School medical check-ups

Pupils’ health is critical to their success and wellbeing at school.

Identifying, screening for and taking account of health problems is vital in ensuring an environment that will promote successful learning and academic outcomes for pupils.

For this reason, schoolchildren in the Principality receive regular medical check-ups.

These check-ups take place within the country’s schools and involve specific assessments to identify signs that may lead to learning difficulties, such as problems with vision, hearing or language. Medical check-ups also look for and/or identify psychological problems that have an impact on the child’s education.

The check-ups also take into account any observations from the child’s teacher and other staff at the school in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the child’s situation.

During the medical check-up:

- The child’s vaccinations are checked against the current vaccination schedule.

- A height-to-weight assessment is carried out and the BMI calculated. This data is then transferred and plotted on the curves in the child’s health record.

- A clinical examination is carried out by the doctor, which includes looking for any spinal abnormalities.

- The child is screened for hearing problems, including using a hearing test device.

- A sight test will be carried out.

- For children in the third year of nursery school, screening will be conducted using validated and calibrated tools to identify any language or learning difficulties.

A summary report is sent to the child’s parents. This will include any relevant advice and referrals to specialists (ophthalmologists, ENT specialists, speech therapists or other health professionals that it would be advisable to consult).

Author: Dr Valérie JOGUET – Doctor with the Medical Inspectorate for Schools,

University Diploma (DU) in Neuropsychopathology of Learning (Lyon Faculty of Medicine)