Help for you and your child as they grow
The Healthy Child Programme promotes children's health and development by offering support and information to children and families in Haringey.
School nursing services lead the programme for primary school children. We work in partnership with Whittington Health NHS Trust to deliver this service.
Prepare for primary school
Your child should have received their routine childhood vaccinations by the time they start primary school. If they haven’t, contact your GP to get them up to date.
Free school meals
Your child will receive free school meals when they're in reception, Year 1 and Year 2, if they're in a government-funded school.
Your child may be eligible for further free school meals when they move into Year 3 if a parent or guardian fits the eligibility criteria. More information on free school meals.
Thanks to the Mayor of London’s emergency funding, every primary school child in Haringey will get free school meals for the 2023/2024 academic year.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
If you have a child with Special Educational Needs or a disability, find out the support available from the Haringey Local Offer support service. This includes information on your child’s health needs, money and preparing your child for adulthood. It also covers their education needs up to age 25.
School nurses
Haringey Council commissions Whittington Health NHS Trust to provide the School Nursing service to all state-maintained schools in the borough.
Each school will have a school nurse who you can contact if you have any worries about your child’s health. The school nurse will be able to carry out a health assessment on your child if requested.
The School Nursing service can be emailed at whh-tr.HaringeySchoolNursing@nhs.net
Vaccinations at primary school
Vaccination UK provides vaccinations for school-aged children in Haringey, on behalf of NHS England.
If your child starts school and they haven't had all their vaccinations, the school nurse will be able to provide information and advice. They can be emailed at whh-tr.HaringeySchoolNursing@nhs.net.
Vaccination UK also offers catch-up clinics for children who have missed being vaccinated at school. More information on catch-up clinics.
Flu can be a very unpleasant illness for children, with potentially serious complications. The children’s flu vaccine is offered as a yearly nasal spray to children aged 2 to 10, and your child will be offered this at school or by their GP.
National Child Measurement Programme
When your child starts school, their height and weight will be measured and their Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated. This happens once in reception (aged 4 to 5) and then in year 6 (aged 10 to 11). This is part of The National Child Measurement Programme, which assesses overweight levels in children in primary schools.
The information gathered will help to reduce childhood unhealthy weight in Haringey, which is prevalent in the borough. You will receive a letter from your child’s school with more information about this before the measurements taking place.
Health screening in reception
Vision
Children aged 4-5 years in reception classes will have their vision tested to detect any problems early, so they can be treated to avoid permanent visual impairment.
Vision screening in Haringey is carried out by orthoptists, who are part of the North Middlesex University Hospital (NMUH) Community Orthoptics Service. It's offered to all reception-aged children in state-maintained primary schools. Children attending Free Schools can be referred to the Community Orthoptics team.
As a parent or carer, you will receive a letter at the start of the school term, inviting your child to the vision screening program.
Children who are privately- or home-educated should contact their GP or local optometrist.
Hearing
You should book an appointment with your GP if you suspect your child has a hearing problem. Your GP will make a referral to an audiology department for further tests if needed. Your child’s school nurse can also make a referral following a health assessment. See the NHS Hearing website for further information.
Oral health
NHS dental care is free for all children until they're 18. Children should be registered with a dentist as soon as their first teeth appear and before their first birthday.
You should brush your child’s teeth until they are 7 to make sure they're cleaning them correctly. Children from the age of 7 should be able to brush their own teeth, but it’s still a good idea to watch them to make sure they brush properly.
Establishing good habits can help your child avoid oral health problems, such as tooth decay and gum disease.
See the NHS website for further information on children's teeth.
Whittington Health Community Dental Services Oral Health Promotion team supports residents to help them improve their oral health. This includes providing oral health advice for parents, carers and teachers of children with special educational needs, and practical tooth-brushing advice for children.
If you would like any information about the programmes, visit the Haringey Oral Health Promotion website.
Common health conditions in school-aged children
These are the most common health conditions in school-aged children, according to our school nursing team in Haringey:
For children to thrive at home and in school, it's important they receive the best care and support for any medical conditions they have. This will help keep them healthy, reduce their chances of being off sick from school, and allow them to achieve their full potential.
Be aware of these common conditions and contact your GP if you think your child is affected.
Keeping safe
Bullying and online safety
Bullying is any behaviour which hurts someone. This can range from name-calling, spreading rumours, threatening and undermining someone to physical violence such as pushing and hitting.
Bullying can happen anywhere, and children are at particular risk of bullying online, known as cyberbullying. Unlike bullying in the real world, children facing cyberbullying are followed by it wherever they go.
If you're concerned that your child may be bullied online or in real life:
- Young Minds has an online guide for young people about bullying
- Family Lives has a range of online parental resources for support including a helpline
- the NSPCC also has information and support for parents on bullying
It can sometimes be difficult to talk to the people closest to you about bullying, particularly when you're young. If your child would like to talk to someone outside the family about bullying, you could encourage them to contact Childline online or by calling 0800 1111. Calls are free and confidential. Childline has lots of advice about different types of bullying, and tools to help children and young people.
Online safety
The Safer Internet Centre has age-appropriate advice for children ages 3 to 11, to keep them safe online.
The NSPCC has an online safety area with advice for parents on a wide range of subjects, including live streaming and gaming.
Transition to secondary school
Moving to secondary school is an exciting time in a child’s life. It’s the next step in their journey to becoming an adult.
It can also be an anxious time, and many children worry whether they will make friends in their new school, what their new teachers will be like, what the journey to school will hold for them and what will happen to the friends they've already made.
To help with this, Young Minds has created a film which reassures children that they're not alone in feeling worried about starting secondary school. Although aimed at schools, you could show it to your child before they start Year 7 to ease any anxious feelings they may be having.
Clothing grant
As your child starts secondary school, you may be eligible for a one-off clothing grant of £60. More information on clothing grants.