how children develop food preferences, how educators respond to food refusal, how children experience different foods and how mealtimes can support independence and emotional wellbeing.
Use both: The Australian Dietary Guidelines help inform nutritional decisions, while the new guide helps educators consider the relationships, environments and practices surrounding food.
Resource: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating
Food Standards Australia New Zealand – Food Safety Standards
Main focus: Legal food safety requirements.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) provides the national food safety standards that apply to food businesses, including relevant childcare food services. These standards cover areas such as food handling, hygiene, temperature control, food safety programs and food handler knowledge. Childcare services must determine and meet the food safety requirements applicable to their operations. The new Food Environment Guide does not replace these obligations. Instead, it complements food safety requirements by helping services examine the broader quality of children’s food experiences.
For example, food can be prepared and served safely while educators also support children’s agency, cultural inclusion, independence and positive relationships with food.
Use both: Food safety standards establish mandatory requirements, while the new guide supports broader quality improvement.
Resource: https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/business/food-safety-standards
Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 and the National Quality Standard
Main focus: Children’s learning, development, wellbeing and quality education and care.
The EYLF V2.0 provides the educational foundation for early childhood practice, while the National Quality Standard establishes expectations for quality education and care. The new guide provides practical ways to connect food environments with these frameworks. Food experiences can support children’s identity, wellbeing, communication, relationships, independence and understanding of the world.
For example, cooking can become an intentional teaching experience, mealtimes can support social and emotional development, and family food traditions can contribute to cultural responsiveness and belonging. For educational leaders, this creates valuable opportunities for programming, observation, critical reflection and quality improvement.
Use these together: The EYLF and NQS provide the overarching frameworks, while the new guide offers detailed, evidence-informed guidance specifically relating to food environments.
BEST’s Summary: How These Resources Work Together
| Resource | Main contribution |
| Staying Healthy, 6th Edition | Infection prevention, hygiene and safe practices |
| Get Up & Grow | Healthy eating, physical activity and practical nutrition guidance |
| Australian Guide to Healthy Eating | Food groups, dietary balance and nutrition |
| FSANZ Food Safety Standards | Mandatory food safety requirements |
| EYLF V2.0 and NQS | Educational practice, children’s wellbeing and service quality |
| New Best Practice Food Environment Guide | Holistic food experiences, responsive feeding, inclusion, relationships, learning and continuous improvement |
A Practical Example: One Child Refuses to Eat Lunch
Consider a toddler who refuses to eat their lunch. The Australian Dietary Guidelines help educators understand the nutritional value of the meal. Staying Healthy and food safety requirements inform how the meal is prepared, handled and served safely. Get Up & Grow provides guidance on healthy eating and positive eating practices. The EYLF encourages educators to consider the child’s agency, wellbeing and individual development.
The new Best Practice Guide brings these considerations together and encourages educators to reflect more deeply on their response. Is the child hungry? Are they uncomfortable with the texture? Is the food unfamiliar? Are they feeling overwhelmed by the environment? Are educators unintentionally pressuring them? Could family input help us understand their needs? Rather than simply concentrating on getting the child to eat, educators can consider the whole child and their experience. This is what makes the new guide such a valuable addition to existing early childhood resources.
9. Additional Resources: Case Studies, Posters and Family Factsheets
The guide is not limited to lengthy written information. It also includes practical materials that services can use immediately, including Australian case studies, printable posters, family factsheets, reflective questions, learning ideas and practical tools.
Of particular interest are resources addressing:
- Appetite regulation and responsive feeding.
- Supporting food preferences, food acceptance and food diversity.
- Positive mealtime environments.
- Children’s food experiences and family engagement.
These resources can support team meetings, staff induction, family communication, programming and ongoing professional development.
BEST recommends beginning with the posters on responsive feeding and food preferences, particularly when reviewing the language educators use around food.
They provide a practical starting point for discussing everyday educator interactions.
