Professor Green has today, announced his winners of the South West supervised toothbrushing singing and colouring competition held across the region’s primary schools in an exclusive video across NHS England South West’s social media.

NHS England South West teamed up with rapper and health activist Professor Green, and the Big Brush Club to launch an exciting competition for all children in the South West aged 3-5 years old, earlier this year.

The school children were asked to submit entries as a school singing their version of the Big Brush Club’s toothbrushing song and the option to enter a colouring competition – choosing to colour one of the Big Brush Club mascots!

Professor Green, who chose the winners and runner’s up of the singing and colouring competition said: “Well done to all who entered and thank you for the reminder to make sure we brush our teeth twice a day for two minutes.

“I enjoyed watching and singing along, as did my whole family and well done to all – it was great to see!”

His runners up were announced as:

St Stephen Churchtown Academy, St Austell Cornwall – singing

St Peter’s CofE Primary School, Wilton Somerset – colouring

His winners were announced as:

Ernesettle Community Primary School – Plymouth – singing

Chilmark and Fonthill Bishop Primary School, Salisbury – colouring

The Big Brush Club is offered in 1305 primary schools and pre-schools across the South West and is commissioned by the NHS, in partnership with local authorities, and delivered by dentist provider, At Home Dental.

Teachers hold short, daily toothbrushing sessions for three-to-five-year-olds alongside lessons about self-care, healthy eating and reduction of sugar.

Professor Green joined forces with NHS England to support this campaign as he only realised later in life how not brushing properly twice a day affected his own physical and mental health – so now takes this seriously with his own son alongside a healthy diet.

Olivia Bartlett, Ernesettle Community School’s headteacher, said they were “genuinely humbled” to have been “recognised and chosen” by Professor Green as winner of the singing competition.

Miss Bartlett said the school’s children and staff had really enjoyed working with the Big Brush Club and the NHS on the supervised toothbrushing scheme within their school in recent years.

She said: “We feel privileged to play a small part in shaping the lifelong health habits of our pupils, and this award is a huge celebration of everything we stand for – education the whole child, together.

The award has also “shone a light” on the incredible work of our reception team and children who have embraced the daily tooth brushing routine with so much enthusiasm and pride.

“The Big Brush Club has become a much-loved part of our school day, complete with the toothbrushing song of course! It’s been a joy to watch the children grow in confidence and independence through this important health message.”

Miss Bartlett added: “ While some may see toothbrushing as a responsibility that lies only at home, we view it as a shared commitment between families and schools. It’s not about replacing what happens at home, but rather about educating our children from the earliest age on the why behind good oral hygiene.

“Through this, we empower them, from their early years, to take responsibility for their own health in a way that is fun, meaningful, and lasting. They even remind the adults at home!”

Reena Patel, South West Consultant in Dental Public Health at NHS England, said:

“It has been fantastic to see such a positive response to this competition from the school community across the region.  Huge congratulations to the winners, the runners up and to all that participated.

“Oral health is a really important aspect of health and wellbeing in children. We are fortunate in the South West to have established supervised toothbrushing programmes operating in schools and nurseries, and we are fully committed to continuing to raise the awareness of the importance of oral health and establishing positive toothbrushing habits at home that will last a lifetime. “

Devon ran the first supervised toothbrushing pilot which was such a success that the Big Brush Club is now offered in schools across Gloucestershire, Banes, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.

This goes hand in hand with all schools being required to promote healthy eating, including sugar reduction and drinking water.

Hayley Beaumont, Chief Operations Officer from At Home Dental, said: “Congratulations to Ernesettle Community and Chilmark School for being the winners of the Big Brush Club singing and colouring contests! At Home Dental was thrilled to see so many fantastic entries this year and want to congratulate everyone on a job well done.

She said the incredible level of participation was testament to how receptive parents and children have been to supervised toothbrushing and the Big Brush Club.

Hayley added:” It’s so inspiring to see how the children are embracing toothbrushing through the expression of their musical and artistic talents.

We are especially grateful to Professor Green for giving his time to judge the contest and drawing attention to the importance of instilling healthy dental habits early. This year’s contest was such a success, and we cannot wait to see how the settings will continue to embrace healthy brushing habits in the upcoming school year! “

Winners and runners-up will be presented with their toothbrushing-related goodies during a series of prize-givings at each school alongside the Big Brush Club mascot, Bob the Badger. The first of these took place today, Thursday 25 September. at Ernesettle Community Primary School in Plymouth.