Browse through these FAQs to find answers to commonly raised questions.
The criteria states: ‘The provider will be responsible for determining which staff have direct care of children and the type of PFA qualification they should hold, for example, considering staff other than early years practitioners who come into regular close contact with children at key times, such as lunchtime supervisors, drivers, escorts at SEN settings, etc.’
Settings will be required to include this information on a risk assessment (template provided).
While it’s a fantastic achievement to already train 100% of staff in paediatric first aid, Millie’s Mark is about much more than this. Millie’s Mark requires that the first aid learning is kept alive and in the forefront of practitioners’ minds, so they are confident, ready and capable should an emergency occur. The comprehensive process helps you to identify staff strengths as well as fears and enables you to strategically deploy the most confident staff across the setting.
NDNA define bank staff as regular cover staff that may or may not be on the nursery provider’s books. These need to be included on the staff training and summary confidence audits.
Yes. It is the responsibility of the nursery provider to ensure that 100% of staff who work directly with children are trained in paediatric first aid. This therefore includes any bank/supply staff they may have. Nursery providers are subject to a spot check at any time and if there are any members of staff including bank/supply staff at the premises with direct care of children without a full and valid paediatric first aid certificate then they will not retain Millie’s Mark.
Should suitably PFA trained bank/supply staff be unavailable, yet required to meet the legal ratios in the setting, the setting is advised to complete the Agency and Student Worker Risk Assessment.
Yes. Prices are available on the website.
Yes, you are expected to maintain 100% of staff trained in paediatric first aid over the lifetime of the award. You are also required to submit annual declarations and inform NDNA of any changes, serious accidents, injuries or death within the nursery.
England only: This is in addition to your EYFS requirement to notify Ofsted.
Yes, you are expected to complete an individual audit for all staff and use this information to support your risk assessment and training. This is essential to ensure that your staff are adequately supported, according to their areas of confidence and competence in PFA. A summary of the confidence audit must be uploaded with the training matrix and this should be used to inform your staff deployment and action plans.
The costs are to cover all of the aspects associated with the running Millie’s Mark including IT support, administration costs, mentoring, online assessments, spot check assessments, verification and panel costs, marketing and promotion. This would need to take place for each individual nursery that applied. The three different price bands cover any additional assessment time/costs required when checking more staff certificates and longer spot check visits.
You must inform Millie’s Mark as soon as possible after the event and always within 14 days. There is an accident declaration form which needs to be completed in full and emailed to Millie’s Mark. You may be required to supply additional evidence such as internal accident forms, RIDDOR reports, etc.
Your regulatory body will set out the types of serious accidents, injuries and incidents which need to be reported, e.g. death of a child whilst in your care, or later, as the result of something that happened while the child was in your care; attendance at hospital to receive treatment as a result of something that happened while the child was in your care, any significant incidents or events which is likely to affect your suitability to care for children and any serious injuries such as broken or fractured bones, loss of consciousness, etc. See the document ‘When and what to report to RIDDOR’.
A comprehensive check of the paediatric first aid training provider undertaken by the nursery provider to check its course content and evaluate its quality. A factsheet to support you in carrying out due diligence will be available to download when you sign up.
At least one person who has a current paediatric first aid (PFA) certificate must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present, and must accompany children on outings. The certificate must be for a full course consistent with the criteria se out in Annex A. PFA training must be renewed every three years and be relevant for people caring for young children and babies.
Providers should take into account the number of children, staff and layout of premises to ensure that a paediatric first aider is able to respond to emergencies quickly.
All staff who obtained a level 2 and/or level 3 qualification since 30 June 2016 must obtain a PFA qualification within three months of starting work in order to be included in the required staff: child ratios at level 2 or level 3 in an early years setting. To continue to be included in the ratio requirement the certificate must be renewed every 3 years.
Providers should display (or make available to parents) staff PFA certificates or a list of staff who have a current PFA certificate.
Ofsted guidance on when to report accidents and injuries is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/childcare-reporting-childrens-accidents-and-…
Millie’s Mark looks only at paediatric first aid certificates. For further information regarding first aid at work please see Health & Safety Executive guidance www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/
The criteria states that 100% of staff working directly with children are required to have paediatric first aid. Please be aware that this does not include:
These courses are not accepted as part of the Millie’s Mark criteria.
Millie’s Mark can only award settings when it has seen all staff member’s paediatric first aid certificates, therefore we would recommend trying to request a duplicate certificate from the training provider. Where this is not possible the member of staff would need to attend another course and the new certificate uploaded.
There is a three month grace period to allow for these instances. This is NOT included when the setting is going for their initial award. ALL staff must be trained at point of award.
Yes. Prices are available on the website.
Yes. The Millie’s Mark criteria gives a 3 month grace period so new childcare providers / childminders will need to be trained within 3 months.
Millie’s Mark is about raising standards in paediatric first aid by:
Every three years.
Information about when and what to report to RIDDOR is available in the Millie’s Mark Criteria, Templates and Resources section of your online portfolio.
Primary schools are eligible. Secondary schools are not. Prices are available on the website.
Yes, you can. We have specific documents relevant for Scotland.
There are no specific requirements for the number of PFA trained staff under Scotland’s Health and Social Care Standards.
However 1.24 of the standards states that ‘Any treatment or intervention that I experience is safe and effective’; 3.14 states that ‘I have confidence in people because they are trained, competent and skilled’…. and 4.14 states that ‘My care and support is provided in a planned and safe way, including if there is an emergency or unexpected event.’
These standards require individuals to be trained in PFA and to have the confidence to act in an emergency.
Yes. You have to apply for each nursery separately, as each individual setting is assessed against the Millie’s Mark criteria, just like with regulatory body inspections. Details about this are included in the terms and conditions on the website.
Due to the nature of Millie’s Mark the spot check will still go ahead – an accident could happen when a manager is not there.
A percentage of nurseries will receive an onsite or virtual visit. This could be after your application or any time in the next three years. All online portfolios are subject to online assessment.
Students on longer term placements that are included in ratios are expected to have paediatric first aid certificates.
Shorter term student placements and work experience students are not required to have a paediatric first aid certificate but should not be left unsupervised with children at any time.
NDNA define supply staff as those emergency staff that you may seek in emergencies from a supply agency. They are still required to have a paediatric first aid certificate on site with them. However you would not be expected to put them on your training matrix.
Should suitably PFA trained bank/supply staff be unavailable, yet required to meet the legal ratios in the setting, the setting is advised to complete the Agency and Student Worker Risk Assessment.
If you are spot checked and there is a supply member of staff working directly and unsupervised with children and they do not have a paediatric first aid certificate you will not pass Millie’s Mark or you may have the Mark withdrawn.
Settings have a minimum of three months and maximum of six months to complete Millie’s Mark.
No. Millie’s Mark does not have preferred suppliers for paediatric first aid training. To be eligible you must have had training by a registered provider.
Nurseries can choose their own training provider. Preferably, it should be one with a nationally-approved and accredited first aid qualification, or one that is a member of a trade body with an approval and monitoring scheme.
The audit will ask about how a training provider was chosen and the quality checks carried out on staff competencies following the training.
Yes. Volunteers are required to have a paediatric first aid certificate. This can be a six hour emergency PFA.
Yes, you can. We have specific documents relevant for Wales.
Information about notifications and incident reporting can be found on your CIW online account: https://www.careinspectorate.wales/providing-a-care-service/already-regi…
