 PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR TEACHING STAFF and PARENT CONTACTS
The Healthy Lives Team Families update contains helpful information and activities for your whole school community
This is the FAMILIES newsletter from The Healthy Lives Team. Each Friday we share relevant information, activities and resources to support your ongoing health and wellbeing.
The HEALTHY LIVES TEAM supports schools, pupils and families with everything to do with health and wellbeing. We want to help you to live fitter, healthier and happier lives.
We now have a Healthy Lives Team webpage where you can find out more about the team and access Healthy Schools resources and all our archived newsletters.
 Mayor visits school to launch children’s flu vaccination campaign
Mayor John Biggs paid a visit to St Anne’s and Guardian Angels Primary School in Bethnal Green to launch the council’s flu vaccination campaign and read to children from a story book about the vaccine. The book is being distributed to all primary schools in the borough to help teachers explain the flu vaccine to young children.
Flu can be very serious, causing thousands of hospitalisations and deaths in the UK every winter. With Covid-19 still circulating, the NHS expects to be put under particular pressure this year, meaning vaccination is more important than ever.
This year is the first in which all children aged 2-16 are eligible for a flu vaccine, including more than 38,000 children attending the borough’s 81 primary, secondary and special schools. Most children will be given a nasal spray vaccine as it is quick, painless, and more effective than an injected vaccine when it comes to stopping the virus from passing on to others. This won’t be suitable for all children since the nasal spray contains a small amount of porcine gelatine, which is why an alternative injectable vaccine, containing no pork or other animal products, will also be available.
Children aged two and three can be vaccinated at their GP surgery, while older children will be vaccinated in school, with catch-up clinics being organized for those who are out of school on the day their vaccination is scheduled. Find out more at by clicking on the link below or email Elaine Londesborough-van Rooyen, Public Health Programme Manager for Maternity and Early Years on elaine.londesborough-vanrooyen@towerhamlets.gov.uk.
 Vaccinations for children aged 12 to 15
This autumn, all children aged 12 to 15 are being offered the one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, following advice from the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers. Vaccination of children aged 12 to 15 with certain underlying medical conditions has already been taking place in Tower Hamlets since early September.
You can book an appointment for your child by clicking on the link below if/your child:
- Vaccination session in your child’s school has already taken place and they missed it or needed longer to decide or
- Is home-schooled or
- Has an underlying medical condition
For more information, please call 0207 364 3030 or click on the link below.
 Healthy Start Vouchers
Did you know you may be eligible for FREE vouchers to spend on milk and healthy food if you are on certain benefits? With a value over £1000 per child over their lifetime, if claimed from pregnancy to the child’s 4th birthday.
What is Healthy Start?
Healthy Start helps you give your family the very best start in life, with free vitamins and vouchers each month to spend on healthy essentials.
You can use the vouchers to buy fresh or frozen fruit, vegetables and pulses such as lentils and beans, cow’s milk, and infant formula.
What do you get?
- £8.50 per week for each baby under the age of 1
- £4.25 per week for each child aged between 1 and 3
- Plus £4.25 per week if you are pregnant (from week 10)
- Free vitamins
The vouchers can be used in all major supermarkets, some local shops and market stalls.
 Specialist community asthma nurse clinic
Worried about your child’s asthma? Parents can now self-refer to a specialist clinic. If your child has any of the below, please contact Tori Hadaway, Community Children Specialist Asthma Nurse, on 07591 989 962 or email TH.paedasthmanurse@nhs.net.
- One or more hospital admission or more than 2 wheeze/asthma attacks in the last year
- Regular use of salbutamol (blue inhaler) more than 3 times a week at school or at home
- Symptoms limiting exercise during sports, PE, playtimes or longer walks such as school trips
- School attendance below 90% because of asthma
- Parent or professional concern around compliance of treatment
 "The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do."
Kobe Bryant
 |
|
The Healthy Lives Team
The Healthy Lives Team want to support you with all aspects of health and wellbeing. We will be sending you regular newsletters that will be relevant whether you are at school, work, or at home.
Please feel free to share this email.
|
We are incredibly proud in Tower Hamlets to have supported schools to gain more Healthy Schools awards than any other borough in London. So please use this newsletter in whatever way suits you best to stay as fit and healthy as possible.
If you're in a school, please share this newsletter using your social media or website using the following share button, or you can click the hyperlink in the top right corner of this email:
Subscribing to this newsletter
Just to let you know, you're receiving this because you have either opted in to get emails from the council relating to children and education, or you are one of the Healthy Lives team's regular contacts, or you may also have been forwarded this email from your school.
If you or anyone you know would like to sign up to this newsletter, please use the following link.
Take care,
The Healthy Lives team at London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Useful links
Did you know that Tower Hamlets offers other email newsletters to keep you up to date on a variety of topics?
|
