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Children and young people aged 5 to 19

Children and young people aged 5 to 19

What happens in the first few years of a child’s life can shape their whole life.

Find information that we hope will be helpful and supportive. If you require any more information or wish to speak to a member of the school nursing team contact the team on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. In addition, contact mobile numbers are displayed on posters in all local authority secondary schools for young people to be able to text the school nurses.

Have your say!

We would love to hear from you with comments and suggestions about developing or improving our service. Let us know how we can improve our service by completing the online anonymous feedback survey.

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The NHS has useful information about children's growth and healthy weight. Read the NHS National Child measurement programme.

If you have any concerns about your child's growth and development, contact your school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

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The internet can provide a huge range of educational and recreational resources but can also provide threats to your child’s safety. For further information please contact your school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Useful links for E-safety advice:

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There are so many stories around sex, it's hard to know what to believe. Please see a list of links below that we think will help young people or parents of young people understand the facts about sex and where to get support to make sure you have safer sex. For further information please contact your school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Useful websites and services:

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Women’s Aid defines domestic abuse as "an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer."

It's very common. In the vast majority of cases, it is experienced by women and is perpetrated by men.

Children and young people are often the forgotten victims of domestic abuse. Adults often believe they are protecting their children from what is happening and many think that if children are not actually in the room when violence or abuse is happening, they won’t pick up on this.

Young people can also be the victims of domestic abuse in their own relationships.

Below is a list of links that we hope you will find the information and support you are looking for. For more information, contact the school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Support services:

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A healthy nights sleep is more important than you think; please see the following links for information and support on sleep or contact your school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Helpful links:

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Below is a list of sites we think may help you access the information and support you need. For more information contact the school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Useful links:

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Helping children and young people enjoy good emotional health and wellbeing and develop resilience is important to their overall health and development. Below are a list of sites we think may help you access the information and support you need:

For more information please contact the school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

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Many young people or their parents have questions about drugs and alcohol and their safe use; please see links to sites below that we think will be able to provide you with information and support you are looking for:

For further information for support contact your school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

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Please see links to sites below that we think will be able to provide you with information and support on long-term health conditions. For further information contact your school nurse on telephone: 01904 555475 from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

You can find support around:

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Vision screening is when a child’s vision is tested in school to detect Amblyopia. Amblyopia is more commonly known as a “lazy eye” and means that the vision in one or both eyes hasn’t developed properly. It is estimated that 1 in 50 children will develop this condition.

The aim of screening is to detect reduced vision in one or both eyes.

Young children rarely complain about having reduced vision. They are usually unaware that their vision is weaker than normal in one or both eyes. There are often no visible signs so problems can easily go unnoticed. Children with reduced vision in one or both eyes don’t usually complain of headaches or ‘eyestrain.’

Reduced vision due to a ‘Lazy eye’ (Amblyopia) can be treated successfully in younger children, therefore early detection is important so that treatment with glasses, eye patches or both can be started. Treatment for amblyopia has been shown to be less successful beyond approximately eight years of age. If amblyopia goes undetected it can result in lifelong reduced vision.

It is recommended by the UK national screening committee (UKNSC) that standardised vision screening should be offered to all children aged 4 to 5 years.

Location of the test

The test is carried out in school by trained vision screeners from the Healthy Child Service. Screening will usually happen in the term of a child’s fifth birthday. Vision screening in this local authority uses opt-out consent. This means that parents/carers only need to respond if you do not want your child to receive the screening.

Testing at 4-5 years allows a simple vision test to be carried out that is accurate enough to detect genuinely reduced vision, whilst minimising the number of children referred for further testing unnecessarily.

Additionally, testing in a familiar environment such as school improves confidence and ability to cooperate. This also enables screening to be consistently delivered to almost all children in the area.

When your child has the screening test, you will only be notified that it has happened if the child does not pass the test.

The test

Children are tested in a quiet room within the school.

Each eye will be tested separately, by covering the other eye with a patch or glasses with one lens blanked out.

