Health Checks at School

surreysaver

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Screening/Pages/Checkschildhood.aspx

The School Entry Health Check

All children have key indicators of health assessed at primary school entry, when they are four to five years old. This is called the School Entry Health Check. This check will only be done if a parent consents.

My bold.

FBaby

I must admit I never filled it in, I understand the good thinking behind it, but I still think it's wrong to stick a 4/5 year old on a scale and then decide if they have a problem!

They don't decide if they have a problem, they decide if they could potentially have one. One my long time friends has very skinny children. I know them well enough to know that they do eat as well as my children, however, they are naturally skinny, just like their mum. Inevitably, they both came up as being underweight during the checks. It resulted in a phone call, mum explaining that they do eat plenty and that the family on her side are all slim, and that was the end of it. Nothing to make a big drama of it.

Similarly, one little girl in DD's class was clearly showing signs of being overweight. Her mum (very slim herself) didn't realise. She used to make little mentions about comments that had been made about her DD which she felt were totally unjustified. However, she did take the results of the checks and what the nurse said seriously. She realised that giving her daughter the same size portion than hers and OH wasn't right. She made few changes, nothing drastic, and by the time they were weighted again in Y6 she was a perfect weight.

I really don't see how weighting children could do more harm than good IF managed correctly, ie. not overdramatizing it by parents and discussing it appropriately with their children if necessary (year 6 checks).

FBaby

This check will only be done if a parent consents.

My understanding is that not opting out can be consenting. What matters is that the choice is being given.

surreysaver

FBaby wrote: »

My understanding is that not opting out can be consenting. What matters is that the choice is being given.

I think you understand wrong. Consent has to be explicitly given. If you haven't seen the form, you haven't been given a choice. Consent, by its very nature and definition, cannot be assumed by the lack of an objection.

FBaby

Consent, by its very nature and definition, cannot be assumed by the lack of an objection.

Of course it can. Have you ever signed a consent form to agree for your child to be prescribed antibiotics, a blood test? Information is provided and it is assumed that you agree to it unless you object. It is only with more life threatening intervention that consent form becomes regular practice.

You had a go at kbr despite them clarifying that a letter is sent to the parents so choice IS given.

surreysaver

FBaby wrote: »

Of course it can. Have you ever signed a consent form to agree for your child to be prescribed antibiotics, a blood test? Information is provided and it is assumed that you agree to it unless you object. It is only with more life threatening intervention that consent form becomes regular practice.

You had a go at kbr despite them clarifying that a letter is sent to the parents so choice IS given.

My bold again. SIGNED A CONSENT FORM. Not signing an objection form! You said it yourself. If you are signing a consent form, you are giving consent. If you are not signing an objection form, that is not the same as giving consent. By signing a consent form you are agreeing that you are not objecting. I do not really understand what you are trying to say in your latest post? And kbr says she is a school nurse. Check her profile - it says she is a stay at home mum. It is a criminal offence to pose as a nurse. Even if she used to be a nurse, if she is now a SAHP, she is not keeping her registration and knowledge up to date. So by posing as a nurse, she is a breaking the law, and if she used to perform checks on children without parental consent she was breaking the law.

And, unless you sign to confirm you have received the letter, there is no proof you have been given a choice. No consent form, no acknowledgement you have received and understood the letter, then NO CONSENT.

They would never risk doing this in the area in which I live. You sign a general consent form when your child starts school to go on various trips etc, but the school still covers themselves by sending out a second letter asking for consent before each trip. Double back-side covering here. Presumably because of parents like me!

neverdespairgirl

Whether or not consent forms should be obtained, describing measuring weight and height as "medical procedures" is daft.

surreysaver

And how would you describe a medical procedure, then?

pollypenny

surreysaver wrote: »

You are obviously not a healthcare 'professional', then, otherwise you would know that it is assault to perform procedures on people without consent. For which you can be prosecuted and struck off. There is too much of this 'opt-out' business. It is illegal and you should not be doing it!. The school should not be allowing it to occur, either, and the school should separately be asking for consent from parents to allow their children to see the school nurse, who should then be asking for consent to do whatever they want to do.

If this had happened to my child, the police would have been summoned to deal with it.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I think that's the reaction you'd get from the police.

You sound like the mother who wrote 999 as the emergency contact number on the school admission form.

surreysaver

pollypenny wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I think that's the reaction you'd get from the police.

You sound like the mother who wrote 999 as the emergency contact number on the school admission form.

Trouble is, people not taking these things seriously is what leads to abuse.