16.10.2024
In the coming days, parents of children starting first grade in the 2025/26 school year will receive a letter: The education authority is sending out invitations this week for the school entry examinations, which are conducted by the school medical service of the Bremen public health department. The school entry examination provides information about the child's development in order to make individual school recommendations and to identify the needs of the incoming first graders for the primary schools and the education authority.
The results of school entry examinations are an important instrument
Claudia Bernhard, Senator for Health, Women and Consumer Protection:
"The results of the school entry examinations provide insight into the health status of school-age children in Bremen and also show the living conditions in which the children grow up. They are an important tool for the public health service to support appropriate measures and are also incorporated, for example, into the topic planning of health professionals at primary schools."
Sascha Karolin Aulepp, Senator for Children and Education, says:
"It is important and good for every child to go to school together with other children. The school entry examination is of great importance for this, because it helps to decide whether we should give the child more time so that they can make a better start next year."
For the current school year 2024/25, the school medical service of the public health department recorded a nearly unchanged number of school entry examinations: Since the end of 2023, around 6,000 children have been examined. Compared to the school year 2020/21, this is about 1,000 more children.
School medical service in operation at 12 branch locations
The examination includes, for example, vision and hearing tests, measurements of height and weight, and an assessment of motor coordination. If any abnormalities are detected during the examination, the school medical service provides parents with advice and, if necessary, refers families to specialists. To ensure easy access for families, the school medical service, in addition to the public health office on Horner Straße, has twelve branch offices located throughout the city. At these locations, children are examined by pediatricians and other healthcare professionals.
Some of the collected data is made available to the public in anonymized form. For example, the data from the Bremen District Atlas of the State Statistical Office ( www.statistik-bremen.de ) provides insights into children's health trends.
The cover letter should be more understandable
To make the cover letter for the mandatory health check-up more understandable for all Bremen residents, members of Bremen migrant organizations, the Bremen Council for Integration, the public health department, and the health ministry met at the end of September. The suggestions and feedback from this exchange are now being reviewed. The revised invitation letter is scheduled to be sent out in autumn 2025.
Further information can be found in the Senate press release “Second joint work on the integration concept” dated September 18, 2024.
Source: Press Office of the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, The Senator for Health, Women and Consumer Protection / The Senator for Children and Education, Press Release , October 16, 2024