School Nursing (Specialist Schools)

• Providing holistic care for all students
• Safeguarding children and young people
• Providing individual assessment and care planning to meet each child’s needs
• Training for support staff in specific care procedures including: Enteral Feeding, Tracheostomy Care, Mechanical Ventilation, Epilepsy Awareness, Medicine Administration, Anaphylaxis, Oxygen Administration, Asthma Care
• Managing medicine storage and administration in school
• Enabling children and young people with severe learning and physical disabilities and / or life limiting conditions, to attend a locally maintained school
• Working in partnership with other agencies including: General Practitioners, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Learning Disability Nurses, Hospital and Community Consultants, Community Children’s Nurses, Complex Health Needs Team, Specialist Nurses, Respite Facilities, Dieticians and Social Care
• Health promotion and promoting positive health choices
• Acting as an advocate for the child and family
• Providing support and advice for parents (open access)
• Providing nurse-led Down Syndrome clinics in schools
• Sign-posting and referral to appropriate services
• Acting as the lead health professional for the child by attending and contributing to a range of meetings including; Safeguarding, Child in Need, Looked After Child, Team Around a Child, Annual Educational Reviews, contributing to EHCP’s and supporting Transition to post-19 services
• Managing medical emergencies (over and above first aid) occurring at school
• Providing continence advice and assessment
• Providing learning placements and mentorship for student nurses from The University of Surrey.

Sleep is so important for all our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Sleep problems can be more common and complex if a child or young person has a learning disability.

Tips, advice and information on sleep and your child.

We are here to provide support and advice to your child/young person. The team will explore the common causes of incontinence, complete a continence assessment if required and may give you containment products.

Common causes of incontinence          

• Fluid intake: if your child/young person doesn’t drink enough, their bladder will not learn to stretch and expand to hold wee and they may feel they need to wee often. Encourage your child/young person to have regular drinks (6-8 drinks) throughout the day and offer the toilet 20-30 minutes after drinking.
• Bladder and bowel infection: any infection in the bowel or urinary tract can have an effect on toilet training, causing a more frequent need to wee or poo.
• Constipation and diarrhoea: constipation (hard, infrequent stooling or soiling) is the most common cause of urinary incontinence in children as a full bowel presses on the bladder causing incontinence.

What happens during a continence assessment?

For a continence assessment to take place, we need:

1. A questionnaire
2. A three day intake/output chart. The intake/output chart is a tool used to track how much fluid is drunk and how often the child/young person wees.

The completed questionnaire and chart is reviewed by the team to find any problems such as amount of fluid intake or constipation.  The team will offer basic advice on things like toilet training and fluid intake.

After the assessment, the team may advise a toilet training program if we feel continence can be achieved. If the assessment shows a need for containment products, the child/young person will be measured to ensure correct fit and absorbency.

Further information

• Bladder and Bowel UK
• ERIC

If you have concerns around your child/young person’s continence, please contact us.

These services may vary between schools.

• Consultant paediatrician clinics
• Outreach Epilepsy clinics
• Audiology clinics
• Dental checks
• Vision testing
• Parent workshops
• Immunisations
• Dietician clinics (Gastrostomy)

• See how to contact us.

Our service includes the following specialist schools.

• Brooklands (nursery and primary, Reigate)
  Telephone 01737 224552
• Clifton Hill (secondary and further education, Caterham)
  Telephone 01883 347740
• Manor Mead (nursery and primary school, Shepperton)
  Telephone 01932 241834
• Pond Meadow (nursery, primary, secondary and further education, Guildford
  Telephone 01483 477337
• Portesbery (nursery, primary, secondary and further education, Camberley)
  Telephone 01252 832100
• The Ridgeway (nursery, primary, secondary and further education, Farnham)
  Telephone 01252 724562
• Walton Leigh (secondary school, and further education, Walton)
  Telephone 01932 223243
• Woodlands (nursery, primary and secondary, Leatherhead)
  Telephone 01372 378147

Once your child has accepted a place at one of the above schools, their details will be passed to the special school nursing team based within the chosen school.

The team will make contact with the parents or carers and arrange a health assessment meeting.

This meeting may take place at school, or within the home, with just the nursing team, or as a joint visit with the teaching staff. The purpose of the meeting is to gather information about your child’s health, to enable the team to write care plans and provide school staff training, which in turn will result in a smooth transition into school, ensuring all health needs are met from the start.

All children who attend one of the above schools will have automatic access to the service.