Our School Nursing Teams support Derby city’s 5 to 19 year olds and their families. The teams are made up of a range of health professionals, including qualified school nurses, community staff nurses, young person practitioners, healthy school practitioners and NCMP screeners. We have three teams based around the city and each school will have an allocated School Nursing Team. If you are not attending a school you can contact your local team which is based at either Coleman street, Revive or Peartree Health Centre.
These teams provide advice and guidance to others who work with young people in Derby, such as staff in schools, social care and other health practitioners. The teams are part of the Derby Integrated Family Health Service. They provide regular updates and information on the Derby Children’s Health Facebook page.
If you are the parent of a child in their first year of school, this February you should receive a letter from school with details of an important health and wellbeing questionnaire. If you would like to know more click on The Lancaster Model health questionnaire tab below.
Our teams are responsible for delivering elements of the Healthy Child Programme for 5 to 19-year-olds. This is a government policy developed to improve health and wellbeing.
Our teams deliver health reviews at:
- Reception/Year 1 (age 4–5) – including a hearing assessment and eye test, and a health questionnaire
- Year 6/7 (age 10–12) – an assessment at the point of transition from primary to secondary school
- Mid-teens, when young people are embarking on the next phase in their lives.
Our teams also offer drop-in sessions and advice for young people in secondary schools – more details are in How do I contact the School Nurse below. We can also refer and signpost children and young people to specialist services if required.
Ongoing support:
As well as general health and development, our teams offer advice and support around diet, activity and body image, behaviour, relationships (including forced marriage), exam stress, dental health, sexual health, self harm and stopping smoking.
We also provide support on
- Eating disorders – working with our Eating Disorders team
- Emotional health and wellbeing – working with our children’s mental health team
- Continence and incontinence – working with our specialist nurses
- Drugs and alcohol – working with our Breakout team
Click on the links above for more information on these services.
Every school has a named School Nursing Team. Your school will be able to give you their contact details.
At several senior schools in Derby, our school nurses run confidential drop-in sessions. Again, your school office will be able to tell you if there are drop-in sessions at your school.
If you prefer not to speak to anyone at your school, you can also contact the School Nursing Team directly. Please complete the school nurse referral request form and submit it by emailing dmh-tr.ChildFamily-Derby@nhs.net. Or call 0300 1234586 option 1.
The School Nursing Team also offers a Virtual Drop-in for 13-19 year olds. This is available between 3pm and 5pm on weekdays. Just click Attend Anywhere to set up your video call with a member of the team.
Or you can contact us through ChatHealth. ChatHealth is a secure and confidential text messaging service for parents and young people. It allows you to easily get in touch with a healthcare professional for advice and support. You don't have to give your name; you can still send a message to get advice or to chat with us about any worries you may have.
Parents: send us a message by texting 07507 327754
Young people (aged 11-19) - send us a message by texting 07507 327104.
Learn more about ChatHealth
The School Nursing Service aims to involve families and young people in how resources are effectively targeted in the future. This year we are working with The Lancaster Model to offer an electronic health questionnaire to help us to achieve this. You can find more information here at the Lancaster Model website.
This work supports Public Health England's Healthy Child Programme and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
By completing the questionnaire, you will not only help us to plan services for the future for all children, but also make sure your child gets the health and well-being support they may need as early as possible.
We started this process with the Reception class. Parents completed the questionnaire using a link which sent via a letter from school. From April 2022 we will focus on Year 6. Pupils will complete the questionnaire themselves, but information for parents will be sent out beforehand. We will be arranging to attend your child’s school while they complete the questionnaire online, to help them with any queries or questions that may come up on the day.
Later in the year the questionnaire will be sent to mid teens for the young people to complete.
Opting your child out of the questionnaire completion
We would like to hear from every child about their health and wellbeing, however if you wish to opt your child out, please could you let us know in writing within two weeks of receiving the letter from yor child's school, or by email to dmh-tr.ChildFamily-Derby@nhs.net. Please ensure you write ‘Opting out of Year 6 TLM questionnaire’ on the top of the letter, and you must state your child’s full name, date of birth and school on your letter/email.
If you have any queries about the questionnaire please call the School Nursing Team on 0300 1234586 and select option 3, or contact them as detailed above.
Although anonymous information from the questionnaire may be shared with other agencies to improve services, all personal information collected will be treated as confidential. A member of the School Nursing Team may contact you following completion of the questionnaire to offer health advice, information and support if required.
For more information take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions.
You can also find details of School Health Information for Year 6 pupils here
Please read our safeguarding page or visit the safeguarding children page on the Derby City Council website.
If you believe that a child is at immediate risk and in need of protection then you should call the police on 101 immediately.
If you are a child or young person, you can call ChildLine on 0800 1111 to talk about any problem. Counsellors are always there to help you. It is free and confidential.
General information:
- Derby children’s health Facebook page – managed by our health visiting and school nursing teams
- Child development - positive parenting tips
- Health For Kids
- Frank – advice and information on drugs
- Breakout - drugs and alcohol support for young people
- Childline – general advice and helpline
- NSPCC – child protection helpline: 0808 800 5000
- HANDi - this free app gives up-to-date advice about common childhood illnesses. You can also search for ailments on the NHS Health A-Z
Physical health:
- Continence information
- Sleep - support from the Sleep Charity
Sexual health:
- Your sexual health matters - advice and access to local services
Emotional health:
- YoungMinds – looking after yourself
- Kooth - free and anonymous support for your mental wellbeing
Healthy eating and physical actvity:
- Healthier Families - NHS healthy eating and activity
-
LIveIT - information and referral for further support on weight management
-
NHS activity advice - for young children
Accidents and safety:
- Child Accident Prevention
- THINK! - Road safety
Coronavirus (COVID-19):
- Government advice for parents
- What is Coronavirus - child friendly explanation of COVID
We treat information about children, young people and their families as confidential. We do sometimes share information with other agencies, like GPs or your child’s school, so that the young person or child can get the help they need. We would only share this information without your agreement if it were necessary to ensure a child’s safety.
If a young person is deemed competent to give consent about their care, then they are entitled to keep their involvement with the School Nursing Service confidential.
The School Nursing Service will always encourage the young person to discuss everything with their parents/carers, but this is up to the young person to do this, unless they give consent for the School Nurse to talk to the adults in their life.
No information will be shared with the school or others without a young person’s consent.
The only occasion when School Nurses might consider passing on confidential information without the young person’s permission, would be in very rare circumstances to protect them or someone else from serious harm. We would always try to discuss this with them first in any case.
Confidentiality and sexual health
The law says that it’s legal for someone to agree (consent) to sex from the age of 16. If the child is under 16, they can still get confidential contraceptive and other sexual health services including abortions. They can get free condoms from some GPs, Sexual Health Clinics or young person’s clinics and as part of the C-Card scheme.
If the child is under 13 years old the law says that they can’t consent to sex. You can find out more about confidentiality, whatever your age, from NHS - If I use a sexual health service will they tell my parents?
Take a look at the new Strep A page on the NHS website. Please contact 111 or get an urgent GP appointment if your child is unwell and showing any of the symptoms of Strep A.
Call 999 or go to A&E (hospital emergency department) if:
- your child is having difficulty breathing – they may make grunting noises, or you may notice their tummy sucking under their ribs
- there are pauses when your child breathes
- your child’s skin, tongue or lips are blue or grey – on black or brown skin this may be easier to see on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet
- your child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awake.
