Welcome to Northamptonshire Healthy Schools
Home > Early Years
Healthy Early Years Introduction
The Healthy Early Years Programme has been developed as an extension to the Northamptonshire Healthy Schools Programme. It started as a pilot project with 5 settings in the county in 2009/10. Details of the outcomes from the pilot project can be found later in the Good Practice section.

Whole Setting Approach
The programme works on a 'whole setting approach' which looks at seven focus areas as follows:

  • Leadership and staff
  • Policy
  • Culture and environment
  • Planning and resources (including the use of outside agencies)
  • Observation and assessment
  • Consultation with children
  • Consultation with parents/carers and the wider community

Aims
The aims of the Healthy Early Years programme are linked to our whole setting approach and are to:

  • Improve health and wellbeing outcomes for pre-school children and their families
  • Provide a framework of good practice in the planning, policy, delivery and evaluation of health and wellbeing, which is in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
  • Help support young children and their families in making healthier lifestyle choices (within the setting and at home)
  • Develop staff confidence and competence to deliver health and wellbeing messages to children and families.

Healthy Early Years Audit

The audit is made up of three key themes:

  • PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional Development)
  • Healthy Eating
  • Physical Development

The three themes are unified by the 'whole setting approach' which looks at seven focus areas of the setting and how these relate to each theme. The whole setting approach looks at:

  1. Leadership and Staff
  2. Policy Development
  3. Planning and resources, (including working with outside agencies)
  4. Learning opportunities
  5. Setting culture and environment
  6. Giving children a voice
  7. Provision of support services for children and parents/carers
  8. Partnerships with parents/carers and local communities
  9. Observation and assessment

The audit criteria can be used by Children's Centres, day nurseries and pre-schools, to draw up an action plan to improve health and wellbeing. Further information on each of the 3 themes can be found in the 'key themes' section of the website. The Healthy Early Years Scheme is not yet available across the whole county, so to see if your setting could take part, please contact your Healthy Schools Advisor.

All settings are encouraged to undertake a survey of their staff and parents at the beginning of their Healthy Early Years journey, to collect baseline data on health and wellbeing, which can be used to form an action plan. It is also important that settings can collect the views of children in this process. Surveys should then be repeated with the same staff and parents (where possible) when all of the audit criteria have been met and outcomes established. Example surveys have been developed for use with both parents and staff, that can be accessed here:

Healthy Early Years Parent Survey
Healthy Early Years Staff Survey

Further information on resources, best practice and training can be found in the Early Years section of this website.