Health screening in the Reception Year
19 Sep 2019
Dear Parent / Guardian,
You are receiving this email as your child has just started school in the reception year; this is such an exciting time for you and your child.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust 5 – 19 Healthy Child Programme Service offer health screening to all school aged children. This is offered as follows:
Health screening in the Reception Year
Year 1
Year 6
Please find more information on the attached detailing what other support we offer children, young people and families throughout their school years.
After reading the above information about the service please could you follow the link Reception Health Questionnaire to complete the health questionnaire for your child before 1st October 2019, this should take no-longer than 2 minutes to complete. Your School Code is 121565 and click “Find School”. The questionnaire has been designed to inform us of any concerns you may have regarding your child’s health and wellbeing.
If you provide a valid email address you will receive an automatic email confirmation to say your form has been submitted.
If your child requires any ongoing assessment for their vision or hearing screening parents / carers will be informed and then your child will be referred onto the most appropriate service. We will share these results with your child’s class teacher to ensure they are given all the necessary support within the classroom.
We would hope that all children will take part in all of the screening but if you do not wish your child to take part in any aspect of the screening offered please contact your Healthy Child Team by emailing Children&families@northyorks.gov.uk or by telephoning 01609 780780, stating your child’s name, date of birth and school of attendance if we do not hear from you, within two weeks from the date of this email, your child will be included in the above screening programme.
Height and weight checks for children in Reception and Year 6 – National Child Measurement Programme.
Every year in England, children in Reception and Year 6 have their height and weight measured as part of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). Your child’s class will take part in this year’s measurement programme.
The NCMP provides information to help build an understanding of national and local trends in child weight. It is important to have a good understanding of how children are growing, so that the best possible advice and support can be provided for them and their families.
The measurements will be supervised by trained HDFT 5-19 Healthy Child Team staff at school in a private space away from other pupils. Children who take part will be measured fully clothed except for their coats and shoes. Routine data such as your child’s name, date of birth, sex, address, postcode and ethnicity will also be collected.
The data from all schools in the area will be gathered together and held securely by our local authority public health team. Please note that we will store your child’s information on their electronic health record which may be accessed by other professionals also providing care to your child, including their GP. No individual measurements will be given to school staff or other children, and all information will be treated confidentially.
The programme’s data is used within the local authority and NHS to help plan the provision of services and advice to support healthy weight and lifestyles in the area. The information is also submitted for national analysis and publication in a way that means individual children cannot be identified.
After the measurements, if your child’s measurements are above or below the healthy range you will be contacted by a member of the 5-19 Healthy Child team. This will provide an opportunity to discuss the result and provide additional advice and support including the NYCC Healthy Choices team. We will send you your child’s results and information on healthy eating and being active within 6 weeks of measurement.
If you wish to opt your child out of the NCMP please opt out as above.
We will be extremely careful to handle the whole process with sensitivity. All information will be treated confidentially.
Yours Sincerely
5 – 19 Healthy Child Team