Access the posters and family factsheets: https://ecec-best-practice-guide.com.au/posters-and-fact-sheets
10. How BEST Recommends Services Use This Resource
Rather than downloading the guide and placing it in a policy folder, BEST encourages services to use it as a practical professional development and quality improvement tool. A useful starting point is to select one area of current practice, such as mealtimes. Observe what happens across different rooms, discuss what educators believe is working well, identify practices that may need reviewing and compare these observations with the guide’s recommendations.
Consider questions such as:
- Are children supported to recognise their own hunger and fullness?
- Do educators use respectful, positive language about food?
- Are mealtimes relaxed and responsive to individual children’s needs?
- Do our food experiences genuinely support children’s learning?
- Are our policies consistent with what actually happens in classrooms?
- How do families contribute to our food-related decisions?
- Are children with disabilities, sensory differences or individual feeding requirements appropriately supported?
- Are our mealtime practices culturally responsive and inclusive?
- Can educators explain why they use particular approaches?
These conversations can inform staff professional development, curriculum planning, policy reviews and Quality Improvement Plan updates.
A Simple Professional Development Activity for Your Next Staff Meeting
BEST suggests a practical 20-minute discussion that can be completed during a staff meeting or room reflection session.
Step 1 – Observe: Ask educators to identify common phrases they hear during mealtimes.
Step 2 – Reflect: Discuss whether these phrases encourage children’s agency, confidence and positive relationships with food, or whether they may unintentionally introduce pressure.
Step 3 – Explore: Read the relevant sections of Module 1 and review the responsive feeding poster.
Step 4 – Agree: Identify three changes the team would like to make to everyday practice.
Step 5 – Review: Revisit these changes at the next meeting and discuss what educators have observed.
This is an example of how the guide can support meaningful critical reflection and embedded practice, rather than simply adding another document to the service’s resource library.
11. How BEST Childcare Consulting Can Help Your Service
At BEST Childcare Consulting, we regularly see the difference between having policies and procedures in place and seeing those expectations consistently reflected in everyday classroom practice.
This new national guide provides an opportunity for services to revisit an area of childcare that occurs several times every day, yet can sometimes receive less critical reflection than other aspects of the educational program.
BEST can assist services through tailored professional development, mentoring, policy and procedure reviews, Quality Improvement Plan support and practical coaching within the service.
We can work directly with educators, cooks, room leaders and management teams to explore responsive feeding, positive mealtime interactions, inclusive practices, children’s agency and how food environments connect with the National Quality Standard.
Our professional development and mentoring can be tailored to your service’s existing practices, identified improvement priorities and the particular needs of your children and families.
Our focus is on bringing policies out of the cupboard and into everyday classroom practice.
Rather than simply explaining what the guide says, BEST can help educators understand what high-quality practice looks like, why it matters and how to implement it confidently and consistently.
Final Thoughts from BEST
The release of this national guide is an important opportunity for the early childhood sector to review how food, mealtimes and food education contribute to children’s health, wellbeing, learning and development.
Its value lies in bringing together current evidence, practical strategies, professional perspectives and links to the National Quality Framework in one accessible resource.
For WA services, ECRU’s involvement provides an additional reason to become familiar with the guide.
The guide’s relevance to educator training also makes it valuable for supporting trainees, students and existing staff as the sector continues to develop and review professional qualifications and expectations.
Most importantly, it reminds us that children’s food experiences involve much more than nutritional intake.
Healthy eating is important, but so is a child’s relationship with food.
A high-quality food environment should be nutritious and safe, but also respectful, inclusive, responsive, culturally appropriate and supportive of children’s social and emotional wellbeing.
BEST encourages every childcare director to explore the guide, share relevant sections with staff and include food environments in upcoming professional development and critical reflection discussions.
Small improvements to everyday mealtimes can make a meaningful difference to children’s experiences.
BEST Childcare Consulting
Supporting WA early childhood services with compliance, quality improvement, professional development and practical mentoring.
Website: https://www.braig.com.au
National Best Practice Guide: https://ecec-best-practice-guide.com.au
