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52 Teachearlyyears.com LINKS TO LEARNING Health and wellbeing are threaded all the way through the Education Inspection Framework, to ensure children are equipped to make healthy choices, and schemes such as HEYL support the principles of the EYFS through a focus on role playing, making healthy choices, learning to cooperate and finding out about the world. This approach helps children become more self-confident and develop a positive self-image as well as refining motor skills, and developing mathematical skills including a sense of time, counting, problem solving and sequencing. IT’S TIME TO TACKLE CELIA FREETH IS EARLY YEARS QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER AT HES. Early years settings can do much to safeguard the oral health of young children, says Celia Freeth… tooth decay It’s not just about tooth brushing; it’s about life choices and levels of physical activity, and helping children to feel healthy and happy. EVERY 10 YEARS, A SURVEY INTO the dental health of children assesses the changes in each generation and the impact it has on their health and wellbeing. The latest report (published in 2015) found that nearly 26,000 children aged five to nine, were admitted to hospital in England in 2013–14, up 14% from 2011, with tooth decay. In the same report, nearly one-third of five- year-olds and nearly half of eight-year- olds had obvious decay in their milk teeth. These statistics are apparent in older children too, with a fifth of 12- and 15-year-olds (22% and 19% respectively) reporting that they experience difficulty eating and are embarrassed to smile or laugh due to the condition of their teeth (35% and 28%). Tooth extractions are the biggest reason children are admitted to hospital for general anaesthetics in the UK and yet, roughly 40% of children still don’t visit the dentist each year. It’s clear that more needs to be done from a younger age, in order to not only address the oral health of children, but also recognise the impact it has on wellbeing.