Health & Wellbeing

 

What is it?

The foundation for positive learning experiences is dependent upon a child’s holistic wellbeing.  Children’s holistic wellbeing is vital in order for them to have a positive learning experience.  An ethos of inclusivity, nurture and aspirations of contentment and happiness, informed by international, national, local legislation and policy underpin health and wellbeing.  

In Scotland, the Health & Wellbeing Indicators are part of a Scottish Government policy called ‘Getting It Right For Every Child‘ (GIRFEC).  The ‘SHANARRI Wheel‘ promotes a common understanding of what wellbeing is:  Safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, and included.

What are the main purposes of learning in health and wellbeing?

Children and young people have the right to learn about their health and wellbeing to ensure they acquire skills to live healthy, happy lives.  “Learning through health and wellbeing enables children and young people to:

• make informed decisions in order to improve their mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing
• experience challenge and enjoyment
• experience positive aspects of healthy living and activity for themselves
• apply their mental, emotional, social and physical skills to pursue a healthy lifestyle
• make a successful move to the next stage of education or work
• establish a pattern of health and wellbeing which will be sustained into adult life, and which will help to promote the health and wellbeing of the next generation of Scottish children.”

(Health and Wellbeing: principles and practice, Education Scotland, p. 1)

There are two aspects to health and wellbeing in an Early Years setting: 

Firstly, staff must ensure that all the necessary information about the child is known and documented to successfully meet the child’s needs on a daily basis, i.e. allergies, toileting etc.  This ‘care’ information takes the form of the child’s individual Personal Plan (or Care Plan).  This plan must also contain the relevant information to allow staff to provide wider support to the child, e.g. family; religion; likes and dislikes etc. 

Secondly, health and wellbeing is a core area of the curriculum where experiences and outcomes must be planned for and progress in learning assessed.

Whilst statutory guidance, regulatory bodies and the National Health and Social Care standards support practitioners and settings to meet the everyday ‘care’ needs of young children, as a curricular area, many health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes can be planned in advance (intentional planning) and embedded in the everyday interactions and routines of a setting. 

 

Key messages:

The Setting:

• Creates positive, trusting relationships with families.
• Has a clear vision, values and aims which drives practice and improvement within the setting.
• Staff teams recognise the importance of supporting colleagues’ health and wellbeing, encouraging a positive team ethos based on the values of respect, understanding and kindness.
• Develop and implement risk-assessments, in line with Scottish Borders Council (SBC), national guidance and legislation.  Ensure these are updated regularly.
• Develop and implement policies and procedures in line with SBC and national guidance and legislation, including appropriate risk (risk-benefit) assessment for indoor, outdoor and ‘beyond the gates‘.
• All practitioners have regular opportunities to participate in professional development and mandatory training, such as, child protection, first aid, medication and food hygiene etc.
• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are understood and embedded within practice.
• Effective methods for sharing the children’s health and wellbeing with parents and at points of transition, are in place and ensure support and progress (see SBC Trackers & Developmental Overviews at the bottom of the Emerging Literacy & Mathematics & Numeracy pages)
• Equity and inclusion are embedded in the ethos of the setting.

All Practitioners:

• Have a good working knowledge of nurture (this includes SBC Include: Nurture) and they are always warm and supportive in their approach to all children.
• Have a good knowledge of the children (their needs, interests and wishes) in the setting by reviewing regularly personal plans in order to ensure children’s health and wellbeing is being supported across all the health and wellbeing indicators.
• Support all children quietly and sensitively, taking into account each child’s specific wants and needs. 
• Recognise the benefits to children’s mental and physical wellbeing of playing and exploring in an outdoor environment.
• Are consistent and, as a team, have agreed restorative approaches which can be differentiated to support all children appropriately.
• Use intentional promotion to provide motivating and relevant learning experiences, based on observation of children’s skill levels and current interests.
• Carefully plan and support children through transitions into the setting, throughout the day and into the next setting.
• Facilitate opportunities for and support children in making choices within daily practice.
• Understand the importance of and promote prolonged periods of free-play for all children.  

The Environment:

• Indoor, outdoor and ‘beyond the gate’ environments provide opportunities for children to investigate, explore, and following their interests.  Skilful practitioners engage alongside the child, deepening and extending learning as appropriate.
• Is clutter free, well organised and set up in a way that supports the children to develop high levels of independence.
• The spaces: inside, outside and ‘beyond the gate’ are well organised, planned and reflect the interests and developmental needs of the children.
• Provides opportunities to develop children’s resilience, health and wellbeing, promoting sustainability and caring for the environment.
• The children’s voice is evident throughout the setting.

