Compass provides Connect for Health, the local school nursing service in Warwickshire (formerly the Warwickshire School Health and Wellbeing Service). This confidential service is freely available to all school-aged children and young people from 5 to 19 years old (up to 25 years old for people with special educational needs) and their families and carers. Support is available for your family regardless of whether your child attends a mainstream school to access education.
They deliver key elements of the Health Child programme (GOV.UK), working to identify and meet the health and wellbeing needs of Warwickshire families, to give children and young people the best possible start in life.
For free and advice and support please visit the Connect for Health website (Compass UK).
Health support for Warwickshire families
The service can provide support in a way that best suits you, including, individually (this can be face-to-face or over the phone), in group workshops or via their confidential text messaging services for both young people and parents/carers.
Their team includes a range of healthcare professionals who can offer you support with a variety of health topics including:
- Health eating
- Dental health
- Friendships and relationships
- Body image
- Bullying
- School anxiety
- Fussy eating
- Sleep
- Continence
- Mental health
- Sexual health
- Long-term medical conditions
- Gender and sexuality
- Parenting
- Behaviour
- Referral onto additional services
Access to healthcare professionals
When you contact Connect for Health, you will have access to a range of healthcare professionals, including:
- School Nurses
- School Staff Nurses
- Family Brief Intervention Workers
- Healthcare Support Workers
- Learning Disability Practitioner
- Health Promotion Team
- Administrators
The service operates out of three administrative hubs in the north, east and south of the county.
Annual work from the Connect for Health service includes:
- Height and measurements of Reception and Year 6 pupils as part of the National Child Measurement programme.
- Health Needs Assessment Questionnaires for Year 6 and Year 9 pupils.
- School Readiness Health Questionnaire for parents/carers to complete leading up to their child starting school.
- Review Health Assessments (RHA’s) for Children in Care (CiC) in partnership with the CIC team and children’s social care.
- Continence workshops and support for parents and carers.
- Contributing to education and healthcare plans for children and young people with long-term medical conditions and complex needs.
- Support for schools in developing annual school public health plans and reviewing health-related policies, including the delivery of personal, social and health education (PSHE) in the curriculum.
Identifying health needs in Warwickshire
Connect for Health undertakes annual health needs assessments at a range of key stages throughout your child’s school years. Currently, there are three assessments which are carried out:
- The School Readiness Health Questionnaire undertaken by parents for their children as they enter school and start in Reception.
- The Health Needs Assessment in Year 6 and Year 9, completed by the children themselves in the classroom with the support of the Connect for Health team.
This data is used at a school level to develop localised health and wellbeing plans, including the identification of key priorities for that area and how the school will be supported by the service to meet the needs of the children and young people within that school.
Annual reports
Access their latest annual report to see the work that the service completes each year, the impact it has had on the community and insights into the population’s health needs:
Connect for Health annual report 2022/2023 (Compass UK)
If you have any questions about the reports, please contact the service at connectforhealth@compass-uk.org.
Support with healthy lifestyles
Connect for Health is linked with Change Makers, the healthy lifestyles service in Warwickshire. Change Makers is a free programme that offers support for healthy eating and physical activity, to help your family change their eating habits and give you the tools to make healthier choices in the future.
Discover more about the Change Makers service (Compass UK)
How to access the Connect for Health service
For free and advice and support please visit the Connect for Health website (Compass UK).
You can also contact the service by telephone or email:
If you would like to speak to a nurse regarding a health and wellbeing concern for free, confidential support, you can text one of their messaging services:
- ChatHealth (11-19 years old) – 07507 331525
- Parentline – 07520 619376