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FAQ's

Browse through these FAQs to find answers to commonly raised questions.

3.25. 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. 
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/ALN settings, etc.’ ‘
Staff’ includes all childcare providers and childminders. Settings will be required to include this information on a risk assessment (template provided).
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.
Yes, as per the Terms and Conditions of Millie’s Mark each nursery needs to register individually. This is because each setting is assessed on the staff's confidence and competencies which will differ across the settings. There is also a requirement to submit a floor plan so that decisions regarding calling on people in an emergency can be assessed.
Yes. Prices are available on the website.
Yes, you are expected to maintain 100% of childcare providers / childminders 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.
Wales only: This is in addition to the requirement to notify CIW.
Yes, you are expected to complete an individual audit for all childcare providers / childminders and use this information to support your risk assessment and training. This is essential to ensure that your childcare providers / childminders are adequately supported, according to their areas of confidence and competence in PFA. A summary of all the confidence audit must be uploaded with the training matrix and this should be used to inform your childcare provider / childminder 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.
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.
3.25. At least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate must be on the premises and available at all times when children are present, and must accompany children on outings. Paediatric first aid training must be relevant for workers caring for young children and where relevant, 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. Providers can choose which organisation they wish to provide the training (preferably 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) but the training must cover the course content as outlined in Annex A: Criteria for effective paediatric first aid (PFA) training.
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 childcare providers / childminders working directly with children are required to have paediatric first aid. Please be aware that this does not include:
  • First aid at work
  • Emergency first aid at work
  • Outdoors first aid
  • Forest School first aid.
    These courses are not accepted as part of the Millie's Mark criteria.
For best practice Millie's Mark recommends that all staff complete the full 12 hour paediatric first aid training course. We understand this is not always feasible and do allow for a mix of 6 and 12 hour certificates. To meet the criteria there would need to be a minimum of one member of staff with 12 hour PFA onsite at all times. We would always recommend that you exceed this and each setting should perform due diligence to look at the size of the setting and number of staff to decide which training should be completed. This should also be risk assessed to make sure the requirements are always met and there are procedures in place to cover any staff absences from the setting. This is a requirement for all nations regardless of whether or not they follow the EYFS.
Every three years.
Millie’s Mark can only award settings when it has seen all childcare providers’ / childminders’ paediatric first aid certificates therefore we would recommend trying to request a duplicate certificate from the training provider. Where this is not possible the childcare provider / childminder would need to attend another course and the new certificate uploaded.
If a member of staffs paediatric first aid certificate expires whilst they are on maternity leave, it is not expected that they renew their certificate whilst on maternity leave. However managers should work with the member of staff to arrange the training in line with when they return e.g. maybe through a keep in touch day. This should be evidenced in the Millie’s Mark audit/risk assessment. The same would apply for staff on long term sick leave.
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 childcare providers / childminders must be trained at point of award.
Yes.
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:
  • Increasing numbers of paediatric first aid-trained childcare providers / childminders
  • Increasing confidence and competencies in applying paediatric first aid, no matter what the situation
  • Enabling childcare providers / childminders to respond quickly in emergencies
  • Raising the quality and skills of the early years workforce
  • Helping practitioners with day-to-day first aid issues, such as allergies
  • Providing reassurance to parents.
Once awarded, we ask that you continue to maintain your portfolio and keep the matrix and certificates up to date. Six months before your current award expires you will be contacted to purchase the Millie's Mark renewal. You must complete the whole process again to show how you have continued to review practice and resubmit for assessment. You should submit your portfolio to attend a panel before your current award expires so there is no gap in your award period. If the renewal is approved the three year award date will be added to your current award so you don’t miss out.
The renewal cost will be the same as the initial accreditation fee (unless you now fall into a different bracket for staff numbers), as the same process is followed by NDNA and Millie's Trust. The process for renewals is identical to first accreditation meaning your portfolio will need to be reviewed by NDNA, go through the panel process and be subject to a potential spot check visit.
Information about when and what to report to RIDDOR is available in the Millie’s Mark Criteria, Templates and Resources section of you online portfolio.
Visit the Health and Safety Executive website for further information: https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/when-do-i-report.htm
Primary schools are eligible as Millie's Mark covers the EYFS age range. Secondary schools are not.
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.
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 experienced students are not required to have a paediatric first aid certificate but should not be left unsupervised with children at any time.
If the student is doing their PFA as part of their course and this falls outside the 3 month grace period then please contact Millie’s Mark to discuss.
NDNA define supply staff as those emergency childcare providers / childminders 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. If you are spot checked and there is a supply childcare provider / childminder working directly 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 childcare providers’ / childminders’ competencies following the training.
Yes. Volunteers are required to have a paediatric first aid certificate. This can be a six hour emergency PFA.
https://www.gov.wales/national-minimum-standards-regulated-childcare
Standard 10: At least one person caring for the children must have a current Full Paediatric First Aid 12 hours certificate for a full course which is appropriate for the age of the children being cared for.
There are sufficient numbers of staff suitably trained in first aid on the premises at all times when children are present. The numbers of suitably trained staff is sufficient given the lay out of the premises and that person’s ability to respond quickly to emergencies and to allow for circumstances where staff maybe absent or called away from the setting unexpectedly. Sufficient numbers of suitably trained staff in first aid must accompany children on any outings.
Providers can choose which organisation they wish to provide the training. However, advice is provided in Annex B to help guide you in choosing a course and you will need to ensure it meets the requirements of these NMS, the needs of your setting and those that use it. The training must cover the course content as outlined in Annex B: Supplementary First Aid Guidance for Paediatric First Aid (PFA) Training.