Nursery World - Look at me

Health visitor assistant Linda Bartholomew and her colleague Cathy Kennedy have launched a networking project to promote good health in local nurseries. Here in the first of a new series, Linda looks at the importance of the keyworker's role in helping children overcome anxieties and develop emotionally Being physically healthy is about a lot more than having nutritious food and having no illness. Young children need to have a sense of being special, and if they do they are better able to respond positively to their environment, to people and to new experiences.

Being physically healthy is about a lot more than having nutritious food and having no illness. Young children need to have a sense of being special, and if they do they are better able to respond positively to their environment, to people and to new experiences.

Emotional wellbeing requires relationships which are close, warm and supportive and being able to express feelings such as joy, sadness, frustration and fear. These lead to the development of ways to cope with new and challenging situations.

Ensuring that there is always someone who is special to a child to support them in the nursery has been a key aim of our project. By working closely with practitioners, children, families and other health professionals as part of our networking activities in the Southend-on-Sea area, we have been able to identify how key workers need to respond to individual children who are lacking in confidence. A lot of this work comes down to establishing shared understandings between home and setting, and finding appropriate ways of responding to children's emotions.

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