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Why vaccines are important

Vaccines help protect children and young people from serious illnesses. The is designed to offer the best protection to children at the right time. This gives children the best start in life.

Making sure children are up to date with their vaccines helps to:

• reduce the spread of infection and stop outbreaks of disease
• keep children in school, or accessing education if home schooled, so they can continue to learn and develop
• protect people who cannot be vaccinated through ‘herd immunity’, meaning that when enough people are vaccinated, infections cannot easily spread

The vaccinations offered as part of the school-aged vaccination service are:

1. Flu vaccinations – offered to children in reception to Year 11
2. HPV vaccinations – offered to children in Year 8
3. MenACWY and 3 in 1 Teenage booster (Td/IPV) – offered to children in Year 9
4. MMR vaccinations – offered as a catch-up service to school-aged children from reception to Year 11

For more information about school-aged vaccinations see Further information on school-age vaccinations.

The role of education and childcare settings in supporting vaccinations

NHS England (NHSE) arrange and fund school-aged vaccinations. School Aged Immunisation Services (SAIS) providers are responsible for vaccine delivery.

Education settings play a key role in helping SAIS providers to deliver vaccinations effectively.

Education and childcare settings support school-age vaccinations by:

• sharing information with parents and carers at key points
• offering space to deliver vaccines which helps to make sure that children’s vaccinations are up to date
• reducing avoidable health inequalities by making access to vaccines easier for all, getting vaccinated at school helps to make sure children who are not registered with a GP are included

Working with SAIS providers

Education and childcare settings can support the SAIS team by:

• providing space and time for vaccination
• sharing information leaflets about vaccines with parents and carers
• sharing consent forms for parents or carers (if asked by the SAIS team)
• planning in advance, which means there is enough time for the right vaccinations to be booked in
• booking in a date for autumn term flu vaccinations before the summer holidays
• providing the SAIS team with a list of eligible children and their parent or carer’s contact details

The Department for Education’s guidance on sharing personal data explains that there is a legal basis for sharing information with immunisation providers under article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR. For more information on data sharing see Information on data sharing.

Contacting SAIS teams

You can contact the SAIS team directly if you have any questions.

Your regional NHSE team will be able to share contact details for your SAIS team if you do not have them.  can be found on the NHS England website.

For more information and resources about supporting SAIS providers see Vaccination resources for education settings.

What to expect during school vaccination sessions

Before the immunisation session

The SAIS teams will work closely with you before the session to plan the vaccination session. This includes how to manage children’s anxiety or any children with sensory barriers.

You should select someone in your setting to be a point of contact for the SAIS team. This will help support planning and set-up for the day of the visit.

What the SAIS team will do:

• contact you to agree the best way of delivering vaccinations in your setting – this will include deciding on the best days for a visit
• support you to run information sessions for parents and carers
• ask for school roll data and parent or carer information – the Department for Education provide further information for schools on sharing personal data
• support you to make sure parents or carers, and children can make an informed choice to get vaccinated – this will include providing a consent form, invitation letter, and links to information resources

SAIS teams may use a digital platform to share information with parents or carers. Other teams may ask schools to share this information through their usual communication channels.

What you should do:

• work with the SAIS team to share the data they ask for (class list and parent contact details) – please do this as soon as possible – for the seasonal flu programme, you should aim to do this before the summer holidays
• if requested by the SAIS team, the school should support the team by sending invitations to parents or carers of eligible children – make sure to give a clear deadline for a response – the deadline should be at least 48 hours before the SAIS team visits the school so that they can order the required amount of vaccine
• let children know what will happen – support parents, carers or staff who may be concerned to speak to the SAIS team – the team will be happy to discuss any questions to support parents or carers in their decision making
• remind parents or carers to return the consent form – if the consent deadline is missed, the SAIS team may not have enough vaccines on the day
• think about a space that could be made available – this should be a large, well-ventilated space, with hand washing facilities – this may be a sports hall or similar space
• share as much information as possible for the SAIS team so that they can plan their visit and be prepared on the day
• plan how you can get children to their sessions on time

On the day of the immunisation session

What the SAIS team will do:

• arrive on time to set up work areas for the session
• provide the vaccinations to children on the list provided
• support receiving verbal consent from parents or carers for those not on the list
• by law, some children under 16 may be able to give their own consent if they understand the benefits and risks – this is called Gillick competence
• remove any sharp, hazardous or medical waste

What you should do:

• make sure that the SAIS team can access and set-up in the agreed space before the school day starts
• provide, if possible, access to a power supply with extension cables and anti-trip mats, separation screens, mats, tables and chairs
• ask children to wear loose-fitting short-sleeved tops on the day of vaccination
• identify and support children who may find the process stressful, in partnership with the school nurse
• ensure children with a consent form and those with an unreturned consent form are bought to the vaccination session
• if a child wishes to be vaccinated and a consent form has not been returned, the SAIS team will make every effort to contact the parent or carer to seek their verbal consent
• help to control any disruption and noise
• make sure there is a steady flow of children throughout the school day
• remove any household waste generated on the day
• avoid scheduling fire or emergency drills on the same day as vaccinations

Further information on school-age vaccinations

The table below provides a summary of different vaccinations offered in schools. Young people who miss the adolescent immunisation sessions are still eligible in older years. They should be encouraged to catch up as soon as possible through their school-aged immunisation service or by being referred to their GP.

