The Department of Health has provided updates to help parents prepare for their children’s primary-school health screenings.

Additionally, a video on the P1 screening page emphasises the role of school nurses in fostering a healthy community.

There are two types of screenings — allied health screenings, which take place during the summer, and the school nurse screenings, which begin in September.

The screenings help to lay the foundations of creating a health benchmark for targeted interventions and policies that meet the demand for certain healthcare needs.

The department offers multiple screening and assessment programmes facilitated by the public health team.

During summer, the allied public health team screens children entering P1 in public primary school for speech-language and sensory-motor skill development.

The screenings assess skill strengths and areas where additional focus would help with development.

They look at a child’s ability to listen, speak, think, learn, play, walk and run, and also check the motor, speech and language skills needed to read and write.

Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, said: “Each year, school nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists begin assessing every young person at the critical stage of their development before reaching key educational milestones at the primary school level.

“Our dedicated nursing and allied health team play an important role in ensuring the overall wellbeing of schoolchildren as they learn and grow.”

Allied health screenings can last from 30 to 100 minutes with further assessments available where required.

They are scheduled to take place between July 1 and 12 at Harrington Sound Primary School in Smith’s.

In the fall, the school nurses will collaborate with the allied health team to assess students’ height, weight, vision, hearing and blood pressure to create a baseline understanding of their health.

The school nurse is also responsible for educating and promoting healthy lifestyles for students across all primary schools.

With the parents' consent and preferably their participation, the school nurse will facilitate a school health assessment session, when a doctor will conduct further assessments to evaluate a child’s motor skills, social wellbeing and vaccination status.

All screening and assessments with the school nurses take place at the child’s school.

Kelly Crampton, a school nurse, said: “Parents and guardians are invited to visit the Department of Health’s newly updated portal page to learn how the screenings are integral to tracking their child’s growth and overall wellbeing.

“A two-minute informational video posted to www.gov.bm, gives busy parents the flexibility to view and learn about the importance of P1 screenings in their own time.”

• For more information, visit gov.bm/department-health-p1-health-programmes