Health and home education

The School Age Immunisation Service offers vaccination programmes in Southampton to all children aged four (in reception year) to 16 and up to 18 year olds in Special Educational Needs schools.

The service offers community clinics for children and young people who are educated at home, in other settings or who are not currently in education. These are located across the city in accessible settings and are open some evenings and weekends for your convenience. These clinics require a booking and this can be done as part of the consent process.

If you feel your child is due a vaccination or has missed one please contact Solent NHS for more advice or to arrange an appointment.

The School Age Immunisation Service no longer provides paper consent forms. Consent is obtained from parents/carers with Parental Responsibility (PR) via an online E-Consent form through the Inhealthcare platform.

Parents/carers will be emailed a letter containing the link needed to complete the online E-Consent form, along with a code to use in the InHealthCare Platform. A link for vaccine information is also contained in this letter.

On completion of the online E-Consent form you will receive an email confirmation from Inhealthcare. Please contact Solent NHS if you do not receive this within 24hrs. Please check your junk mail folders as it sometimes ends up in these.

You will also receive confirmation of vaccination after the session.

The online E-Consent can be completed on all electronic devices including smartphones, tablets and PCs.

Solent NHS offer a catch up programme for children who are overdue their second dose (booster) for the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination. The first dose is often given around one year of age and the second dose given around three years and four months age. If your child has not had any of the MMR vaccines and you would like them to, please contact your GP.

See the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine overview.

The flu vaccine helps to protect children and those who are vulnerable around them from the flu virus. This is normally administered through a single dose nasal spray, however an injectable version is also available for those who are not able to have the nasal spray. The flu vaccine is currently given to all eligible children aged 4–11 years and some secondary school aged children (11–14 years).

Further information for parents/carers is in the documents below:

• Protecting your child against flu booklet (pre-school and primary aged children)
• Protecting your child against flu booklet (school years 7-11)
• Child flu vaccine
• Protecting your child against flu - video with British Sign Language

The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine helps to offer protection against cervical cancer and some other cancers of the mouth and throat. It is now offered to girls and boys aged 12-13 years and it is a two dose programme with a second dose given around one year after the first dose.

See the HPV vaccine overview.

The Meningitis (MenACWY) vaccine helps to protect children and young people from meningitis, and it cover four strains, A C W and Y. This vaccine is given when the child is 13-14 years old and is a single dose injection. This is often given at the same time as the Teen Booster vaccination.

See the MenACWY vaccine overview.

This vaccination helps protect against Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio and is a booster to previous vaccines of this. It is given to children aged 13-14 years, often at the same time as the MenACWY vaccine, and is a single dose injection.

See the 3-in-1 teenage booster overview.