On Friday 20th October we were visited by Helen Field, Workforce Development Manager for Central Bedford-shire Children’s Services to assess both of our settings for the Healthy Child- Healthy Workforce accreditation!
We are pleased to say that we achieved the award for both East and West sites! This accreditation is a quality mark to show that we as an organisation support the children and the staff with health and wellbeing in all that we do.
We are so pleased to have achieved this award that lasts for 2 years.
Children’s Centre– Sandy and Biggleswade Children’s centre : 0-5 Years, Sandy Children’s Centre, Bedfordshire (sandychildrenscentre.co.uk)
Please find the website for the Sandy and Biggleswade Children’s Centre that always has support on offer for families with children from the ages 0-12 years old. There are classes for parents to attend to support with a wide range of subjects.
PANCO– Across both our sites we have a trained Physical and Nutritional Co-ordinator (PANCO) whose role it is to ensure that our menus are nutritionally balanced and that the activities we provide are encouraging children to be physically active. Taylor Thomas is the PANCO for the East site, and Hannah Thrussell is the PANCO for the West Site. Each PANCO will be working with the educators and parents in order to promote positive changes with regard to physical activity supporting them to make healthier and more balanced choices.
Each half term we will be focusing on 3 different foods and 3 different forms of movement for the children to focus on. These will be advertised in our newsletters.
Look out for the PANCO display board at collection times for more information and advice.
5 to Thrive– Five to Thrive – An attachment-based approach to positive parenting Please find the link to the 5 to Thrive website- “The five to thrive model is a way of understanding how connected relationships are fundamental to human wellbeing and help us to build resilient communities.” Our staff are trained on using the 5 to Thrive approach and we are continuing to embed this into our setting and our practice. Look out for informational sessions about this!
Children’s Centre– Sandy and Biggleswade Children’s centre : 0-5 Years, Sandy Children’s Centre, Bedfordshire (sandychildrenscentre.co.uk)
Please find the website for the Sandy and Biggleswade Children’s Centre that always has support on offer for families with children from the ages 0-12 years old. There are classes for parents to attend to support with a wide range of subjects.
PANCO– Across both our sites we have a trained Physical and Nutritional Co-ordinator (PANCO) whose role it is to ensure that our menus are nutritionally balanced and that the activities we provide are encouraging children to be physically active. Taylor Thomas is the PANCO for the East site, and Hannah Thrussell is the PANCO for the West Site. Each PANCO will be working with the educators and parents in order to promote positive changes with regard to physical activity supporting them to make healthier and more balanced choices.
Each half term we will be focusing on 3 different foods and 3 different forms of movement for the children to focus on. These will be advertised in our newsletters.
Look out for the PANCO display board at collection times for more information and advice.
5 to Thrive– Five to Thrive – An attachment-based approach to positive parenting Please find the link to the 5 to Thrive website- “The five to thrive model is a way of understanding how connected relationships are fundamental to human wellbeing and help us to build resilient communities.” Our staff are trained on using the 5 to Thrive approach and we are continuing to embed this into our setting and our practice. Look out for informational sessions about this!
Please find some healthy eating leaflets:
Please find some health-related leaflets:



HEALTHY EATING FACTS – DID YOU KNOW?
The amount that children should eat depends on their size and age – there are no set rules. But a good guide to a 5-a-day fruit or vegetable portion for them is the amount they can fit into the palm of their hand!!
The average toddler is only getting 27% of their daily dietary requirement of vitamin D. Vitamin D is important for bone development and is one of the hardest nutrients to get. Research shows a recent influx in rickets in children due to vitamin D deficiency!
Vitamin D is found in oily fish such as salmon, sardines and mackerel, eggs, fortified fat spreads, fortified breakfast cereals, powdered milk and summer sun!
The Department of Health recommends that all children aged 6 months – 5 yrs should take a daily supplement containing vitamin D.
Toddlers should have six to eight drinks per day to ensure adequate hydration and keep constipation at bay?! Drinks should be from a beaker or cup. Milk and water are the best drinks to offer to minimise tooth decay (children of two years and older can have semi-skimmed milk). Tea and coffee reduce the amounts of iron that children can absorb and should not be given at all!
Porridge is the breakfast superfood!!
During the colder months, there is nothing like a warm bowl of porridge to get your children going in the morning. Eating porridge maintains children’s energy for longer, so discourages snacking in between meals and supports children and families to maintain a healthy weight.
Eating porridge for breakfast has some great health benefits it can prevent heart disease, certain cancers and constipation. Make porridge more exciting by adding fruit, nuts, seeds or a drizzle of honey.