School Nursing

School Nurses care for children and young people, aged 5 - 19, and their families, to ensure their health needs are supported within their school and community. They work closely with education staff and other agencies to support parents, carers and the children and young people, with physical and/or emotional health needs.

If you would like support for your child's physical and/or emotional health, please call 01633 431 685 to be referred to the School Nursing Service.

You can also follow the school nursing service on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates.

 

Each secondary school and their cluster primaries will have an identified school nurse and associated health team with a variety of skills, who will be accessible for support and advice as children progress through their education both within and outside term time.

The new School Nursing Framework is designed to ensure young people receive consistent expert support from a healthcare professional who is familiar with their health and wellbeing needs. The framework provides commitment to a seamless service for health and lifestyle support and advice to all families from birth, provided by midwifery services, through to health visiting and onto school nursing.

School nurses will provide and coordinate health intervention and public health programmes on a range of issues, including:

  • Physical health (education on obesity, smoking, alcohol and drug related harm)
  • Promotion of emotional wellbeing and supporting the mental health needs of school age children
  • Delivery of the national screening, surveillance and immunisation programmes in the school setting
  • Safeguarding
  • Early identification and assessment of pupils’ needs
  • Additional support and/or signposting to local or specialist services for children and young people who are identified as having additional needs

Before your child starts school your health visitor will meet with the school nursing team to transfer their care to the school nursing service. The school nursing team consists of a school nursing lead, specialist public health practitioners and school health staff nurses. They all have a role in preventing disease and promoting health and wellbeing, by:-

  • encouraging healthier lifestyles
  • offering immunisations
  • giving information, advice and support to children, young people and their families

Each member of the team has links with many other professionals who also work with children including community paediatricians, child and adolescent mental health teams, health visitors and speech and language therapists. The school health nursing service also forms part of the multi agency services for children, young people and families where there are child protection or safeguarding issues.

For more information about what the school nursing teams do please click here

For contact information about school nursing teams in your area please click here

If you would like to seek health and/or wellbeing support for your child, please call 01633 431 685 to be referred to the School Nursing Service.

Alternatively, primary and secondary schools have an allocated school nurse – telephone your child’s school to ask for the contact details of your named school nurse.

The purpose of the school entry review is to assess the child’s health needs, promote health and wellbeing and to support and enable children to achieve their full potential.

A formal handover from the Health Visitor to the School Nurse will not be necessary for every child. For those where it is appropriate, locally agreed processes should be in place and all relevant documentation, hard copy & electronic, should be transferred to the School Nursing Service.

Each school has a named School Nurse who is usually based outside of school premises and can be contacted for advice and support. The School Nurse will support children and young people in school through the promotion of positive health education and health promoting information as well as targeted involvement as necessary.

During the year that a child enters full time education the School Nurse will provide all reception class pupil’s parents/carers with the information listed below. Local protocols should be in place to ensure similar appropriate information and signposting is provided to parents of children who are electively home educated.

• Information introducing the School Nursing Service

• Contact details for their child’s named School Nurse

• A questionnaire to be completed by the parent/carer regarding the child’s current health, including their immunisation status.

• Information on the hearing impairment screening programmes

• Information on the national vision screening programme

• Information on the Child Measurement Programme

Improving the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of expectant mothers, infants, children and young people throughout Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Area.

(N.B: The Family and Therapies team at ABUHB is NOT responsible for the content on the webpage links that we refer to in our resource sections and linked information to external sites. All information was accurate and appropriate at the time the webpage was created.)

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