At a celebration event, staff from our Public Health and Learning Development teams presented the awards to the settings. They have all been involved in the pre-school emotional health and wellbeing project, which aims to support the mental health, wellbeing and resilience of children in Central Bedfordshire.

The ‘Healthy Child, Healthy Workforce’ Quality Standard Accreditation evidences a setting’s commitment to the emotional and mental health and wellbeing of its children and workforce, and to creating a nurturing environment where children can thrive. To become accredited, settings complete a self-assessment to demonstrate how they meet eight standards that we have developed. The setting is then visited to quality assure the self-assessment.

At the event, 2 of the 8 professionals who have successfully completed the Level 4 qualification in Early Years Emotional Wellbeing, which we part fund, were also presented with certificates.

Cllr Steve Owen, Executive Member for Children’s Services, said:

The early years have a huge role to play in creating a foundation for good mental health in the future. Children who have good mental health are more likely to succeed in school, build healthy relationships and grow into well-adjusted adults. By focusing on the mental health and wellbeing of children in their early years, we support them to have a healthier, happier future where they are better equipped to handle life’s ups and downs and contribute positively to their communities. The celebration event not only acknowledges the hard work and dedication of those involved in our project, but also reinforces our ongoing commitment to improving the emotional health and wellbeing of preschool children.

As well as partly funding the Level 4 qualification in Early Years Emotional Wellbeing and developing the ‘Healthy Child, Healthy Workforce’ accreditation, we are delivering Parenting Puzzle courses across our children’s centres to help parents build strategies to reduce the stress of parenting and support their child’s emotional wellbeing. We have also developed e-learning and training aimed at early years practitioners.