Further information can be found on .

Vaccine	School years eligible	Mode of administration and schedule	Diseases protected against
Seasonal influenza vaccine	Primary School (reception to year 6) Secondary School (years 7 to 11)	Nasal spray 1 dose (unless otherwise indicated) (Injected vaccine is available if nasal spray is unsuitable) Offered annually in the autumn term	Influenza virus
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine	Year 8	Injected 1 dose	Genital warts and HPV related cancers such as cervical cancer, cancers of the head and neck and cancers of the genital area
MenACWY vaccine	Year 9	Injected 1 dose	Meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia from groups A, C, W and Y
Td/IPV (3-in-1 booster)	Year 9	Injected Final dose of the course (total of 5)	Tetanus, diphtheria and polio
MMRV/MMR check and offer	At all opportunities	Injected 2 doses	Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)

Staff immunisation

It is important that all staff are . Staff can speak to their GP or practice nurse if they are unsure if they are up to date.

Staff may be eligible for an as part of NHS care, please check here to see if you may be eligible.

MMRÌý±¹²¹³¦³¦¾±²Ô²¹³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô

Staff should make sure that they have had 2 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The MMR vaccine is the safest and most effective way to protect yourself against measles, mumps and rubella, which are viral infections that can quickly spread and cause outbreaks.

Complications of measles includes otitis media, pneumonia, diarrhoea and convulsions. Rarer complications include encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and sub-acute sclerosing pan-encephalitis, which is a fatal, progressive brain inflammation caused by a persistent measles virus infection.

Rubella caught in pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or cause very serious harm to the unborn baby and so all people who are considering a pregnancy should make sure they are up to date with their 2 doses of the MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine is available for free on the NHS with no upper age limit.

Further information is available in the Thinking of getting pregnant? leaflet.

You can catch up for free on the NHS whatever your age.

Hepatitis B vaccine

°Õ³ó±ðÌý is recommended for staff who are involved in the care of individuals with severe learning disability or challenging behaviour who live in residential settings.

In such circumstances, it is the  to conduct an occupational health risk assessment and pay for the vaccine if it is required.

Immunisation for outbreak response

Sometimes clusters and outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases such as measles, mumps, hepatitis A and meningococcal disease are linked to children and young people settings.

Suspected outbreaks should be notified to your UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) local health protection team (HPT) promptly in line with advice on managing outbreaks and incidents.

°Õ³ó±ðÌýHPT will conduct a risk assessment. As part of the control measures, they may offer vaccination to all people in the setting. This will require the setting to support with clear and prompt communication with parents or carers and rapid coordination of arrangements.

It is very important that schools share any information the HPT or SAIS team needs to set up a vaccination session as quickly as possible in response to an outbreak.

Vaccination resources for education settings

A wide range of vaccination resources for education settings are available. Education settings are encouraged to share these with parents or carers at appropriate opportunities such as at school entry.

Education settings are also encouraged to provide reminders at the beginning of each academic year. Higher education settings are also encouraged to share relevant resources with their students at the beginning of the academic year.

Copies of printed publications and the full range of digital resources to support the immunisation programmes can be ordered through the Ìý±è±ô²¹³Ù´Ú´Ç°ù³¾.

We also recommend introducing the concept of vaccination to children, educating them on how vaccinations work and why they are so important for preventing certain infections. Free lesson plans have been developed through the , operated by UKHSA.

The following resources are available:

• Back to nursery, primary school and secondary school posters and postcards
• Immunisation for young people leaflet – covers information about the school-based adolescent immunisation programmes: HPV, MenACWY, Td/IPV
• HPV vaccine leaflet
• HPV vaccine template consent form
• HPV vaccine record card
• MMR for all leaflet (with translations)
• Measles: protect yourself, protect others leaflet
• Measles: don’t let your child catch-it poster
• Measles: don’t let your child catch it flyer (with translations)
• Thinking of getting pregnant leaflet (German measles or rubella)
•  helping to protect students from vaccine preventable infectious diseases
• Flu resources
• Managing infections in schools poster
• Seeking consent for immunisations in schools

Information on data sharing

What data do I need to share with the immunisation team and does GDPR allow me to share that data?

In simple terms, schools are allowed to share information with vaccination teams to help protect children’s health.

You will need to share data to support immunisation programmes in your school. This includes:

• sharing information leaflets and consent forms with parents or carers
• providing a list of eligible children and young people, and their parents’ or carers’ contact details to the school-age immunisation team

Sharing these contact details does not mean that a vaccine will be given. A parent or carer will need to give their consent for a vaccine to be given to their child.

There is a lawful basis for you to share information with school immunisation teams under article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR. This states that the information can be shared if:

processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

This means that the school can share this information with immunisation programmes as it is in the public interest.

Sharing information with immunisation programmes is part of the exercise of a school’s official authority. Schools also have a duty to support wider public health. Data protection laws do not prevent you from sharing personal data where it is appropriate to do so in a fair and lawful way. In this instance, it is beneficial to do so.