A new Dundee nursery has become the first in the city to be awarded a ‘Millie’s Mark’ for first aid.
Flexible Childcare Services Scotland, which has recently taken over the former Fintry Nursery, has been awarded the mark after its practitioners were all trained in paediatric first aid.
Millie’s Mark is named after Millie Thompson, who died after choking while at nursery in 2012.
Her parents Dan and Joanne Thompson have campaigned for all childcare staff to have paediatric first aid training and get an official Millie’s Mark from the National Day Nurseries Association.
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 Millie’s 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 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.”
All staff working directly with the children at the Dundee nursery had to undergo specialised paediatric first aid training to achieve the mark, and have now committed to keeping their knowledge up-to-date to make sure they can always act swiftly in an emergency.
Susan McGhee, chief executive officer at Flexible Childcare Services Scotland, 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 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.”
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, added: “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 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.”