A YORK nursery is in the running for national awards for its food and for the national pre-school of the year.

Little Green Rascals, which has nurseries in in Tadcaster Road and Elvington, has been shortlisted for the Nursery World Awards 2015.

Helen Rook, communications and events co-ordinator, said: “Both prestigious awards come from an early years magazine that is read by so many in the industry, so we feel very humbled to be recognised for our hard work.”

For its entry to the nursery food category the nursery shared its menus, which rotate on a four-week cycle and change in the winter and summer months using seasonal vegetables grown in its gardens.

The nursery said it was able to show how it involves the children in the planting, growing and preparation of the herbs and vegetables that make their meals and how a healthy lifestyle “is embedded in the children from as young as six-months-old”.

Helen said: “Earlier this year we also won the top toddler meal from the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) for our chicken in polenta strips recipe, which we are incredibly proud of. With this in mind, we are confident the award will go the full length and win the category for both of our nurseries.”

Meanwhile, the pre-school at Little Green Rascals in Elvington has been shortlisted after judges heard how about its teaching staff, which includes three male early years practitioners – a high number considering less than two per cent of early years practitioners are male.

Parents are regularly involved in events and pre-school children are also encouraged to develop independence over meal times, preparing their own snack and serving their own meals as well as their peers.

Helen said: “Our pre-school children have daily access to the Forest School programme in our very own 13- acre forest. The children take the mini bus out to Melbourne where they whittle sticks, make dens and climb trees, building confidence and self- esteem. When not at the forest, the children spend the majority of the day in our large gardens, exposed to ecological experiences around natural resources.”

The management team from the nurseries will head down to London for the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 26.