We'll then ask the child to either name or match letters on a card to the letters held 3 metres away. Children do not need to know their letters to complete the screening. 

Testing a child typically takes no longer than 10 minutes.

I am worried my child doesn’t know their letters well enough to do the test

It's not necessary for your child to know their letters; the screener will give them a card with the relevant letters on so that they can match the letter on the card to the one being shown if needed.

Accuracy of the test

The Vision Screeners have had extensive training and have many years of experience in testing vision in 4–5-year-olds. On average in the York area, over the last 5 years 86% of children referred to the Orthoptist from the Vision Screeners did have a vision problem.

Missing the test

If a child is absent on day of screening or unable to perform the screening test then a further test will be scheduled, usually within 3 months. If they are still unable to perform the test, they will be referred to the Orthoptist at the hospital eye service who can test vision using a different test. If your child has additional needs and the screener believes the test they are using isn’t suitable for your child then they will refer you to the Orthoptist at the hospital who are able to use different methods of testing vision that are more suitable. 

The screening is not complusory

You can choose if you want your child to be screened or not. Consent is opt-out which means that if you do not want your child to have the vision test you need to state that you want to opt-out on the forms that you are sent when your child starts in Reception class. If you change your mind at any time as to whether your child is tested or not you can contact the Healthy Child team and they will update your child’s record in line with your request.

Results of the screening

You'll not be informed of the outcome of the test if your child passes the test. You'll only be contacted if they do not pass the screening test. If you wish to know more about the outcome of the test you can contact the Healthy Child team to request further information.

If your child fails the screening test with one or both eyes, the Healthy Child team you will send you a letter advising you of this. They will also send a referral letter to the Hospital Eye Service requesting an assessment with the Orthoptist and an appointment will be sent out for your child to be seen.

At the hospital, your child will see an Orthoptist for further assessment which will consist of repeating the vision test done at school but will also assess whether your child has a squint(strabismus) or any other potential problem that may affect how their vision develops.

Orthoptists are allied health professionals who specialise in testing vision and detecting visual problems in children. They are experts in the assessment of visual defects in young children. They are also uniquely qualified to offer services for children with learning disabilities or with specific needs who require an alternative method of testing.

If you have been advised that your child failed their screening and you prefer to take your child to see a High Street Optometrist rather than the Hospital, this is ok - it's your choice as to where you want your child to be seen. If the High Street Optometrist feels your child has an eye problem that requires treatment or management by an Orthoptist or Ophthalmologist, they will then refer you into the Hospital Eye Service.

If after screening you have chosen to go to a High Street Optometrist, please let the Screening Service or the Hospital know so that you’re not sent an appointment when you no -longer need one and this appointment can then be offered to someone else.

Opting-out

If your child has already seen an Orthoptist or a High Street Optometrist or if they already wear glasses, they do not need to have the screening test done. You can opt-out by letting the screening service know on the consent form that your child already attends a High Street Optometrist or that they already wear glasses.

However, if you have not opted out and your child isn’t wearing glasses on the day or that the screeners aren’t aware that your child already has glasses, they may still be screened.

Glasses

If the Orthoptic assessment confirms reduced vision, then an appointment with the Hospital Optician will be arranged, who also specialise in testing children’s eyes. Unfortunately, children are not able to do the same sort of test for glasses as an adult. With adults and older children, we can undertake a more subjective test, which means they can tell us what looks better. Younger children cannot do this reliably, so by using dilating drops this allows us to do a very accurate glasses check. The drops dilate the pupil and relax the focusing muscles of the eye which blurs the vision temporarily and make the pupil (the black bit of the eye) bigger. The optometrist is then able to determine if your child needs glasses and what strength they need. The test can be quick, easy, and reliably accurate.

After vision screening

Like all screening tests, vision screening is not 100% perfect but should find most problems. Children’s’ vision will change over time and vision screening may not pick up less common eye problems.

If your child complains of any problems with their eyes after their screening assessment, we recommend you take your child to any high street optometrist or your GP.

Find out more about eye tests for children.

Further resources:

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