Solutions 4 Health offer a specialist school nursing service to support the positive health and wellbeing outcomes of children and young people who live or attend school in Slough**, aged 5-19 years (25 years if there are special educational needs).

Our aim is to provide a service which meets the early intervention needs of children and young people following current Public Health guidelines in conjunction with recommendations made by children and young people themselves.

We work across Slough with; acute and community healthcare services, Slough children’s services and other state and voluntary sector professionals, to help facilitate effective and coordinated care for children and young people’s health needs.

Referrals

Professionals can make referrals for support with a variety of health needs based on our 6 high impact areas using our referral form.

All referrals will be reviewed by the named school nurse who will decide on the best action for each individual child, this may include signposting or referral to other services.

Individual packages of care will most often be provided in school, although we can offer a community service during the 3 main holidays.

Whilst in school we would require a quiet, comfortable room that is easily accessible to students but also allows for privacy and confidentiality.

All secondary schools will be offered a fortnightly clinic to see young people who may want to drop-in or for booked appointment. Dates will be agreed with your named school nurse. .

Safeguarding

As a universal, professional service we have a duty of care to all children and young people we meet. If we have any concerns about a child’s welfare we will discuss this directly with the designated safeguarding lead in school and follow our local pathway for sharing information with other local health, wellbeing services and social care services.

The school nursing team will be invited to be part of child protection (CP) and child in need (CIN) procedures as a public health practitioner, therefore we may need to visit with children and young people in schools to complete a health review. Where there is a primary healthcare practitioner, we will ask professionals to liaise with them directly to ensure all current health needs are co-ordinated and managed for the best needs of the child.

All referrals for children and young people on a CP or CIN plan will need to be discussed by the allocated social worker with the named school nurse, to ensure the school nurse can review the plan and concerns prior to deciding on appropriate school nursing actions.

At times the school nurse may also be asked to see children who have been identified at requiring early help. The allied professional who identifies need will complete a referral form and discuss this with the parents prior to us seeing them.

National Child Measurement Programme

The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is a mandated public health programme delivered by the school nursing team in Reception and Year 6.

It is part of the governments approach to understanding and tackling childhood obesity. In addition the data can be used by local programmes to identify schools who may benefit from a whole school approach to maintaining an active lifestyle.

In Reception year, children in Slough will also have their hearing and vision checked as part of our early detection strategy aimed at supporting parents to access services to enhance children’s learning and social development.

School Health Reviews

The school nursing team provides health and wellbeing questionnaires for all students in Reception, Year 6, Year 9 and Year 12. These questionnaires provide; parents, children and young people the opportunity to share any health needs with the school nursing team and gain support for those health needs. Questionnaires will be offered electronically to all students in Slough schools. An anonymised report will be shared with each school and the Slough public health team to support the development of future services.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PHSE) education.

The relationships and sex education aspects of PSHE education will be compulsory in all schools from 2020.

Currently the Slough school nursing team can offer each secondary school health related sessions based on their current need, in line with our 6 high impact areas. In addition we aim to build our primary school PHSE provision based on identified need from the responses of the parent and child health questionnaires. We work closely with the School Health & Wellbeing Project Officer to co-ordinate health education sessions across Slough.

Schools should contact their named school nurse to discuss topics and delivery dates.

Medical Needs

Children and young people should not be excluded or discriminated against because of a medical condition.

The Slough school nursing team can help to support schools who may have questions about supporting children and young people in school with medical needs*. All school nurses are trained to national standards to provide non-specialist care, delivering basic awareness and advice for children and young people. The school health team will continue to provide advice and support to schools based on identified needs and will act as a liaison between education and specialist health teams to ensure all children and young people receive support from the most appropriate professional at the earliest identification of need.

National recommendations require staff who support children and young people with medical needs and may need to deliver emergency treatment, attend training delivered by an accredited source. This may be a qualified practitioner who has the appropriate knowledge and experience of providing direct care for children with medical needs or via a course accredited by the appropriate professional body such as the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Solutions 4 Health provide signposting to accredited training courses for school staff for; severe allergic reaction, asthma, epilepsy and type 2 diabetes.
Statutory guidance for governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies in England

Staff Development

MindEd: provides e-learning courses and is suitable for all adults working with, or caring for, infants, children or teenagers; all the information provided is quality assured by experts, useful, and easy to understand.  https://www.minded.org.uk/

Mental Health 4 Life: is a learning resource to help individuals and organisations improve both their own mental health and the mental health of the people they serve. With sections on promoting mental health at each stage of life to reflect the needs of individuals at different points in their development. Additional sections address mental health promotion with schools, employers, health and emergency services, and councils. http://mentalhealthforlife.org/

Futurelearn: provides online courses for professionals on a variety of topics including children and young people’s physical and mental health. Courses change over time so check back regularly. https://www.futurelearn.com/

Asthma UK: a membership based charity providing advice and support for those diagnosed with asthma. School and individual action plans available. https://www.asthma.org.uk/advice/child/manage/action-plan/

Epilepsy Action UK: a charity that aims to improve the lives of everyone affected by epilepsy. They can provide advice, resources and signposting with a dedicated children’s section https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/children and young person’s area https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/children-young-adults/young-people

Diabetes: a charity providing advice and support for children and young people with type 1 diabetes. Additional resources and information about type 2 diabetes is also available. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/your-child-and-diabetes

Severe Allergic Reactions: Allergy UK is a national patient charity for people living with all types of allergy. They have a dedicated free Helpline for people who need help and support. Free Factsheets provide information for children, young people’s and families. https://www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice

PHSE association: provides free and paid subscription resources and training to support the delivery of evidence based learning within the school environment. https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/what-we-do/why-pshe-matters

The Open University: is providing a variety of free courses including; health, education and development. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

We want to hear from you

 

Do you have children and young people with unmet health needs?

Do you want to understand more about how the School Health team can support children and young people in your school?

 

Webinar sessions to be delivered daily during the week of 20th May 2024 at 3pm via Microsoft Teams.

 

Monday 20th May

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Tuesday 21st May

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Wednesday 22nd May

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Thursday 23rd May

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Friday 24th May

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