Children's Health & Dental Care

Supporting Children’s Health and Dental Care at Scallywags Nursery

At Scallywags Nursery your child’s health, happiness, and long-term wellbeing are central to everything we do. From nutrition to good oral hygiene and active play and we follow the latest evidence and national guidelines to help children build healthy habits for life.

Overall, Health & Wellbeing

We adopt a “whole child” approach: physical health, nutrition, movement, sleep, and emotional wellbeing are all interconnected.
We work in partnership with health visitors, local public health teams, and other professionals to monitor and support children’s growth and development.
We follow “All Our Health: Healthy Beginnings” guidance, which emphasises promoting healthy weight, physical activity, and breastfeeding support from birth.
We encourage staff to use every opportunity to reinforce healthy practices and signpost families to health services when needed.

Oral Health & Toothbrushing

Why it matters?

Good oral health is a fundamental part of children’s overall health. Baby (primary) teeth are important for eating, speech, confidence, and guiding permanent teeth.
Tooth decay is preventable, and early habit‑forming makes a big difference.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requires settings to promote children’s good health, including oral health.

What we do in nursery:

At Scallywags, we believe that developing good oral hygiene habits starts in the early years — and we play an active role in encouraging children to care for their teeth in a fun, age-appropriate way.

While we do not offer supervised toothbrushing at nursery, we support families to establish good routines at home and provide play-based education throughout the year.

Toothbrushing Packs for Home

Throughout the year, we send home toothbrushing packs containing a child-friendly toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste, and an information leaflet for parents and carers for families to use at home.
These packs help families start or maintain healthy brushing habits at home, in line with NHS and oral health guidelines.

Toothbrushing Education Through Play

Children take part in interactive activities using large model teeth and toothbrushes to learn how to brush effectively.
We explore toothbrushing and self-care through role play, stories, songs, and games.
These fun, engaging sessions help children understand the importance of brushing and build confidence with the routine.

Positive Messaging & Reinforcement

We talk about healthy teeth in everyday routines, such as mealtimes and story time, encouraging children to recognise what helps keep teeth strong and clean.
Staff use age-appropriate language to explain why brushing twice a day is important — especially before bed.
We avoid sugary drinks outside mealtimes; we favour water and milk

Partnership with Parents

We share resources, reminders, and tips with families to help support regular brushing at home and how to find a dentist.
Parents are welcome to speak to us if they need help accessing dental care, choosing toothpaste, or establishing a routine.
Occasionally, we may invite a local dental team for educational visits or demonstrations.

Healthy Eating & Obesity Prevention

Why it matters?

Childhood obesity and unhealthy weight gain can have lasting effects on health, self-esteem, and future wellbeing.
Early years is a crucial window: healthy eating habits and consistent physical activity early on help reduce later obesity risk.
The Healthy Child Programme highlights the importance of diet, monitoring growth, and early support.

What we do in nursery:

Balanced, nutritious menus: Our meals and snacks are planned using government healthy eating guidelines. We emphasise fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and dairy, and limit sugar, salt and saturated fats.
We avoid adding free sugars to meals, avoid sugary drinks, and limit treats to occasional, small servings.
We schedule mealtimes with structure and mindful eating — encouraging children to eat when hungry and stop when full.
We offer water throughout the day and avoid sugary drinks between meals.
We avoid marketing or promoting high-sugar snacks or sugary rewards in the nursery environment.
We aim to keep children physically active, through free play, structured movement sessions, outdoor play, dance, and games. For pre‑walkers and infants, we encourage “tummy time” and movement as much as possible.
We reduce sedentary time, we limit screen time, encouraging movement rather than prolonged sitting.
We provide parent/carer workshops, newsletters, and resources with guidance around healthy weaning, portion sizes, snack ideas, and screening out hidden sugars.
We work to create a consistent healthy message between nursery and home (e.g., sharing menus, tips, and recipes).
We consider special dietary needs and food allergies individually, providing safe and nutritionally equivalent alternatives.

How Families and Carers Can Help

Encourage and support brushing at home, following the recommended twice-daily routine with fluoride toothpaste.
Continue healthy eating habits at home (limiting sugary snacks and drinks, modelling water consumption, offering vegetables and fruit).
Ensure regular dental check-ups for your child, beginning by the first tooth or by age one.
Talk to us if your child has special dietary needs, or if you have concerns about growth, weight, or oral health.
Please cooperate with our nursery’s health promotion programmes (e.g., no bringing in sugary treats for celebratory purposes).

Our Commitment & Continuous Improvement

We train our staff in health promotion, nutrition, oral care, and safeguarding — and refresh that training periodically.
We review our menus, routines, and health policies regularly, in line with updated national guidelines or local public health advice.
As required we liaise with local public health, dental health promotion teams, health visitors, and dietetic services to ensure we are aligned with best practice.
We welcome feedback from families on how we can further support health, oral care, and healthy growth.