What is a School Nurse?

School Nurses:
 
  • Give confidential advice, care and treatment to children and young people and their parents/carers.
  • Monitor and protect a child/young person’s physical and emotional health.
  • Will provide expert health advice to your school.
  • Support schools in the development and maintenance of Individual Health Care Plans (IHCPs).
  • Identify health training needs of staff in schools and agree training plan with each school.
  • Work with the Safeguarding team to keep pupils with health conditions safe, manage risk and reduce harm.
  • Identify key health issues in schools and work with schools to address these.
  • Every school in Barnet will have a named School Nurse who will provide advice to children about healthy lifestyle choices enabling them to reach their full potential.

School Health Questionnaire
 
The school health questionnaire informs the school nurse of any medical information about your child, which is vital, especially if they require any medication to be administered in school.
 
The completed and returned questionnaire provides us with the most recent demographic and health information about your child. Any information you provide is confidential and will only be shared with the school on a need-to-know basis. This will  ensure your child receives appropriate care to enable them to reach their full potential whilst staying safe and supported.
 
The School Nursing team will complete health reviews including interventions for any physical, emotional or developmental problems that may have been missed or not addressed. Parental consent will always be obtained in advance.
 
Height and Weight Measurements
 
Your child’s height and weight will be measured In Reception and Year 6,  in line with the National Child Measurement Programme to assess whether they are the most suitable weight for their height. Click here to find out about the National Child Measurement Programme.
 
Eye Checks
 
Your child’s eyesight and will be checked in Reception and parents will be informed of the results, along with further information on who to contact, if appropriate.
 
To speak to a Health Visitor or School Nurse contact our Duty Line on:
020 3633 4049 / 0800 772 3110

Please explore the following sections for more information:

Healthy child programme

The Healthy Child Programme for children aged 0-5 years focuses on a universal service, providing families with a programme of screening, immunisation, health and development reviews, supplemented by advice around health, wellbeing and parenting.
 
For more information, click on the link below:
 
The aims of the Healthy Child Programme 4 Barnet service:
 
  • to promote a strong attachment between parent/s and child, the result of which will be better social and emotional well-being in children
  • to ensure more children remain healthy and safe
  • to reduce obesity by promoting healthy eating
  • to increase breastfeeding
  • to aim for children to be ready for starting school
  • aim for early recognition of development delays, growth problems, ill-health and safety concerns

Routine appointments

There are key times within your child’s development that we will arrange appointments to see you and/or your baby/child.
 
We may send you an ‘ages and stages’ questionnaire (ASQ3) to complete in preparation for the appointment to reflect on your child’s progress. This allows you the opportunity to bring any issues of concern to the appointment for discussion.
 
The questionnaire also includes lots of activity ideas to try with your child.
 
  • Antenatal appointment between 28 -38 weeks pregnancy (see information on whooping cough vaccinations in pregnancy).
  • Birth visit at home between 10-14 days.
  • Development review between 6-8 weeks.
  • Under 1 year development review between 32-52 weeks of age.
  • 2 year development review between 2 years and 2 years 6 months.

Additional support

The Health Visiting team can also offer support in a variety of areas including:
 
  • breastfeeding
  • introducing solid foods/healthy eating
  • behaviour, sleep and toilet training
  • home safety and accident prevention
  • chlamydia screening for 15-25 year olds
  • support children who have long term health needs
  • depression

You can contact your Health Visitor to discuss any health problems that concern your children, yourself or any other family member.

The Red Book (personal child health record)

Your child’s red book is usually given to you at the hospital when they are born. It is the main record of your child’s health and development which professionals should update when a child is seen in a health care setting. It contains lots of information about your child including, immunisations, routine reviews, your child’s firsts and growth charts.
 
The red book belongs to the NHS and you should take care of it and ensure it is available at all contacts with your baby/child when seeing a healthcare professional.

Last updated01 Oct 2024
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