School age vaccinations

Vaccines your child should have before starting school

By the time your child reaches the age to start primary school, they should have received a range of vaccinations to protect them against serious and potentially deadly diseases.

It's important you check that your child has had 2 MMR vaccines. The first one is usually given once children reach one year of age. The second one is usually given around 3 years and 4 months of age.

Having 2 doses of the MMR vaccine ensures good protection against measles, mumps and rubella.

If you are unsure if your child is up-to-date with their vaccinations, or you want them to have vaccinations they previously missed out on, contact the Immunisation team.

The vaccinations we offer are safe and effective. Find out more about why it's important to protect your child by watching these short videos.

Vaccinations video: Part 1 on the NHS website

Vaccinations video: Part 2 on the NHS website

Providing consent for vaccination

Parental responsibility is about making decisions which affect a child's welfare. A person with parental responsibility for a child will have certain:

rights
powers and authority
duties
responsibilities

What parental responsibility covers

Factors of parental responsibility include:

where the child should live
the child's education
applying for a passport
significant movement of the child such as:

leaving the country for a holiday
leaving the jurisdiction (emigrating)

the child's name (including changes to name by Deed Poll)
protecting the child
the child's religious upbringing
consent to the child's medical treatment
consent to freeing the child for adoption
looking after the child's property (eg inheritance)
the child's burial or cremation

People who have parental responsibility for a child

The mother of the child will automatically have parental responsibility for her child.

Following an amendment to the law relating to parental responsibility on 02 December 2016, unmarried fathers, who are registered as their child's father (and therefore named on the birth certificate), will automatically acquire legal responsibility for making decisions about matters affecting their child's welfare (parental responsibility).

However, the law does not apply retrospectively. For births registered before 2 December 2016, unmarried fathers who are not registered as the child's father at the time of the child's birth will not have parental responsibility for their child. They will need to acquire it by:

entering into a parental responsibility agreement with the child's mother
applying to the Court for an order stating that he has parental responsibility, or
requesting that the registrar re-registers the child's birth so as to enter the father's name as the child's father, (by which he will acquire parental responsibility for his child). This option will involve the cooperation of the child's mother in making the request to the registrar

Someone else can have parental responsibility for a child if either:

a custody order or a residence order has been made in their favour
they have responsibility for the child under an emergency protection order
they are a guardian of the child
they have adopted the child

Parents who are in a same sex relationship

changes to the law around parental responsibility for unmarried fathers relate only to fathers who are the stated biological father of the child. The amendments do not cover parents who are in a same-sex relationship
however, changes to the law regarding parents in a same-sex relationship will be progressed alongside same-sex marriage legislation

School age vaccinations

The table below shows the ages your child will be offered school age vaccinations and the diseases they protect against.

The age the vaccines are offered are based on evidence that shows the most effective time to protect your child. For most pupils, these vaccinations complete the childhood course of vaccinations.

You will receive information about these vaccinations and a consent form to complete when vaccinations are due.

The vaccinations are given in school by experienced school nurses who make sure nervous pupils are as comfortable as possible.

All vaccinations for school age pupils are free when the vaccines are given in school, even if you've been on the Island for less than 6 months.

If your child has recently moved to Jersey and / or missed any vaccinations, the Immunisation Team can arrange for them to be vaccinated by the Immunisation Nurses. Contact the Immunisation Team.

School age vaccination programme

Age when vaccinations are given	School year	Diseases the vaccinations protect against	Brand used
Annually for all school children up to and including school year 11	All school years up to and including school year 11 annually	Flu (nasal vaccine). Children's nasal flu vaccine leaflet	Fluenz
12 to 13 years old	Year 8	Cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), including cervical cancer, mouth and throat cancers and some cancers of the anal and genital areas. HPV vaccine leaflet	Gardasil
13 to 14 years old	Year 9	Tetanus, diphtheria, and polio booster. Meningitis ACWY. Your teenager immunisations leaflet	Revaxis Nimenrix MenQuadfi

Age when vaccinations are given

School year

Diseases the vaccinations
protect against

Brand used

Annually for all school children up to and including school year 11

All school years up to and including school year 11 annually

Flu (nasal vaccine).

Children's nasal flu vaccine leaflet

Fluenz

12 to 13 years old

Year 8

Cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), including cervical cancer, mouth and throat cancers and some cancers of the anal and genital areas.

HPV vaccine leaflet

Gardasil

13 to 14 years old

Year 9

Tetanus, diphtheria, and polio booster.

Meningitis ACWY.

Your teenager immunisations leaflet

Revaxis

Nimenrix

MenQuadfi

Vaccinations you should have had before going to University

If you are planning to go to university or go travelling, you should ensure you are up to date with your childhood vaccinations before you leave.

There have been outbreaks of measles and mumps in universities, and measles is circulating in England. There has also been a surge in measles cases in the European region and beyond, with deaths in adults and children caused by measles.

Before you get to university, your university will ask you to confirm you have had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine and a MenACWY vaccine.

If you haven't had all these vaccines, contact the Immunisation Team. They will help you to get protected before you go to university.

Find out more about the MenACWY vaccine and Travel vaccinations.