Inspiring Cucina Initiatives at Nido Somerton Park

We spoke with Nido Early School Somerton Park on their great Cucina initiatives, which have been introduced by their passionate chefs. The school’s previous chef launched a range of exciting initiatives, which have been continued by their newly appointed chef.

Mealtime at Nido Somerton Park is where children and educators come together to share in the joy of eating much-loved dishes. The children will sometimes gather in their chef hats and aprons to help the chef in the preparation of these meals. The children also participate in cooking classes on occasion.

Designed by Nourishing Beginnings, our Nido menus are a real point of difference. We pride ourselves on all of our meals being healthy, nutritious, and delicious.

After lunch, their chef packages any leftover food into containers as take-home meals for parents to request and pick up when they pick up their child. The early school also understands when a parent or carer may be in a moment of need, setting aside meals for these parents to take home too.

Somerton Park have also made it simple for parents and carers to make these dishes at home. They have created DIY recipe packs that contain the recipe, cooking instructions and all of the spices and condiments needed for the dish. All families need to do to complete the dish is add any proteins and commonly found pantry items.

Other much-loved initiatives at Somerton Park are takeaway coffees on request and cooking masterclasses for families, and the team are hoping to introduce more exciting initiatives in the future.

Delivering delicious, healthy meals is important to us at Nido. At Nido Somerton Park, their chefs have gone above and beyond to ensure they exceed the standards.

If you are interested in a career with Nido Early School or wish to find an Early School near you, visit our careers page or early schools.

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Hi Georgina,

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the recruitment of Centre Directors and Educators to join the expanding Nido family.

With so many open roles in the sector at the moment, I think we should be talking about the differences that really sets Nido apart. From my own experience, they are not always obvious from the outside, but when you get to meet the Nido family you really feel it.

Leaving my previous employer, who I was with for over 10 years, was not an easy decision. I had interviews with a few different companies, before finding my home at Nido.

I remember walking out of that initial interview, literally with tears in my eyes, I knew I had finally found what I had been looking for.

As you mentioned, honesty and integrity are critical and a given, our Services, resources and environments speak for themselves, and candidates merely need to look at our website to understand how engaging and wonderful they are.

We really need to focus more on what a Centre Director and an Educator will experience at Nido;

Authenticity; At Nido they will get honesty with heart
Trust and understanding; At Nido you are treated from day one, as competent and capable
We have the opportunity to inspire Educators and children to reach their full potential and change their worlds for the better, this still delights me everyday
At Nido you can make your mark in the world and are given the respect and autonomy to do what you love and truly make a difference
Collaboration – we are one team, far and wide we inspire and challenge each other
Nido is a family, for me, I have the overwhelming sense of belonging at Nido, my people and my home, this is what drew me to Nido in the first place

I am continually driven by our purpose;

To provide our Educators with the training, environment, motivation, and empowerment to deliver exceeding quality education to children, partnering with families, and giving children a voice and the opportunity to lead wonderful fulfilling lives.

I love that we seek to make quality early education available to everyone, regardless of their economic position. That we focus more on suburban children and advocate for their rights, Nido is truly a movement and not one to join without knowing you will need to put your heart on the line every single day.

Mary Oliver asked “What will you do with your one wild and precious life”, I cannot think of anything more fulfilling than what I get to do every day at Nido.

Kind regards,
Danika x