Early years settings will be inspected on ‘The effectiveness of care practices in helping children feel emotionally secure and ensuring children are physically, mentally & emotionally healthy’

Ofsted 2012

Well-being

Well-being is a particular state or feeling that can be recognized by satisfaction, enjoyment & pleasure. The person is relaxed and expresses inner rest, feels the energy flow and radiates vitality, is open to the surroundings, accessible and flexible.

Professor Ferre Laevers

Why is well-being important?

Well-being relates to our basic needs as human beings. These are

• Physical needs (need to eat, drink, move & sleep)
• The need for affection, warmth & tenderness (being hugged, receiving & giving love & emotional warmth)
• The need for safety, clarity & continuity (knowing the rules, being able to predict what comes next, counting on others)
• The need for recognition & affirmation (feeling accepted & appreciated by others, being part of a group & having a sense of belonging)
• The need to feel capable (feeling that you are good at something, to experience success)

Intellectual development and social & emotional development are strongly influenced by a child’s experiences during their pre-school years.

Emotional well-being includes being happy and confident and not anxious or depressed. Social well-being allows children to make good relationships.

As part of our ongoing observation, assessment & planning cycle your child’s key person will be monitoring their well-being & involvement and planning activities to support the children in this area. This will be shared with you as part of our parent consultation process. IWe record children's well-being & involvement as part of our focus observations. These are collated in the child's on-line learning journal. This can be viewed at any time and you can add to it if you wish.

Early years practitioners should identify factors that may pose a risk to a child’s social & emotional well-being as part of the on-going assessment of their development. This could include

• A child being withdrawn
• A child being unresponsive
• Children showing signs of a behavioral problem
• Delayed speech or poor communication & language skills

Practitioners understand children’s emotional health needs and have the time & skills to develop nurturing relationships.

Benefits to children & families

• Children who are more engaged with learning
• Parents who are more engaged with the nursery and more in tune with their child’s learning & development
• High morale within the setting
• Good relationships developed between staff, parents & children.
• The good emotional health of the children

The settings existing policies that support this one are as follows

• Safeguarding
• Behavior management
• Equalities
• Special Education Needs & Disability (SEND)
• Parents as partners
• Settling in procedures
• Healthy eating
• Observation, assessment & planning
• Aims, values & principles
• Play & learning
• Outdoor play & learning