School Nurse Champions

The Department for Health has announced that 300 young carers are to be trained as school nurse champions, helping to train the 1,200 school nurses across England in how to provide the best support for young carers.

School nurse champions will also help nurses get the support they want so they can provide even greater assistance to children facing health related difficulties in schools.

As part of the plans, school nurses will:

• Get more training to make sure their skills are constantly improved and updated so they can support children with more complex health needs
• Become local leaders in children’s health and be given the expertise to improve what school nurses offer to children. This could mean being available outside of school hours.
• Be champions for children who care for others to make sure they get the right support. Young carers themselves will train school nurses so they know exactly what support to provide.

The best school nurses will also be rewarded for their work through a new, national school nurse award.

There are as many as 700,000 young carers in the UK, and their caring responsibilities, which could be as intense as 50 hours a week, are often a hidden cause of health problems, bullying, truancy and not doing well at school. School staff can sometimes be unaware that children are carers, and school nurses are in a perfect position to provide the right support that young carers need to help them be happier and do better at school.

For further information visit www.gov.uk/government/news/school-nurses-to-play-a-bigger-role-in-improving-childrens-health.