Pilot questionnaire for parents of preschool children
In April 2017, a two-year ‘Ready for School?’ pilot project was launched in the north of Warwickshire to test an online health needs assessment questionnaire for 3-3.5 yr olds.
This is an adapted version of the Health Needs Assessment (HAPI) - currently used within school health. The aim of the project is to help support school readiness by identifying local public health priorities and appropriate interventions.
The online questionnaire, which was launched in July, is being tested in 3 areas of north Warwickshire, within the following Children’s Centre clusters: Stockingford Children’s Centre (Nuneaton district) St Michael’s Children’s Centre (Bedworth district) and Coleshill Children’s Centre (Rural North Warwickshire district).
Parents and carers will be asked to complete the questionnaire on behalf of their children with the aim of identifying any health support that their child may need in order to help them get ready for school. Children who are identified as requiring extra support will receive this from the Health Visiting Service or their Early Years setting. The questionnaire will remain open until October.
The Early Years settings will be given public health data and information relevant to their local and regional geographical areas, to inform them of their public health priorities.
To date the ‘Ready for School?’ project team have worked with 22 Early Years settings - as ‘early implementers’. Focus groups have been held with staff to understand the challenges in the delivery of the pilot, and to explore how best to achieve the project’s goals.
It is expected, during 2018, that the pilot will be rolled out across the whole of the north of Warwickshire, for the cohort of children starting school in September 2019.
For more information contact:
Hayley Norman, Project Lead School Readiness, Warwickshire School Health & Wellbeing Service, Tel: 03300 245 204, Email: Hayley.Norman@compass-uk.org
Free online guides to help parents feel more confident
Schools and settings may wish to disseminate the below to their parent communities:
All parents and carers of children aged 0-18 years old in Warwickshire can now access three FREE online guides, funded by the Smart Start Programme:
- Understanding your pregnancy, labour, birth and your baby guide
- Understanding your baby guide
- Understanding your child guide (6 months to 18 yrs of age)
These guides have been designed by the NHS and are part of the acclaimed ‘Solihull Approach’ programme, which supports mums, dads and carers to build positive relationships with their infants and children.
The main aim of the guides is to help parents and carers to strengthen the emotional resilience and wellbeing of their infants and children - so they’re able to bounce back from life’s various challenges as they move toward adulthood.
The ‘Understanding your child’ guide - which is most relevant to schools - helps parents understand how their child is feeling, how parents respond, different styles of parenting and how to have fun together. It also looks at the importance of sleep, self-regulation and anger, and ways for parents to communicate effectively with their child.
Note: A resource pack for the promotion of the ‘Understanding your child’ guide is being developed for use by schools. It will be sent to all schools by half-term.
Each guide is suitable for parents, grandparents and other carers, and can be completed flexibly at a parent’s own pace.
To access these three guides and their related FREE access codes, please visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/parentguides
Oral Health eLearning for Early Years Settings
At least 1 in 4 five year olds in Warwickshire have tooth decay when they start school.
Warwickshire County Council is currently finalising a FREE eLearning course, designed for all early years settings and those who work with children aged 0-5 years.
The aim is to give early years workers the knowledge, skills and confidence to share important oral health information with the young children and parents they work with.
Once the course is completed, learners will have access to a Warwickshire Early Years Oral Health Resource Pack which will provide them with various resources to support oral health promotion/campaigns within their early years settings.
This eLearning course is expected to be launched near to half-term.
For more information contact: Sophy Forman-Lynch, Public Health, Email: sophyfl@googlemail.com, Tel: 01926 412159