 

Ways we can do this:

The Setting: 

Family partnerships are valued for the positive impact they can have on children’s progress.  Engagement should begin prior to a child beginning at a setting.  Time should be spent with families developing the child’s personal plan.  Practitioners involve families in planning for individual children’s needs and interests, using family learning programmes to develop opportunities for children and parents to learn together.

“Children’s health and wellbeing learning is enhanced through effective partnership working with parents/carers and partners” (How Good Is Our Early Learning and Childcare, Education Scotland, 2016, p. 24).

The vision values and aims has been created with involvement of all stakeholders.  This is reflected upon regularly and changes made as necessary to ensure that it reflects practice, drives improvement and is relevant to all children.

The policies and procedures are bespoke to the setting, available to all stakeholders and updated regularly to ensure that they meet the needs of the setting.

All staff understand the importance of risk assessments and how they are created.  These must be shared with all practitioners, support staff and children.

All child protection concerns should be referred to the designated Child Protection Officer and recorded in line with child protection legislation and policy.

Children are given opportunities to learn about the wellbeing indicators and their rights through a consistent approach by all staff, helping children to make links between them and their daily activities. 

Recognise the value of attachments, connections and relationships between children and staff members, ensuring these are supported wherever possible (this is especially important at times of transition or provision changes due to the COVID pandemic).  The use of key workers may be an effective way of supporting individual children and their families, especially in larger settings. 

All Practitioners:  

Must be aware of national, regional and the setting’s safeguarding and child protection policies.  They should recognise and understand their responsibilities for the procedures that are in place to keep children safe and protect them from harm. 

Are knowledgeable about the lifelong impact of adversity and trauma upon children’s mental and physical health, and health and wellbeing, identifying and planning effective support for individuals and families (Nurture, ACE & trauma informed practice).

Ensure that health and wellbeing is fully embedded in the daily life of the setting and is consistently promoted by all practitioners through sensitive interactions, the resourcing of the setting, and the experiences on offer.

Develop nurturing relationships with children, demonstrating professional love that ensure their personal development and care needs are met.

Are aware of changes in children’s behaviour and act responsively to support their emotional needs, helping them develop their knowledge of their own emotions and the ability to use self-regulation strategies through sensitive interactions.

Make use of recognised tools, such as the Leuven Involvement Scale, to effectively evaluate levels of wellbeing and engagement of children and take action upon the results (Wellbeing tool, Up, up and away, CIRCLE Collaboration, 2017, p. 41).

Support children to be deeply engaged, which enables their brain to develop building new synapses which is the foundation of learning (child development).

Ensure that children’s personal plans and chronologies reflect the holistic needs of that child to support their wellbeing and development, e.g. wellbeing indicators, allergies, medication and dietary requirements.  This should be in consultation with all significant partners, e.g. parents, practitioners, managers and partner agencies.

Work closely with partner agencies, such as health visitors, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, ensuring potential barriers to learning are identified and effective strategies are put in place the support the individual.

Support children to solve problems, and skilfully guide them to identify and plan for their learning, while celebrating their achievements.

Ensure that snack and mealtimes are sociable occasions for children.  They are unhurried and supported by practitioners to develop learning opportunities and independence skills.

Encourage children to make healthy choices and learn about the importance of eating a variety of different foods and drinking water to remain hydrated, e.g. snack routine, baking, planting or other gardening activities.

Ensure that children have a clear understanding how they can keep themselves safe and well.  They are made aware of, understand and know what to do regarding any changes in routines. 

The Environment: 

Is set up in a way that supports and encourages the children to develop their independence and autonomy, eg. the coats and boots are at a height and location which the children can access and return by themselves; children can access and clear snack by themselves; and resources are clearly organised and set out so that children can find what they need.

Indoor spaces provide a range of environments, including quiet, cosy spaces with considered lighting to meet the needs of children throughout the day. (See Space To Grow, Scottish Government, 2017).

Routines and spaces are in place to provide sensitive opportunities for sleep, with both staff and children familiar with these procedures. 

Both indoor and outdoor environments provide opportunities for children to investigate and explore, following their interests and are supported by skilful practitioners who engage in learning alongside the child.

All practitioners promote and support children to play and be active.  All spaces on offer are well-organised and interesting.  A risk benefit approach is used, with practitioners guiding the children through the process of risk evaluation, helping them take steps to minimise risk rather than avoiding activities. 

The outdoor environment must be inclusive to all children and provide a variety of physical gross motor opportunities for children to run, climb, balance and pedal. 

Opportunities to explore beyond the setting, e.g. natural woodland or parks in the local community, take place regularly, allowing the children to develop confidence in different environments.

 

Linked Areas of Practice 

Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)

Inclusion

Nurture

Personal Plans

Self-Regulation

Sensitive Interactions

 

Tools  

Reflecting on Practice

SBC Guidance to support

National Guidance to support

Further Reading to support

Training to support