‘Supervised Toothbrushing in Nurseries and Schools’, backed by the ‘National Toothbrushing Standards’, is a Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 6 national work based award. It supports Childsmile, a national oral health initiative aimed at reducing inequalities in the standard of oral health and access to oral care for children.
South Lanarkshire College piloted this optional element of the nursery practitioner qualification in the second half of 2015 and earlier this year. Ninety students enrolled in the Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Early Education and Childcare took part. By the end of 2016, it is anticipated that 190 child care students will have completed the oral health module and achieved the SCQF qualification.
Lynda McBain, curriculum manager of the Faculty of Care at South Lanarkshire College explained: “Our desire to deliver this unit came as a result of an employer engagement session at which our nursery partners believed there was a need for students to be trained in Childsmile practices.
“We acknowledge the contributions of our NHS colleagues in helping us to become the first college to successfully pilot the module with ninety of our students achieving the qualification.”
Jose Marshall, assistant director for Priority Groups with NES, added: “We were delighted to collaborate with South Lanarkshire College and NHS Lanarkshire to develop an SCQF level 6 module in oral health for students training to become nursery practitioners. The learning gained should lead to increased support for the Childsmile programme in nurseries and schools from this group of staff, especially as this module will be offered nationally to other colleges of further education.”
Speaking about the launch, Trish Gray, specialist lead in education at NES, said: “Lanarkshire Health Board approached me in early 2015, to tell me about the successful partnership working they already had with South Lanarkshire College. I looked at the oral health training they were delivering and began to apply learning outcomes that could be formally assessed. The perfect solution was to apply practical assessment that could be completed within the students’ placements. The result is a qualification which supports the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ element of the Curriculum for Excellence for nurseries and schools.”
Elaine Sharp, senior oral health educator at NHS Lanarkshire, agreed saying: “This initiative is another good example of joint working involving South Lanarkshire College, NES and NHS Lanarkshire. This will ensure staff working in nurseries and schools are prepared from day one of employment, in supporting the Childsmile Programme for the benefit of the children in Lanarkshire. This initiative is attracting interest across Scotland and is a good example of best practice and highlights the partnership working within education, health and social care.”
The new oral health learning module will have its official launch at South Lanarkshire College on Monday, November 14.