Children across Bedworth are set to have improved oral health, better speech and language skills and increased independence following the launch of ‘Bedworth Bottle Swap’ in the town. The launc...
Children across Bedworth are set to have improved oral health, better speech and language skills and increased independence following the launch of ‘Bedworth Bottle Swap’ in the town. The launch event took place at St Michael’s Children’s Centre last week and was attended by organisations involved in the development of the scheme and the Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth Cllr Chris Watkins. Niamh Sheehan, aged 10 who designed the ‘Bedworth Bottle Swap’ logo was also there to see her design brought to life in full colour!
The scheme is part of a two-year pilot within North Warwickshire to improve school-readiness and has been developed with different early years settings across the town - with support from key services such as health visiting and speech and language therapy - to help children move on from bottles to cups with information and support. Warwickshire County Council (WCC) has funded 1000 free-flow cups, and parents, grand-parents and carers will be supported by early years professionals to make the change.
Talking about the project Hayley Norman, the Project Lead for School readiness at the Warwickshire School Health & Wellbeing Service (Compass) said: “The change from a bottle to a free-flow cup is an important part of a child’s development from a baby to a toddler and helps with oral health, speech and language as well as their independence. The Bedworth Bottle Swap is a fantastic opportunity for children and families to make this change and reach this important milestone in their journey to school readiness.”
Councillor Les Caborn, WCC Portfolio Holder for Health added: “In Warwickshire we put children in the heart of all we do, and I am pleased to hear about this fantastic scheme to support families in Bedworth. Ten early years settings across the town were involved; we are using a collaborative approach to truly work together to develop and deliver services to improve the health and wellbeing of Warwickshire families.”
For more information about the Warwickshire School Health & Wellbeing Service visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/schoolhealthandwellbeing. Parents and carers across Warwickshire are able to contact the Health Visiting Service for advice and support through a confidential text messaging service available Monday to Friday 9am-5pm on 07520 615293. If you are the parent of carer of a school aged child, you can text a school nurse on 07520 619 376 Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.