School Nursing (0-19 Service)

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School Nursing (0-19 Service)

school nurse with student

Update: COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the school closures that have occurred during the last academic year, we have been unable to visit all schools fully to offer our routine height, weight checks as we had planned for Reception and Year 6 children. We hope to be able to see any Reception age children we have missed in school in the new academic year. If you have any concerns about your child’s height or weight and would like us to arrange an appointment for them to have this checked in one of our community clinics please call 0114 305 3284 and we can arrange a suitable appointment. All our clinic staff will follow the necessary COVID-19 guidance.

We undertake hearing screening at some of our routine checks too and if you have any concerns about your child’s hearing, please see your GP for advice or contact us on the number above. If your child has any other health issues where you feel we may be able to offer support please also contact us on the number above.

School Age Immunisations

The team are continuing to go into schools and community venues to provide access to the routine school age vaccines for Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio, Meningitis AWCY, and HPV. Due to the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, this has affected the normal routes of delivery and the 0-19 service is offering evening and school holiday clinics to give young people the opportunity to receive any of their outstanding vaccinations. If you think your child may have missed these adolescent vaccine(s) which are routinely offered in schools during Year 8 and Year 9 please contact the team on 0114 3053291 for details of available clinics.

These websites offer useful information for parents, children and young people during COVID-19

Resources for children and families by experts from Sheffield Children’s

Change4Life – information on easy ways to eat well and move more, including ways that children can stay active indoors

The Children’s Sleep Charity

Healthy sleep tips for children

Information about the teenage vaccination from the NHS

Kooth – Free, safe and anonymous online support for young people

The Corner, Sheffield – Drinking/drugs advice for young people

Stopping smoking advice for young people

Young Minds

Childline

Zest smokefree resource for young people

Please visit the Sheffield Council website for information on Parenting and Sheffield Family Centres. You can also access some useful video clips on YouTube.

Videos

Focus fit resources

Are vaccines safe for my child?

What is the Year 8 HPV vaccine?

Looking after your teeth during COVID-19

We know how difficult it is at the moment keeping your family active and trying to maintain daily routines while we are staying at home but it is still important to look after yourself which includes looking after your teeth.

To make sure you have a healthy smile do the following things everyday:

Brush teeth last thing at night and another time during the day; children need some help with brushing until they are 7 years old.
When children are off school or nursery it’s easy to forget to brush.
Use fluoride toothpaste; remember to spit out the toothpaste after brushing but do not rinse all the tooth-strengthening fluoride away by squishing lots of water around your mouth!
Eat less sugar, less often.
Avoid sugary food and drink before bedtime.
Only have sugary food and drink at mealtimes – even though it’s very tempting to eat lots of treats while we are stuck at home.

During the coronavirus lockdown, dentists are not seeing patients for routine treatment. If you are having toothache or dental problems telephone your own dentist in the first instance for advice. If you do not have a dentist or it is a weekend/bank holiday please call NHS 111.

About School Nursing

School Nursing is part of the Sheffield Children’s 0-19 Service through which we support children and their families at home and at school from birth to 19 years old.

Our school nurses offer advice and support to children and young people aged 4-19 and their families regarding health needs and public health issues.

We take over the care of children from the Health Visiting Team when they reach school age and continue with the Healthy Child Program which begins at birth.

We see children in school to offer routine health screening and assessment.

We give information about:

managing additional health needs in schools and educational settings
developmental concerns
growth, hearing and vision screening
the childhood immunisation programme
behaviour, social and emotional wellbeing, including safeguarding
common infectious diseases

Reception and Year 1 (age 4 to 5)

All parents/carers are offered an opportunity to consent to screening of height, weight, hearing and vision. When consent is obtained all screening will take place in school and the vision check will be carried out by an orthoptist from Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

Secondary Schools

The School Nursing Service continues into secondary schools where it provides a range of services for teenagers.

We use a mixture of displays, workshops and confidential nurse led clinics to meet the health needs of young people in secondary school and further education.

This includes advice and signposting for: