Table 11
| School
entry (available to all children) |
| Information
from: |
|
- parent questionnaire; |
|
- teacher; |
|
- contact with parents if concerns are expressed |
| Surveillance
examination |
|
- examine eyes and test vision; |
|
- test hearing, perform otoscopy on children failing audiometry, to
determine appropriate action; |
|
- measure height |
|
- observe child during examination, particularly with regard to gait,
speech and language, and behaviour. |
| Enquire,
either personally or via questionnaire, about: |
|
- completion of a 3 year 6 month check; |
|
- dental visits. |
| Further
action will be dependent on result of the above, and may be: |
|
- nil, with or without discussion |
|
- assessment; |
|
- referral; |
|
- review. |
|
| New
enrolments (other than preparatory grade) |
| Nurse
to identify all these children, and check records re performances
of previous health surveillance; |
| Surveillance
and action as for school entrant if indicated. |
|
| Referrals
(from parent, teacher, student or others, at any stage) |
| Check
records; |
| Surveillance
and action as for school entrant |
|
| Primary
school-aged children with additional needs |
| All
children identified as having possible additional needs should have
a comprehensive health assessment as early as possible for diagnostic
and/or descriptive purposes, management and planning. |
| All
children with additional needs, on entering school, should be identified
through the routine school-entry health surveillance process. Parents
should be involved throughout in the assessment and management of
their child. It should be ascertained whether adequate health assessment
has previously been performed, and future programs should be established,
along with mechanisms to maintain contact between parents child and
health surveillance professionals, as required. |
| Children
in special settings should have their health needs assessed as soon
as possible after enrolment, in conjunction with parents, students
and staff. Results of previous health assessments should be ascertained
and health assessment carried out if necessary. |
| Children
identified during school life as having additional needs (for example,
chronic illness, learning disabilities, low incidence disabilities
etc.) need comprehensive health assessment not just of the area of
their disability, but of the whole child, with a view to gaining a
picture not only of the child's weakness, but, more importantly, of
strengths. |
| Parents
and teachers of all children with additional needs should have access
to appropriate information, health education, coordination, liaison
and advocacy. |
| Professionals
working with these children need liaison with all others involved
with the child, to ensure a coordinated, holistic approach to the
child and parents, while respecting confidentiality. |
| Monitoring
for the purposes of evaluation, planning, epidemiology and research
is also important. |
|
| Population
surveillance for primary school aged children |
| All
health surveillance activities should be recorded to establish a population
surveillance database. |
| All
health surveillance activities need continued review and prospective
evaluation. |
| Population
information is required on: |
|
- dental status |
|
- immunisation status; |
| in
addition to routine health surveillance activities. |
|