Healthy and Sustainable Pre-School Scheme

The Healthy and Sustainable Pre-School Scheme (HSPSS) was launched nationally in 2011 for all childcare settings in Wales as an extension of the Welsh Network of Healthy School Schemes (WNHSS). It is a national accreditation scheme which acknowledges pre-school settings as contributors to children’s health and well-being. Settings who embrace HSPSS are accredited and recognised for their efforts in promoting physical, mental, social and emotional health.

A healthy early years and childcare setting can be defined as one which ‘actively promotes and protects the physical, mental and social health and well-being of its community through positive action. This is done by means such as policy development, strategic planning and staff development, and with regard to its ethos, physical environment and community relations.’

The HSPSS criteria has clear indicators for four consistent aspects of practice: Leadership and Communication, Planning and Delivery, Ethos and Environment, and Family and Community Involvement.

Settings work towards achieving HSPSS status by evidencing the work undertaken against each criteria for key health topics;

Preliminary phase
Nutrition and Oral Health
Physical Activity and Active Play
Emotional and Mental Well-being including Relationships
Environment
Safety
Hygiene
Workplace Health and Well-being

How the Scheme is implemented?

The Healthy Pre-School Scheme is implemented and accredited in ‘phases’. Each phase lasts approximately one year. Settings must work to develop and promote the 8 specific action areas of the scheme.

Preliminary Phase

A whole setting approach involves planning health programmes that are coordinated, comprehensive and progressive, benefitting the whole setting community.

Nutrition and Oral Health

Reflecting a whole setting approach to food, nutrition and oral health, incorporating the promotion of a healthy balanced diet based on current national guidance and good practice in relation to oral health.

Physical Activity / Active Play

Settings will support and promote a wide range of accessible physical activities and active play for children and staff including access to play environments and experiences that meet the developmental needs of children.

Emotional and Mental Well-being including Relationships

Reflecting the ethos of the setting which should encourage mutual respect and promote the mental and emotional well-being, in the broadest sense, of all those who work within it. It also highlights the importance of the development of positive relationships and therefore covers some aspects of personal development. Application of the preliminary aspect and the Emotional and Mental Well-being including relationships aspect will support settings to meet their duties under the statutory framework for embedding a whole school approach to emotional and mental well-being.

Environment

Settings will promote a safe, stimulating environment which reflects the importance of the people within it, with an emphasis on caring for the environment within and outside of the setting.

Safety

Settings will reflect a proactive approach to all aspects of safety including work on all substances. It should be inimize i that the parents and staff use of alcohol and illegal substances could affect the safety of the children in the setting. Smoking is also included in this section but should be considered as a health issue and not just a safety issue. Some aspects of safety are statutory for example safeguarding, health and safety and whilst reference is made to these they will need to be considered separately in more detail. Immunisation is also covered here as a safety issue. Keeping records of Immunisation is good practice which is useful in the event of an outbreak.

Hygiene

Through this aspect settings will reflect on good hygiene, as it is crucially important to early years settings. A whole setting approach is essential, with strong leadership, to Immunisation or prevent communicable diseases and their spread and to promote good infection prevention and control practices for staff, children and their families.

Workplace Health and Well-being

Promoting workplace with a commitment to the health and well-being of all staff. Employers who adopt good working practices will have a happy, healthy and productive workforce, with lower levels of absence.

Accreditation is an important part of the HSPSS process where settings receive official recognition of the work they have undertaken. A Healthy Pre-school setting is one which, not only work towards accreditation, but embeds and embraces health and wellbeing within its everyday life.

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