Flexible Childcare Services Scotland’s Dundee setting has been awarded ‘Millie’s Mark’, a quality mark for nurseries where practitioners working directly with children are trained in paediatric first aid. This has been awarded by National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) in association with Millie’s Trust.
Millie’s Mark is named after Millie Thompson, who tragically died as a result of choking in a nursery in 2012. Her parents Dan and Joanne Thompson have campaigned for all childcare practitioners to have paediatric first aid training and having Millie’s Mark demonstrates that nurseries have met this. In addition it shows they work hard to keep these crucial skills in the forefront of employees’ minds, so they are competent and can apply paediatric first aid in any situation.
Flexible Childcare Scotland (FCSS), a national charity who already manage settings across Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Islands and in Dundee, are delighted to receive the award and are working towards accreditation in each of their existing settings.
Susan McGhee, Chief Executive Officer at FCSS said:
“Achieving Millie’s Mark in our Dundee setting is a great result for our team who have worked tirelessly to complete the robust processes and documentation that ensures accreditation. It is also gives the parents and children in our care even greater confidence in the team and the service we provide. This is also the first setting in Dundee to achieve the accreditation and the fourth in Scotland, however we hope to change that and are already working hard to achieve accreditation across all of our early learning and school age childcare and our additional support needs settings.”
To achieve the mark, all staff working with children must be trained in paediatric first aid and able to demonstrate they are confident and keep knowledge up to date and fresh so they can act swiftly in an emergency. The Mark also makes sure the setting’s policies and procedures are robust and regularly reviewed.
Purnima Tanuku, Chief Executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) adds:
“Achieving Millie’s Mark is a great achievement for the nursery, it shows that all staff are fully trained in paediatric first aid and that they have reflected on their current practice to improve competence and confidence. Becoming a Millie’s Mark’s nursery is a clear indicator for parents that this nursery has met the highest standards and gives them the reassurance that their children are safe’.
Rachel Wilkie, Lead Practitioner at Flexible Childcare Services Dundee said:
“I am very proud to be part of the Dundee service and to have put my knowledge and understanding into achieving Millies Mark. First aid has always been something I’ve always been passionate about and to receive an accreditation for our service is above and beyond than what I expected! It’s a fantastic accolade for our team who can all now demonstrate that they keep children safe no matter what situation may arise.”
