The four year kindy health check and what to expect

So I like to think as a parent I am up on all the checks, dates, boxes that need to be ticked and should be, but for some reason, perhaps the post-corona phase, I wasn’t really on top of the 4 year Kindy health check and what it actually was.

Otherwise known as the School Entry Health Assessment, this is a health check provided to all children of Kindy/Pre Primary age in Western Australia and is carried out by school nurses during term time, usually within all schools that have agreed to the service. It comes following a form sent to parents, asking for their consent to carry out an assessment and asking simple questions about the child’s general health.

Anyway fast forward to the school holidays (told you I wasn’t on top of this check-up!) a little nervous as to what to expect, with me jokingly reassuring him that he wasn’t shrinking, but also worried, as a parent you just never know what to expect when it comes to your child’s health and development.

So for those of you not sure what to expect, here are the facts:

• First up was the eye test – this entailed a simple check of pointing at shapes and then looking at a board (kind of like one at the optician but with shapes and not letters) and then indicating on the card in front of them what shape they could see. Next they got to put on some cute glasses to test the strength of each eye. As someone who started wearing glasses at a very young age this bought back memories!

• Next up is the hearing test – so off we moved to another little chair and some big headphones (we pretended he was a pilot) and he had to clap his hands every time he heard a noise. (He said this was his favourite)
• Height and weight measurements were done next, calculating the BMI for their age.
• Questions – this kind of appointment is always a great opportunity to raise any concerns etc that you may have, and the basic ones I did were addressed swiftly putting my mind at rest.

The results are sent back to you in a sealed envelope for confidentiality and if there are any concerns, the school nurse will often call to discuss it.
We both left (complete with smiley dinosaur stickers), happy and reassured that all was okay and also grateful to be able to access such a service.

Find out more about Western Australia’s Child Health Program