Our Busy Bees Nursery at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry is proud to announce that they are the first day nursery in Coventry to receive the Coventry Healthy Early Years Setting Award.

The award is supported by Coventry PCT and Coventry City Council, and awards Early Years providers who promote positive health outcomes for the children, and their families, who attend a the setting. This is done by celebrating the good practice that already exists within the nursery, whilst continuing to build on existing knowledge.

The nursery demonstrated their commitment to healthy outcomes by promoting the existing initiatives offered to children. Some of these include Cooking with me, which encourages children to cook using recipes, Wake and Shake, a 5 minute dance routine carried out by the children each morning, and Grow your own, which encourages children to plant and nurture their own fruit and vegetables before harvesting for eating. The nursery also offers a Breast Feeding Café for new Moms every Tuesday, and our nursery staff have completed Breast Feeding training courses so they are on hand to answer any queries. The nursery is also a national supporter of Change4Life, and takes part in regular health awareness days, such as National Smile Week and the National Day Nurseries Association’s, Healthy Body Happy Me.

CHEYSA Project Manager, Ellie McCann, was impressed with the nursery’s outlook on encouraging children to lead a healthy lifestyle, commenting “I have been encouraged by the nurseries enthusiastic and open response to the award and to attending the training requirements. The Managers celebrate the organisation and actively promote the innovative health promotion work they do.

“I am happy to say that they are now going to be one of the first formally accredited CHEYSA settings in Coventry and I am asking that relevant health partners come to see the setting to enable them to have a greater understanding of what a real health promoting setting is. I assess a lot of different settings and feel the support from being in a chain is beneficial and so was most impressed when they were happy to open their doors to other settings.”

Nursery Manager, Deena Billings, is delighted with the accreditation, commenting “We have always elevated the importance of healthy eating and looking after our bodies to children in nursery, so the Coventry Healthy Early Years Setting Award was a great opportunity for us to not only promote what we already have in place, but also build on our existing knowledge. We’re really proud to have received the award, and to have been given the opportunity to share our experience with other nursery settings to raise the quality of care in all nurseries throughout Coventry.”