Published on: June 25, 2024
Connect for Health have launched this years School Readiness Health Questionnaire for parents/carers to complete if they have a child starting school this September.
Starting school for the first time is a significant milestone for every child, and often a scary and exciting time for their parents/carers. Connect for Health, the School Nursing service in Warwickshire, want to make sure that all children and their families have the support they need for their health, wellbeing, and development to prepare for this transition.
Karen Cornick, Service Manager, states, “The health questionnaire is a great opportunity for us to directly hear the voice of parent/carers and for us to learn what is concerning them about their child’s health and wellbeing. The information we gather helps us to adapt our support to suit the needs of the new reception intake and allows families to become aware of our service and how to access our support.”
The administration team at C4H have been diligently distributing promotional emails directly to parents and carers to make them aware of the questionnaire and the benefits for their family by providing their answers. Andrea Leach, Admin Team Leader, said, “Email contacts with parents and carers are valuable to promote the service and the questionnaire. We find that we have influx of questionnaires completed when we send out reminder emails, as well as parents reaching out to the service for advice and support.”
Staff members have also been attending new parent events held by Warwickshire Primary Schools, to help raise awareness for the service and to promote the health questionnaire using our printed marketing materials. Gaynor Barrs, Family Brief Intervention Worker, said, “It was good to meet the new parents at the school events. They seemed reassured to know that C4H were there for them to offer support and advice during the informal chats after the presentation.”
Parents and carers across the county have already started to engage with the service and complete their individual health questionnaires. Our School Nurses have had the opportunity to speak with families regarding children who have long-term medical conditions or require additional support and have advised on plans and strategies which need to be in place for their child. This ensures that every new reception child in Warwickshire is provided with the health support they need when they enter education in September.