Reconceptualising health services for school-age children in the 21st century.

This paper describes the historical background and philosophy of development of health services for school-age children in England. The school health service originated in the early 20th century in response to increasing awareness of signifi cant childhood morbidity and has shifted from a 'seek and treat' to a 'prevent and promote' paradigm. The latter is currently supported by a clear evidence based policy—the Healthy Child Programme 5–19 years which, it is argued, is highly relevant to modern morbidities and continues to require strong nursing and medical leadership of a multi-agency, multidisciplinary team.